448 Watery Lane, St. Helens, WA9 3HL
Condition: Local authority inspection identified some disrepair issues (electrics, flooring, door leakage, bathroom, smoke alarms, fire escape window), but landlord carried out remedial works and tribunal found no justification for a condition-based rent adjustment.
Evidence considered
- Landlord provided four usable comparables (advertised, not achieved, rents of £700-£795 pcm) for similar properties in the St Helens WA9 area; tribunal gave these limited weight as they were asking rents, some for fully renovated properties, and some listed for a long time.
- Tribunal relied substantially on its own expertise and general knowledge of local rental values.
- Tenant provided no comparable rental evidence.
- Tenant's unchallenged evidence of self-funded improvements (flooring, carpets, bathroom tiles) led to a £20 pcm deduction from the assessed market rent.
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal assessed the market rent at £700 pcm using its own expertise and the landlord's (asking-rent) comparables, factoring in the property's location opposite a pub and on a junction, and found the tenant's disrepair and retaliatory-eviction arguments did not justify a further downward adjustment. It then deducted £20 pcm to reflect tenant-funded improvements (flooring, carpets, bathroom tiles), which were unchallenged by the landlord, arriving at a determined rent of £680 pcm. The tenant's claim of undue hardship to delay the new rent's start date was rejected for lack of supporting evidence.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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