5 Sterry Road, Degenham, RM10 8PB
Condition: Three-bed terraced house with a small garden; a council visit in April 2025 found 'worrisome defects', and an HHSRS assessment identified excess cold, deficient fire detection, an electrical hazard, damp and mould, food-safety issues and fall risks.
Evidence considered
- Landlord: two 3-bed properties in RM10 advertised at £2,500 pcm
- Landlord: two 3-bed properties in RM10 advertised at £2,200 pcm
- Landlord: a letter from a rent-to-rent company offering £2,450–£2,650 pcm, which the tribunal found not probative
- The tribunal gave the landlord's comparables little weight, as they were brief adverts with no confirmed letting prices
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal found the landlord's comparable evidence largely unpersuasive (adverts with no confirmed letting prices, and a rent-to-rent offer it did not treat as a genuine market letting), and had no evidence the HHSRS-identified defects had been fixed. Relying on its own market knowledge, it valued the modernised property at £2,100 pcm, then deducted 15% (£315) for the property's condition, giving £1,785 pcm.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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