83 Brockhurst Road, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 3AR
Condition: Dated kitchen, worn and dated carpets, dated internal decorations, and some items of disrepair including a back door, WC, windows/sills and a radiator leak.
Evidence considered
- Landlord provided a Rightmove 'Best Price Guide' listing seven comparable three-bedroom lettings within a quarter mile, let at £1,350-£1,550 pcm, mostly recently refurbished or redecorated.
- Tribunal used these comparables plus its own expert knowledge to value the property, if modernised, at £1,450 pcm.
- Tenant did not submit his own comparable evidence but critiqued the landlord's comparables as being of a higher specification (new bathrooms/kitchens, off-road parking) than the subject property.
- An interim inspection report by the landlord's agent documented condition issues and items requiring repair, used to support downward adjustments.
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal assessed the market rent of the property if modernised and in good order at £1,450 pcm, based on landlord-submitted comparable lettings evidence of similar three-bedroom properties in the immediate area. It then made deductions for the dated kitchen, worn/dated carpets, dated decorations, and general items of disrepair (identified in an interim inspection report), totalling £200 pcm, to arrive at a determined rent of £1,250 pcm. The tenant's arguments about a "disrupted functional layout" were rejected as having no basis in section 14 of the Housing Act 1988, and the tribunal found no undue hardship justifying a delayed start date for the new rent.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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