86 Warwick Gardens, London N4 1JA

LON/00AP/MNR/2025/0732 · Decided 2025-09-29 · terraced house · 4 bed

Condition: Mid-terraced Victorian/Edwardian house with longstanding mould, rising damp in several rooms, water ingress to a party wall, and inadequate heating in one bedroom, effectively reducing it to usable as a three-bedroom property.

Evidence considered

• Landlord's comparables were mostly asking prices for larger or better-quality four-bedroom properties, which would have supported the £3,250 rent if the property were in good condition, but were rejected as inapplicable given the property's defects.
• Three-bedroom comparables considered more appropriate: a 1970s-built 3-bed/2-bath property asking £2,500 pcm; a 3-bed/1-bath mid-terrace asking £2,300 pcm; and a newly refurbished 3-bed property asking £2,500 pcm (let agreed at an unknown price).

Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.

Tribunal's reasoning

The tribunal found it had no jurisdiction because the section 13(2) notice was not served on all joint tenants (a third tenant, not party to the application, had not been served), rendering the notice a nullity; the rent therefore remained at £2,100 pcm. Nonetheless, obiter, the tribunal indicated that had it needed to determine a market rent, it would have fixed it at £2,100 pcm, the same as the existing rent, due to significant unresolved damp, mould and heating problems meaning the four-bedroom house could only be treated as a three-bedroom property, and because the HMO licence was not granted until after the relevant valuation date. The landlord's comparables for larger/better-quality four-bedroom properties were rejected in favour of three-bedroom comparables reflecting the property's actual condition.

Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)