9 Coninston Drive, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 9PX
Condition: Semi-detached house with tenant-installed improvements (central heating, kitchen, bathroom, flooring) but landlord noted recent structural works including a re-roof.
Evidence considered
- Landlord provided a table of comparable rents for 'non-refurbished units' in the same development, ranging from £868-£880 pcm, extracted from a Savills report.
- Landlord provided comparables for fully modernised open market properties ranging from £1000-£1385 pcm, also from a Savills report.
- Tenant cited another Tribunal rent decision in the area but provided no direct rental evidence.
- Tribunal relied on its own knowledge and the landlord's 'non-refurbished' comparables as the most relevant baseline, assuming these were modernised though not refurbished.
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
Figures given as fortnightly rents were converted to monthly equivalents (x 26/12): current rent £357.69/fortnight ≈ £775 pcm, proposed £393.23/fortnight ≈ £852 pcm, decided £331.38/fortnight = £718 pcm (as stated in the decision). The tribunal set a baseline market rent of £878 pcm for a modernised, well-maintained property based on landlord comparables and its own expertise, then deducted £160 pcm to reflect improvements made and paid for by the tenant (central heating, kitchen/bathroom, white goods/curtains). The tenant's claim of undue hardship to delay the effective date was rejected due to lack of evidence and because the new rent was actually lower than the previous rent.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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