930 New Hey Road, Huddersfield, HD3 3FE
Condition: Fair condition older stone cottage requiring some renovation (defective guttering, electrical socket, and floor gap), with basement and attic excluded from the tenancy.
Evidence considered
- Landlord's agent appraisals (Whitegates £850-900 pcm, Open House £800-900 pcm) given little weight as desk-top valuations lacking comparable evidence.
- Landlord's online comparators (Lindley Moor Road £950 pcm, Moorlands Road £900 pcm, Open Rent Calculator £790-1210) given little or no weight due to property differences or lack of underlying data.
- Tribunal relied on its own knowledge of local rents: comparable 2-3 bed houses in HD3 ranging £650-800 pcm.
- Tribunal determined whole-property open market rent of £750 pcm, reduced to £650 pcm to reflect exclusion of basement/attic.
- Deductions of £20 pcm for disrepair (guttering, electrics, flooring) and £10 pcm for tenant improvements (plastering/redecoration).
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal disregarded the landlord's submissions about inflation and investment returns as irrelevant to the section 14 test, and gave little or no weight to the landlord's agent valuations and online comparators due to lack of supporting rental evidence or dissimilarity to the subject property. Using its own knowledge of local rents for comparable stone-built terraced and semi-detached houses in the area (£650-800 pcm), it assessed a whole-property market rent of £750 pcm, reduced to £650 pcm because the tenancy excluded the basement and attic. Further deductions of £20 pcm for value-significant disrepair and £10 pcm to reflect tenant-funded repairs/improvements produced a final determined rent of £620 pcm.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
Want the evidence, not just the decision?
Around half of the decisions in this database cite a problem with the evidence submitted — comparable tribunal outcomes are usually what decides these cases, for both sides. We're testing a paid evidence pack and a guided walkthrough of the application, built from this database.
Landlord evidence pack — from £15
Nearby tribunal outcomes, a rent level likely to survive a challenge, and an evidence pack in the format the tribunal expects — timed for when you serve a section 13 notice.
Register interest in the landlord packTenant pack — from £19
Whether challenging your rent increase is worth it, plus the comparable decisions to include with your MR1 application to the tribunal.
Register interest in the tenant packNot built yet — register your interest by email and we'll let you know when it's ready. This isn't legal advice; see the law and free advice options.