Apartment 3, 5 Clarence Street, Salford, Greater Manchester, M7 1BR
Condition: Fully furnished ground floor flat in a modern development with electric heating and double glazing, with tenant-reported minor unresolved repair issues.
Evidence considered
- Tenant-submitted Rightmove listing: furnished property on Barnabus Drive advertised at £1,200 pcm
- Tenant-submitted listing: property in Empyrean development, let agreed, quoted at £1,195 pcm
- Tenant-submitted listing: comparable 2-bed flat in same block marketed by landlord's agent at £1,215 pcm (given significant weight as persuasive current market evidence)
- Landlord-submitted Rightmove Best Price Guide: four 2-bed Empyrean apartments, let agreed, quoted rents £1,280, £1,255, £1,230 and £1,225 pcm
- Landlord's internal tenancy schedule for Empyrean Block 3 lettings, given little weight as largely renewals/rent reviews rather than open market lettings
- Landlord's own letter accepting a rent of £1,225 pcm would be fair, though notice proposed £1,255 pcm
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal relied on comparable lettings within the same Empyrean development/block as the subject property, which were similarly furnished and fitted to a comparable standard. It gave limited weight to the landlord's internal renewal/rent-review schedule as these were not genuine open market lettings, and treated let-agreed listing prices as a ceiling rather than confirmed achieved rents. A downward adjustment was considered for the subject being a ground floor flat (less attractive due to noise) but was offset by a current market listing of a comparable unit in the same block at £1,215 pcm, leading the tribunal to adopt £1,215 pcm as the market rent with no further adjustment.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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