Flat 1, 84 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BD
Condition: Period maisonette above commercial premises with no central heating or double glazing, unmodernised kitchen and bathroom, and various disrepairs including draughty windows and old plumbing.
Evidence considered
- Landlord provided a 'Best Price Guide' of five two-bedroom flats/maisonettes let within a quarter mile, ranging £1,850-£2,200 pcm, mostly in newly refurbished condition.
- Tribunal gave weight to two comparables on Bennett Street (a superior, purely residential location) both let at £1,850 pcm, used as a starting point for a modernised market rent.
- Tribunal applied its own expert knowledge to set a notional modernised market rent of £1,400 pcm, then made itemised deductions for lack of central heating, lack of double glazing, missing carpets/curtains, no white goods, unmodernised kitchen and bathroom, and general disrepair.
- Tenant provided photographs of disrepair but no comparable rental evidence, only a suggested affordable rent of £600 pcm.
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal started from a notional market rent of £1,400 pcm for the property if modernised and in good order, derived from its own expertise and two broadly comparable lettings on a superior nearby street. It then deducted itemised amounts totalling £520 pcm to reflect the absence of central heating and double glazing, incomplete provision of carpets/curtains and white goods, an unmodernised kitchen and bathroom, and general disrepair, arriving at £880 pcm. The landlord's claimed 'improvements' were treated as ordinary repair obligations rather than true improvements and given no additional weight.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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