Flat 132, 37 Clarendon road, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD17 1DQ
Condition: High-end, formerly new-build flat in a luxury high-rise block, now about a year old, with some reported reduction in advertised communal services (e.g. concierge hours, cinema room availability, window cleaning).
Evidence considered
- Tenant provided four Rightmove listings for similar two-bedroom high-rise flats in the town centre, rents between £2,100 and £2,250, including one in the same building.
- Landlord provided a table of rents achieved across six similar flats it owned in the same block, ranging £2,300-£2,462 pcm, and per-square-foot rate comparisons.
- Landlord provided a 'best price guide' showing a comparable flat in the same building advertised at £2,318 pcm.
- Tribunal adjusted a tenant comparable (750 sq ft flat at £2,167 pcm minus £100 parking) up to 850 sq ft, yielding about £2,342 pcm, close to the determined rent.
- Landlord-owned comparables were given reduced weight due to common ownership.
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal relied on comparable evidence from both parties and its own expertise. Landlord comparables (other flats in the same block) were given limited weight as they came from a single landlord, but a tenant-submitted comparable in the same building, when adjusted for size (grossed up from 750 to 850 sq ft, excluding a separate parking charge), equated to about £2,342 pcm, supporting the landlord's proposed figure. The tenant's complaints about reduced concierge/communal services and a nearby development were found unsubstantiated or not relevant to market rent, and the tribunal determined £2,350 pcm with no undue hardship justifying a delayed start date.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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