Flat 16 South Mill Apartments, Hebden Street, E2 8FZ
Condition: The flat was found to be in good, modern condition, with alleged defects (minor silverfish sighting, pigeon marking on a balcony wall, some lightbulbs needing replacement) considered trivial.
Evidence considered
- Tenant submitted 7 asking rents, most too distant (e.g. Sclater Street, Brick Lane, Whitechapel) to be probative
- Landlord submitted 3 comparables, overlapping with tenant's; one was a 3-bed flat, not comparable
- One potentially comparable 2-bed flat in the same development advertised at £2,475pcm was given little weight due to being an asking rent evidenced only by a brief mobile phone screenshot
- Landlord's CPI-based indexation argument (suggesting £3,152) was rejected as unnecessary given the active local rental market
- Tribunal relied primarily on its own expert knowledge of local rental levels
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal rejected both parties' comparable evidence as too remote in location, non-comparable in size, or insufficiently detailed (a single Zoopla screenshot), and declined to apply the landlord's proposed CPI indexation approach since the area has an active rental market. It also excluded the landlord's informal payment of utility bills/council tax (not in the written tenancy) and the tenant's alleged lack of letting agent commission (irrelevant under s.14(2)(a), which disregards sitting-tenant effects) from the valuation. Using its own expert knowledge of local rental levels, the tribunal set a starting value of £2,800 pcm, made a small allowance for the secure parking garage (available only to tenants but subject to a separate £69/month fee), found alleged defects (silverfish, pigeon marking, lightbulbs) trivial and not affecting value, and so determined the market rent at £2,800 pcm with no further adjustment, effective from the date in the landlord's notice as no undue hardship was shown.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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