Flat 2 146 Middleton Hall Road Birmingham B30 1DN
Condition: Ground floor converted flat with reported damp, needing refurbishment, lacking central heating and exclusive white goods, with carpets provided by the tenant.
Evidence considered
- Landlord provided a market report showing average asking rent for comparable one-bedroom units at £849 pcm, and an independent estimated rental value of £800 pcm, but tenant disputed these as not genuinely comparable (not HMOs, refurbished, furnished, one with gym access)
- Tenant accepted one landlord comparable (a flat advertised at £550 pcm) as broadly relevant but noted it was in much better condition (recently decorated, carpeted, central heating, exclusive washing machine, not an HMO)
- Tenant submitted photographs of the property's interior, communal areas, cellar access and exterior/garden to evidence damp and poor condition
- Tribunal relied on its own expert knowledge of local rental values alongside the submitted comparables to set a baseline modernised rent, then applied condition-based deductions
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal started from a market rent of £775 pcm for the property if modernised, with central heating, carpets, curtains and white goods, based on its own expertise and the comparables provided. It then deducted for the property's actual condition: damp and need for refurbishment (-£85), lack of exclusive white goods (-£20), inadequate heating system (-£80), and carpets fitted by the tenant (-£45), totalling a £230 deduction. This produced a determined rent of £545 pcm. The effective date was deferred from the landlord's notice date to the decision date due to the tenant's evidence of undue hardship.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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