Flat 5, 583 Chorley Old Road, Bolton, BL1 6BL
Condition: Unfurnished ground-floor flat in a converted period house, with no damp visible in the bedroom but some black mould present in the shower-room at inspection.
Evidence considered
- Landlord provided four comparables of other flats at the same or nearby address; three were rents set via prior s.13 notices and were given no weight as they were not open-market rents.
- One comparable (a similarly sized flat in the same building let on the open market in August 2025 at £595 pcm) was accepted as relevant, though its size/condition were unknown to the tribunal.
- Tenant provided no comparable rent evidence, instead raising concerns about damp/mould affecting the property.
- Tribunal relied substantially on its own expert knowledge of local rental values to reach the starting market rent figure.
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal found only one of the landlord's four comparables (a recent letting of a similar flat in the same building) to be reliable open-market evidence, the others having been set by prior s.13 notices rather than market transactions. Using that comparable plus its own expert knowledge, the tribunal started from a market rent of £500 pcm for the property if modernised and in good order, then deducted £50 for the tenant's own furnishings/white goods/carpet and £5 for lack of mechanical ventilation to the shower-room, giving £445 pcm. The tenant's complaint about unresolved damp/mould was noted but did not lead to a separate deduction beyond the ventilation adjustment, and no undue hardship submissions were made so the new rent took effect from the date in the landlord's notice.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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