Flat 9, 59 Drayton Gardens, London SW10 9RU
Condition: Large mansion-block flat with dated kitchen and bathrooms, poor-fitting/ill-fitting French windows with significant gaps, minor plaster cracks and dated decoration, let unfurnished without carpets, curtains or white goods.
Evidence considered
- Tenant's schedule of eight achieved-rent comparables (nearby flats let in 2023-2024, ranging £3,012-£3,987 pcm), given significant weight though all were smaller and in better presented/furnished condition than the subject flat
- Landlord's two Dexters asking-rent comparables (unlet, luxury-specification flats on the same street, £7,497 and £13,000 pcm asking), given very limited weight as asking (not achieved) rents and of different scale/finish
- Landlord's Foxtons valuation (£1,000/week, unchanged from a prior case two years earlier) and tenant's letting agent valuations (£550-£635/week) considered but largely superseded by the comparables analysis
- Surveyor disrepair reports documenting cracking, ill-fitting doors and mould, used to support a condition-based deduction rather than a subjective assessment of the landlord's repair record
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The Tribunal first assessed the open market rent for the flat in good tenantable (not luxury) condition at £5,500 pcm, using achieved-rent comparables from the tenant (preferred over the landlord's asking-rent comparables) adjusted for size, floor position and layout. It then deducted 40% (£2,200) to reflect the lack of carpets, curtains, white goods and furnishings, dated kitchen and bathroom fittings, poor condition of the French/patio doors and general condition of the flat, arriving at £3,300 pcm. The Tribunal declined to value the repairing covenant on a subjective basis reflecting this landlord's actual compliance history, holding that only objectively observable condition could be taken into account. The tenant's section 14(7) undue hardship argument was rejected for lack of evidence (as in a prior decision concerning the same property), so the new rent took effect from the date specified in the landlord's notice.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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