Flat 9, Deakin Court, 9 Bournemouth Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO53 3LN
Condition: Ground floor flat in generally good condition with a modern kitchen but a dated, unmodernised bathroom; benefits from gas central heating and double glazing.
Evidence considered
- Landlord cited rental opinions from local letting agents placing comparable flats at £1,300-£1,400 pcm, but this was disregarded as unevidenced and based on treating the property as a 2-bedroom flat.
- Tenant cited three advertised one-bedroom comparables on a property portal at £850 pcm each, but these lacked photographs or description so could not be properly compared.
- Tribunal relied on its own expertise and general knowledge of local rental values to set a baseline one-bedroom rent of £950 pcm, uplifted for the property's extra reception room, then deducted for the dated bathroom.
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal first confirmed it had jurisdiction, finding that because the fixed term had expired and a statutory periodic tenancy arose, the tenancy agreement's rent review clause no longer applied. It rejected the landlord's evidence (unevidenced agent opinions suggesting a 2-bedroom rate) and found the property was a one-bedroom flat with an unusually large second reception room, not a second bedroom. Using its own expertise, it set a starting market rent of £1,050 pcm for the modernised property (an uplift on an average one-bedroom rent of £950 pcm to reflect the extra reception space), then deducted £25 pcm for the dated bathroom, arriving at £1,025 pcm. The tribunal found no undue hardship evidence sufficient to delay the start date, 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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