Ground Floor Flat, 26 Poynter Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 7AH
Condition: Ground floor period flat with dated kitchen/bathroom, original single-glazed sash windows and draughts, worn/damaged floor coverings, an unusable bedroom with defective French doors, and other disrepair.
Evidence considered
- Landlord submitted two Rightmove listings (asking/let-agreed rents) for flats in Westbourne Gardens, Hove (£1,400 pcm) and Tivoli Crescent, Brighton (£1,500 pcm); given limited weight as asking rents, not in the immediate vicinity, and one outside Hove.
- Tenant submitted no comparable rental evidence.
- Tribunal relied substantially on its own expert knowledge of the local market to set a starting 'good condition' rent of £1,300 pcm, then applied a single global deduction of £300 pcm for disrepair/condition.
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal set a notional market rent of £1,300 pcm for the property in good condition based on two imperfect Rightmove comparables and its own expert knowledge, as the tenant provided no comparable evidence. It then made a single global deduction of £300 pcm to reflect poor condition, including dated kitchen/bathroom fittings, single-glazed sash windows and draughts, worn floor coverings, and defective French doors, sockets and a kitchen tap, disregarding disrepair attributable to the tenant's own failure to maintain the property under s.14(2). This produced a determined rent of £1,000 pcm, equal to the rent proposed in the landlord's notice (the statutory cap). Due to the tenant's undue hardship, the new rent was ordered to take effect from the date of determination rather than the date in the notice.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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