Lower Farm Cottage, Manston, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, DT10 1EX
Condition: Dated three-bedroom detached cottage with unmodernised kitchen and bathroom, no central heating or double glazing, and some items of disrepair including damp and ceiling defects.
Evidence considered
- Landlord provided three comparable lettings of three-bedroom semi-detached cottages within one mile, with asking rents of £1,200-£1,250 pcm unfurnished, given significant weight by the Tribunal as a basis for the modernised market rent.
- Landlord's own valuation started from a fully modernised rent of £1,567 pcm (£4,700/quarter) with a 40% deduction for condition, but the Tribunal did not accept this starting figure or the unbroken deduction.
- Tenant provided no rental evidence but submitted photographs showing disrepair and local flooding risk, which the Tribunal took into account as a basis for a flood risk deduction.
- Tribunal relied on its own expert knowledge of local rental values and internet research of the vicinity (no inspection or hearing took place).
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The Tribunal started from a modernised market rent of £1,200 pcm, derived from comparable three-bedroom semi-detached cottages let within one mile of the property at £1,200-£1,250 pcm. It then applied itemised deductions totalling £300 pcm for lack of central heating, lack of double glazing, absence of carpets/curtains and white goods, an unmodernised kitchen and bathroom, items of disrepair, and the property's medium flood risk, arriving at £900 pcm (£2,700 per quarter). The landlord's proposed valuation (based on a higher fully-modernised figure with a blanket 40% deduction) was not adopted because it lacked a breakdown. Rent was originally quoted quarterly (£2,600 current/£2,800 proposed) and has been converted to a monthly equivalent for comparison purposes.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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