Tribunal sets fair rent for Redcar property

OUTCOME: Allowed in Part

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FIRST - TIER TRIBUNAL PROPERTY CHAMBER (RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY)

Case Reference

MAN/00EE/MNR/2025/1086

[ADDRESS] [POSTCODE]

Tenant

[NAME]

Tenant’s Representative

Landlord

[NAME]) [APPELLANT] c/o [RESPONDENT], [ADDRESS], [POSTCODE]

Landlord’s Representative

Simple Life

Date of Application

17 December 2025

Type of Application Determination of a Market Rent sections 13 & 14 of the Housing Act 1988

Tribunal Members [NAME] – [NAME] of Decision

19 March 2026

Rent Determined

£800.00 per calendar month

Date the new rent takes effect

17 January 2026

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REASONS FOR THE DECISION

Background

1. On 12 November 2025, the Landlord served a notice under Section 13(2) of the Housing Act 1988 which proposed a new rent of £875.00 per calendar month (pcm) in place of the existing rent of £800.00 pcm to take effect from 17 January 2026.

2. On or around 17 December 2025, under Section 13(4)(a) of the Housing Act 1988, the Tenant referred the Landlord’s notice proposing a new rent to the Tribunal for determination of a market rent.

3. The assured tenancy commenced on 17 January 2023 for a term of 12 months. The rental period is monthly.

Allocation of Repairs between Landlord and Tenant.

4. As per section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

Services Charges or furniture provided by Landlord (other than carpets and curtain and white goods specified below) and the costs relating to the same.

5. £0

Liability for Council Tax

6. The Tenant is responsible for the payment of Council Tax in respect of [NAME]. The rent determined is exclusive of Council Tax.

Any other terms of the tenancy taken into consideration in determining the rent.

7. None

Inspection/Hearing

8. Neither party requested an oral hearing. The Tribunal has considered this case on the basis of the papers provided by the parties and its own knowledge and specialist expertise.

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[NAME]

9. [NAME] is a new build 2 bedroom semi-detached house, offering the following accommodation:

Living room, kitchen, downstairs wc, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, hall, open plan kitchen/lounge, one bedroom, and bathroom with full suite including shower.

Outside: rear garden and 2 car parking spaces.

[NAME] benefits from central heating and double glazing.

[NAME] is situated in a new build development of similar properties to the south west of Redcar. Redcar town centre with all amenities is around two miles to the north east.

Evidence

10. Both the Tenant and the Landlord returned the Tribunal’s Reply forms.

The Tenant.

11. The Tenant made the following comments:

a) “We have been tenants in this house since 2022 to which in 4 years the rent has increased from £650pcm to the new proposing amount of £875pcm

b) The upstairs bathroom lino flooring the glue used to stick it down has saturated through to the top of the lino giving the illusion of [NAME] coming through. However, when raised previously was told this is cosmetic and would not be repaired or replaced. After are an inspection the person inspecting [NAME] said the only option would be for us to raise a request to put fresh lino down and pay for ourselves however if and when it came to us moving out we would have to put the old flooring back down and leave it how we got it.

c) We had to previously buy extra paving slabs to put down in the back garden due to flooding which would go into the shared ally way. We however got permission to do this

d) When originally moved into the house in 2022 there was a big patch of grass missing to which we had to seed and soil ourselves to get it to a good quality again. Each year we are having to pay for more grass seed and soil to ensure the upkeep of the grass in the back garden.”

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12. In terms of rental evidence, the Tenant made the following comments:

a. “Prices within a 3-5mile radius for a house of the same size do not exceed the rent increased the landlords are asking of us.

b. When speaking to our next door neighbours and other tenants/residents on the same street with the same size houses their rent is lower than the proposed increased amount of £875pcm and has been capped at a lower rate than this. Which would make other tenants in the same size house paying less than what we have been proposed.

c. The same size houses on the estate owned by the council are not this high in price per month”

The Landlord

13. The Landlord provided evidence by way of a Rightmove Best Price Guide and a summary of rents being achieved within their portfolio of 2 bedroom properties within the same estate. Those rents being achieved were in the range £875 - £970.

Determination and Valuation

14. We found the best price guide to be of limited assistance as it only provided details of properties being marketed by the Respondent. We also found the Respondent’s schedule of passing rents to be of limited assistance as it provided no tenancy commencement dates and did not differentiate between properties let on the open market and those where rent increases had been agreed with sitting tenants. It also appears to cherry pick the Respondents’ portfolio as rents determined by the Tribunal over the last 12 months do not appear to be shown.

15. Relying on its own expert, general knowledge of rental values in the Redcar area, the Tribunal considers that the market rental of the subject Property in good condition to be in the region of £800.00 pcm.

16. As [NAME] is modern and in good condition, it is not necessary to make any adjustments to this level of rent.

Decision

12. The Tribunal determines the market rent at £800.00 per calendar month with effect from 17 January 2026.

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APPEAL PROVISIONS

If either party is dissatisfied with this decision, they may apply for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) on any point of law arising from this Decision. Prior to making such an appeal, an application must be made, in writing, to this Tribunal for permission to appeal. Any such application must be made within 28 days of the issue of this statement of reasons (regulation 52 (2) of The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rules 2013) stating the grounds upon which it is intended to rely in the appeal.