Tribunal Sets Fair Rent of £1200 pcm for Tenant

OUTCOME: Allowed

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Case Reference

: HS/LON/00AG/F77/2025/0289

Property : [ADDRESS], [POSTCODE]

Tenant

: Mr [APPELLANT] [NAME]

Landlord : [APPELLANT] of Objection : 17 September 2025

Type of Application : Section 70, Rent Act 1977

Tribunal

: [NAME] [NAME] [NAME] 0f Decision : 16 February 2026

_______________________________________________

DECISION

The sum of £1200.00 per calendar month will be registered as the fair rent with effect from 16 February 2026, being the date the Tribunal made the Decision. ____________________________________

© CROWN COPYRIGHT 2026

Full REASONS

Background FIRST - TIER TRIBUNAL PROPERTY CHAMBER (RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY)

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1. The landlord submitted an application, dated 30 July 2025, to register a fair rent of £1050.00 per month. Previous to the application the Rent Officer had registered a fair rent of £860.00 per month effective from 6 March 2022. Following the application the Rent Officer registered a fair rent of £1134.00 per month effective from 10 September 2025. Following an objection from the Tenant on 17 September 2025 to the determination of a fair rent by the Rent Officer, the Tribunal has made a determination under the provisions of the Rent Act 1977.

2. Directions were issued on 30 October 2025.

Inspection 3. The property is described in the Rent Register as a self-contained converted flat, with full central heating comprising two rooms, one living room/kitchen, one bathroom with WC.

4. Neither party requested the Tribunal inspect the property, and the Tribunal considered it disproportionate to do so.

Evidence

Submission by the tenant

5. The tenant completed an application and a Reply Form, stating they requested a hearing but no inspection. Photographs accompanied the application. Additionally, that the landlord supplied the central heating, and that curtains and carpets are supplied by the tenant.

6. The Reply Form noted the landlord had replaced a radiator and leaking toilet tank. That the tenant had replaced the carpets, with laminate flooring and replaced the furniture and white goods.

7. The tenant also notes damp in the small bedroom, bathroom mould and an ant infestation.

8. The tenant also completed a Reply Form which provided details of the accommodation. The tenant asserted that the landlord supplied the central heating and the double glazing. Carpets, curtains and white goods being provided by the tenant.

9.The tenant talked the Tribunal through the property. The property is a ground floor flat in a converted stucco front house. The entrance is through the communal door and leads into a small hallway. Off the hall was the front door of the tenant's occupation. There is a central hall, directly ahead is a small bedroom, this is single in size and has a radiator that is working and a double- glazed window There is said to be damp and mould around the window. There is also a principal double bedroom this also has mould, on the walls. The radiator in this bedroom is not working. The bathroom is as at the point the tenant took occupancy in 1988. The flooring has been replaced by the tenant

3 with vinyl. There is said to be mould in the bathroom. The kitchen has had the floor replaced by the tenant and the wall cupboards replaced but not the base units. The radiator functions and was replaced by the landlord. The white goods are supplied by the tenant including the washing machine and associated plumbing which is said to be put in by the tenant The living room and the kitchen are combined. Throughout the property is laminate floor installed by the tenant.

10, In terms of rental valuation, the tenant made reference to the lower ground property, a two-bedroom flat, slightly larger second bedroom. The flat was also said to suffer from damp but had access to a garden. The flat was said to have had a passing rent of £1600 per month before the tenants moved out recently.

Submission by the landlord

11.. The landlord submitted a Reply Form which noted, they did not require an inspection nor a hearing.

Tribunal findings

12. The Tribunal finds the property, in the absence of an inspection, or contested evidence, to be in the conditions as explained by the tenant

13. The Tribunal finds the white goods, carpets and curtains are supplied by the tenant. The central heating is provided by the landlord, and that there is no double glazing.

Determination and Valuation

Valuation

14. In determining the level of rent for the fair rent, the Tribunal must carry out a valuation under section 70 of the Rent Act 1977 and then an assessment under the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999.The latter assessment is dependent on the inflation rate between the last registered rent and the date of the current determination which is the date of hearing. The Tribunal must then adopt the lower of the two figures as the fair rent to be registered.

15. Having consideration of the comparable evidence provided by the tenant and our own expert general knowledge of rental values in the area, the Tribunal adopts the figure of £2000.00 per calendar month.

16. From this level of rent we have made adjustments in relation to: (i) terms and conditions the tenancy that is the tenant is responsible for internal decoration which is more onerous than contemporary tenancies from which the comparables are derived (ii) improvements., made by the tenant , flooring , white goods , and kitchen cupboards (iii) the supply of curtains and carpets and (iv) general condition of the property that is the damp, compared with contemporary lettings.

17. The Tribunal has also made an adjustment for scarcity at 20%.

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Market Rent

£2000.00 pcm

Less: 25% for (i) to (iv) above;

£500.00 pcm

---------------------------------------- £ 1500.00 pcm

Less 20% for scarcity £ 300.00 pcm -----------------------------------

£1200.00 pcm

18. The Tribunal determines a rent under section 70 of £1200.00 pcm.

Decision

19. The rent calculated under section 70 Rent Act 1977 is £1200.00 pcm.

20. The rent calculated under the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999 is £1229.00 pcm. The rent calculated under section 70 of the Rent Act 1977 rent is lower than the rent calculated under the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999. Therefore, the Tribunal determines the rent to be registered is £1200.00pcm with effect from 16 February 2026.

Chairman: R [NAME]: 16 February 2026

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Appeal to the Upper Tribunal A person wishing to appeal this decision to the Upper Tribunal (Property Chamber) on a point of law must seek permission to do so by making a written application to the First-tier Tribunal at the Regional Office which has been dealing with the case which application must: a. be received by the said office within 28 days after the Tribunal sends to the person making the application written reasons for the decision. b. identify the decision of the Tribunal to which it relates, state the grounds of appeal, and state the result the party making the application is seeking. If the application is not received within the 28 –day time limit, it must include a request for an extension of time and the reason for it not complying with the 28- day time limit; the Tribunal will then decide whether to extend time or not to allow the application for permission to appeal to proceed.

FR27 First-tier Tribunal – Property Chamber File Ref No. HS/LON./OOAG/F77/.2025/0289

Notice of the Tribunal Decision

Rent Act 1977 Schedule 11

Address of Premises The Tribunal members were [ADDRESS], [POSTCODE]

R [NAME] [NAME]

Landlord [APPELLANT]

Tenant Mr [APPELLANT]

1. The fair rent is £1200.00 Per Month (excluding water rates and council tax but including any amounts in paras 3&4)

2. The effective date is 16 February 2026

3. The amount for services is n/a Per n/a

negligible/not applicable

4. The amount for fuel charges (excluding heating and lighting of common parts) not counting for rent allowance is

n/a Per n/a

negligible/not applicable

5. The rent is not to be registered as variable.

6. The capping provisions of the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999 apply.

7. Details (other than rent) where different from Rent Register entry

n/a

8. For information only:

(a) The fair rent to be registered is the section 70 fair rent because the rent determined under the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999 is higher.

Chairman R [NAME] of decision 16 February 2026

FR27 MAXIMUM FAIR RENT CALCULATION

LATEST RPI FIGURE X 408.50

PREVIOUS RPI FIGURE Y 323.50

X 408.50 Minus Y 323.50 = (A) 85.00

(A) 85.00 Divided by Y 323.50 = (B) 0.2627

First application for re-registration since 1 February 1999 YES/NO

If yes (B) plus 1.075 = (C)

If no (B) plus 1.05 = (C) 1.3127

Last registered rent* £ 860.00 per month Multiplied by (C) = 1128.92 *(exclusive of any variable service charge)

Rounded up to nearest 50p = 1229.00

Variable service charge no If YES add amount for services n/a

MAXIMUM FAIR RENT = £1229.00 Per month

Explanatory Note

1. The calculation of the maximum fair rent, in accordance with the formula contained in the Order, is set out above.

2. In summary, the formula provides for the maximum fair rent to be calculated by:

(a) increasing the previous registered rent by the percentage change in the retail price index (the RPI) since the date of that earlier registration and

(b) adding a further 7.5% (if the present application was the first since 1 February 1999) or 5% (if it is a second or subsequent application since that date).

A 7.5% increase is represented, in the calculation set out above, by the addition of 1.075 to (B) and an increase of 5% is represented by the addition of 1.05 to (B).

The result is rounded up to the nearest 50 pence.

3. For the purposes of the calculation the latest RPI figure (x) is that published in the calendar month immediately before the month in which the Tribunal’s fair rent determination was made.

4. The process differs where the tenancy agreement contains a variable service charge and the rent is to be registered as variable under section 71(4) of the Rent Act 1977. In such a case the variable service charge is removed before applying the formula. When the amount determined by the application of the formula is ascertained the service charge is then added to that sum in order to produce the maximum fair rent.