Tribunal Sets Fair Rent of £975 Per Month for Property

OUTCOME: Allowed

FR27 First-tier Tribunal – Property Chamber File Ref No. HAV/29UQ/F77/2026/0007

Notice of the Tribunal Decision

Rent Act 1977 Schedule 11

Address of Premises The Tribunal members were 3 [ADDRESS] [POSTCODE]

[NAME] Mr [RESPONDENT]

Landlord [NAME] (Yalding) Ltd

Tenant Mrs [APPELLANT]

1. The fair rent is £975.00 Per Calendar Month (excluding water rates and council tax but including any amounts in paras 3&4)

2. The effective date is 10 April 2026

3. The amount for services is

Per

negligible

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

n/a Per n/a

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 (please see calculation overleaf)

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

The landlord maintains the shared private drainage system.

8. For information only:

(a)The fair rent to be registered is not limited by the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999, because it is below the maximum fair rent of £1,181.00 per [NAME] of decision 10 April 2026

FR27 MAXIMUM FAIR RENT CALCULATION

LATEST RPI FIGURE X 408.2

PREVIOUS RPI FIGURE Y 292.6

X 408.2 Minus Y 292.6 = (A) 115.6

(A) 115.6 Divided by Y 292.6 = (B) 0.395

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) 1.445

Last registered rent* £817.00 Multiplied by (C) = £1,180.56 *(exclusive of any variable service charge)

Rounded up to nearest 50p = £1,181.00

Variable service charge NO If YES add amount for services

MAXIMUM FAIR RENT = £1,181.00 Per Calendar 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.

1

Case Reference

: HAV/29UQ/F77/2026/0007

Property : 3 [ADDRESS] [POSTCODE]

Tenant

: [NAME]

Landlord : [NAME] ([RESPONDENT] of Landlord’s Objection : 18 February 2026

Type of Application : Section 70, Rent Act 1977

Tribunal

: Mr [NAME] [NAME] Mr [NAME] of Summary Reasons : 10 April 2026

_______________________________________________

DECISION

The sum of £975.00 per month will be registered as the fair rent with effect from 10 April 2026, being the date the Tribunal made the Decision. ____________________________________

© CROWN COPYRIGHT 2025

FIRST - TIER TRIBUNAL PROPERTY CHAMBER (RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY)

2 SUMMARY REASONS

Background

1. Following an objection from the Landlord 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. The parties did not request a hearing or an inspection to determine this matter and the Tribunal agreed with this arrangement. The Tribunal considered this case with the Rent Officer’s calculations and with the assistance of Rightmove and Google Maps.

Evidence

3. The Tribunal did not receive a completed Rent Appeal Statement from the parties. In a letter dated 2 January 2026 from the [NAME], Mr [APPELLANT], he set out a list of the improvements undertaken by the Tenant during the term of the tenancy which commenced circa 1965. There is slight confusion regarding this letter as it has a different reference as to the subject property and presumably refers to 1 Gaffords Bridge Cottages. The Tribunal had before it, the Rent Officers two Registrations and calculations for the most recent registration on the 12 February 2026 to take effect on that date.

Determination and Valuation

4. Having consideration of its own expert, general knowledge of rental values in the Tonbridge area, we consider that the open market rent for the property in good condition with modern services would be in the region of £1,350 per month.

5. Next, the Tribunal needs to adjust that hypothetical rent of £1,350 per month to allow for Terms of tenancy agreement, no white goods, no carpets or curtains, tenants improvements which include replacement kitchen and bathroom fittings, installation of LPG central heating system, garage, front porch, summer house (conservatory) garden sheds and boundary fencing.

6. The Tribunal has considered very carefully the information provided by the Tenant. Using its own expertise, the Tribunal considers that a deduction of £375 should be applied in order to take account of the above matters. This reduces the figure to £975 per month.

7. It should be noted that this figure cannot be a simple arithmetical calculation and is not based upon capital costs but is the Tribunal’s estimate of the amount by which the rent would need to be reduced to attract a tenant.

8. The Tribunal has not made an adjustment for scarcity.

9. The full valuation is shown below:

3

Market Rent £1,350 pm

Less

approx. £375

£975.00

£975.00 pm

Decision

10. The uncapped fair rent initially determined by the Tribunal, for the purposes of section 70, was £975.00 per month. The capped rent for the property according to the provisions of the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999 is calculated at £1,181 per calendar month. The calculation of the capped rent is shown on the decision form.

11. In this case therefore the lower rent of £975.00 per month is to be registered as the fair rent for this property.

APPEAL PROVISIONS

These summary reasons are provided to give the parties an indication as to how the Tribunal made its decision. If either party wishes to appeal this decision, they should first make a request for full reasons and the details of how to appeal will be set out in the full reasons. Any subsequent application for permission to appeal should be made on Form RP PTA