Flat 1, 58 Hanger Lane London W5 2JH LON/00AJ/MNR/2026/0395
REASONS
[1]A landlord’s notice dated 2 April 2026, was served under Section 13(2) Housing Act 1988 proposing a new rent of £2450 per calendar month in place of the passing rent of £1982 pcm to take effect from 1 June 2026.[2]At a date, prior to the effective date, under S.13(4)(a) Housing Act 1988 the tenant referred the landlord’s notice proposing a new rent, to the Tribunal for determination.[3]The assured tenancy is now periodic calendar monthly. Allocation of Repairs between Landlord and Tenant[4]As per S.11 Landlord and tenant Act 1985. Landlord’s Service Charges and Furniture provided and costs.[5]Furniture included: Sofa, storage units, wardrobe, bed, storage units. There were floor coverings and white goods. Liability for Council Tax[6]Tenant. Other relevant terms of tenancy[7]None Inspection and Hearing[8]An inspection is not routinely carried out. The Tribunal is content that it has sufficient information on the Property, its condition and on comparables, from a combination of the written and any photographic representations received and from its own knowledge and specialist expertise. Property[9]There was no inspection. The Property is a ground floor flat by conversion. The Property has two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom wc. It is part of an original Edwardian large detached family home, apparently on 3 levels originally, now the Building within which the Property is located. Access is from the small front garden. It has a small private rear yard accessible from the back of the Property.[10]The Building is one of several large former family homes from the early C20th located in very busy Red Route Hanger Lane forming part of the unimproved North Circular Road. The road consists of very similar houses an established residential and tertiary retail area a little to the south. There are on street parking restrictions to side roads and it appears no off street parking at the Building that is let with the Property. (Google Streetview July 2025).[11]The Building is of traditional brick fair faced external appearance. The main roof over the Building appears to be double pitched hipped and tiled. The street boundary is the open back edge of the pavement to what appears to be small service road located behind the North Circular Road. The Building seems to be in good to fair order. Window glazing appears to be double glazed timber windows to the Property. There is gas fired central heating. Evidence[12]The Tribunal received completed Forms MR1 and MR3 from the tenant along with about 10 photographs mainly of the interior and a series of minor items of disrepair and/ or of poor finishes. Form 1a from the landlord was also received. The Tribunal is grateful for such information as was provided by one or both of the parties. Tenant[13]The tenant did not contest the form or content of the landlords S.13 Notice but, did contest the new rent. The tenant felt that the rent should reduce to £2000 pcm. The Property was in fair condition but there were longstanding minor disrepair to finishes from damp and mould which appeared to be from the Building rather than any particular use by the tenants.[14]The tenant contested the comparables of the landlord suggesting that some comparables may not have completed at the asking rents. They took the view that the local range of converted flats in neighbouring roads ranged in rental value from £1750 to £2150 pcm citing around 8No. that had largely completed at marginally lower figures than those sought. They felt that the Property was really only worth about £2000 pcm. Landlord[15]The Tribunal received Form MR2. They provided basic details on a number of local properties to let including some to let at the same Building. They concluded that while there was a range in rents these were from £2200 to £2500 including some on Hanger Lane itself. Law[16]In accordance with the terms of S.14 of the Act we are required to determine the rent at which we consider the property might reasonably be expected to let in the open market, by a willing landlord, under an assured tenancy, on the same terms as the actual tenancy; ignoring any increase in value attributable to tenant’s improvements and any decrease in value due to the tenant’s failure to comply with any terms of the tenancy. Thus the Property falls to be valued as it stands; but assuming that the Property to be in a reasonable internal decorative condition. Validity[17]The tenant did not query the validity of the Notice. Valuation[18]From the Tribunal’s own general knowledge of market rent levels in LB Ealing for a Property of this type prices ranged between £1850 t0 £2450, it determines that the subject Property would let on normal Assured Periodic Tenancy (APT) terms, for £2300 pcm, fully fitted and in good order. This is the rent we would expect the Property to let for in the open market if it was in the same condition as comparable properties including landlord’s white goods and carpets in the Property and communal areas.[19]The Property had experienced a series of minor but irritating defects including flooding from an adjoining boiler room serving the whole Building. The Property was within a Building located right on Hanger Lane, a Red Route and part of the unimproved and very busy North Circular Road. For these two shortcomings compared with many similar flats nearby the Tribunal makes a deduction of £200 and therefore determines the new market rent at £2100 pcm. Undue Hardship[20]Allowance for hardship from this increase in the rent was sought by the tenant in their application but there were no substantive documents. No change to the effective date of the new rent is made by the Tribunal. Decision and effective start date[21]The starting date of the new rent of £2100 pcm inclusive to be levied is from and including 1 June 2026.[22]Although the landlord is not obliged to charge this rent and may charge a significantly lower rent as a result of their own choice, policy, or governmental regulation; they may not charge more than this figure. Chairman N Martindale FRICS Date 22 July 2026 Rights of appeal By rule 36(2) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rules 2013, the tribunal is required to notify the parties about any right of appeal they may have. 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 decision to the person making the application (regulation 52 (2) of The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rule 2013). If the application is not made within the 28-day time limit, such application must include a request for an extension of time and the reason for not complying with the 28 day time limit; the tribunal will then look at such reason(s) and decide whether to allow the application for permission to appeal to proceed, despite not being within the time limit. The application for permission to appeal must identify the decision of the tribunal to which it relates (i.e., give the date, the property, and the case number), state the grounds of appeal and state the result the party making the application is seeking. If the tribunal refuses to grant permission to appeal, a further application for permission may be made to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber).