Flat A 1 Lysia Street Fulham London SW6 6NF LON/00AN/MNR/2026/0360
REASONS
[1]A landlord’s notice dated 28 April 2026, was served under Section 13(2) Housing Act 1988 proposing a new rent of £1725 per calendar month in place of the passing rent of £1500 pcm, effective at 30 May 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 calendar weekly periodic. 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]There is no record of white goods or carpets provided by landlord or furniture. 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 photographic representations received and from its own knowledge and specialist expertise. Property[9]There was no inspection. The Property appears to be the first floor, part of late Victorian house built around 1890, since converted into a large first floor 3 bedroom flat, perhaps sometime post WWII. The Building is former house is one of a pair of semi-detached houses and accommodation is on two levels with some attic space. The Property has a 3 bedrooms, boxroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, WC all set on 1 level. There is shared use of the gardens with at least one other tenant in the Building.[10]There are on street parking restrictions. Access is off a local side road in an established residential area near to the River Thames upstream of Central London. (Google Streetview July 2022).[11]The Property appears to be of traditional brick walls, painted, with a double pitched double lap tiled main roof. It appears in fair condition. There are single glazed windows, no central water or space heating, an unmodernized kitchen and bathroom, some minor defects for floor and floor coverings. The Property had been subject to a very long former Rent Act protected tenancy, since assigned on an assured status to the current tenancy around 2022. A long history of a functional but basic underlying condition might reasonably be expected to subsist today therefore. Evidence[12]The Tribunal received completed a version of Form 6 from the tenant. The landlord served a starting Form 4 Notice of rent increase and later filed a Form 1b. They included a short report on local rental market conditions for flats and a copy of the tenancy. The Tribunal is grateful for such information as was provided by one or both of the parties. Tenant[13]The tenant referred to the condition inside the Property and provided some internal photographs. The tenant highlighted a series of minor defects which included: basic condition of kitchen and bathroom, and of windows, heating and flooring.[14]The tenant proposed a new rent of £1384.60 pcm. Landlord[15]The Tribunal received the Form 1a confirming basic facts and a report on the market. Prepared by Savills it described the market for 3 bedroom flats locally as ranging from £2745 to £4659 pcm in representations from the landlord. It considered that the proposed £1725 pcm made due allowance for the conditions at the Property. 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 challenged the rental figures in the Notice of rent increase as being inaccurate. The Tribunal checked the comparison between weekly and calendar monthly figures and found that it equated to the same sums. The Notice was valid. Valuation[18]The Tribunal finds the tenant’s and landlord’s photographs of assistance for the internal condition. From the Tribunal’s own general knowledge of market rent levels in Fulham it determines that the subject Property would let on normal Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) terms, for £3000 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 carpets and curtains.[19]From the representations the Tribunal found that there were some serious shortcomings at the Property, sufficient to justify a substantial deduction in the rent above. The Property had no central space and water heating, no double glazing, a basic bathroom, a basic kitchen and defects to flooring and floor coverings with the tenants own window coverings. It also appeared that the White goods were not provided by the landlord as might be expected in a former longstanding Rent Act protected tenancy on a former registered rent. For these very significant factors the Tribunal makes a large deduction of £1200 pcm. The new rent is therefore £1800 per calendar month. Undue Hardship[20]The tenant set out details of basic health conditions and disabilities for himself and his resident brother, for whom he is said to be the primary carer. The tenant confirmed and provided basic evidence of the part time and uncertain nature of his current work. The tenant sought a short delay to the start of the new rent to make the effective date the date of determination. The Tribunal did not have enough information to grant any allowance for undue hardship and the effective date remains that contained in the initial notice of rent increase. Decision and effective start date[21]The starting date of the new rent of £1800 per calendar month is from and including 30 May 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 June 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).