100A Bravington Road, London W9 3AL LON/00BK/MNR/2026/0358
REASONS
[1]A landlord’s notice dated 12 April 2026, was served under Section 13(2) Housing Act 1988 proposing a new rent of £900 per calendar month in place of the passing rent of £675 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]The communal kitchen contained standard white goods. The Property (room) included a bed wardrobe, table. There carpets and vinyl. Liability for Council Tax[6]Tenant but included in the rent. 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 appears to be a room, ground floor. It is at the front of a 5 bedroom, ground and first floor maisonette, which appears to be part of an original Victorian mid terraced house on 3 levels – the Building. The Property shares ground floor kitchen bathroom (no living room), front and rear yards via a shared staircase. The rent includes services and council tax. There are on street parking restrictions. It is among other established residential areas of Maida Hill providing mainly private accommodation in houses or conversions to flats or HMOs since their original construction, mainly as Victorian family houses. (Google Streetview August 2025).[10]The Building appears to be of traditional brick fair faced external appearance. The main roof over the Building appears to be double pitched tiled. The street boundary is fenced. The Building seems to be in good condition. Window glazing appears to be single glazed timber windows but with internal secondary glazing. There is gas fired central heating. Evidence[11]The Tribunal received completed Form 1 and 1b from the tenant. Form 1a from the landlord was received. The Tribunal is grateful for such information as was provided by one or both of the parties. Tenant[12]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 remain at £675 pcm at most. The tenant was concerned that the Building was very noisy there being some 10No. residents in the 5 bedrooms, some of which were only single rooms. They included several pictures of the front and rear yards containing quantities of rubbish and discarded furniture. The tenant also included some pictures of the interior of the Property and of the common parts. There had been some minor disrepair in the Property and in shared areas. Landlord[13]The Tribunal received brief representations from the landlord in Form 1a as to the new rent. The rent was monthly. The landlord questioned the validity of the tenant’s representations regarding the number of and noise from other residents. The landlord provided extracts showing other similar rooms in the locality of Maida Hill. These showed another 10No. double rooms available in local houses and flats. The rents sought ranged from £900 to £1200 pcm, most included landlord’s services in those rents including water, internet, electricity and council tax. Law[14]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[15]The tenant did not query the validity of the Notice. Valuation[16]From the Tribunal’s own general knowledge of market rent levels in the City of Westminster and by reference to some of the landlord’s marketing materials provided for a Property of this type of which ranged between £900 and £1200 pcm, it determines that the subject Property would let on normal Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) terms, for £900 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.[17]The use of the Building did not appear to be significantly busier than other similar HMO buildings of this type. From the representations made available to the Tribunal it found that the poor condition of some of the common parts was a significant reason to justify an end allowance of £100 to reflect this. The Tribunal determines the new market rent at £800 pcm. Undue Hardship[18]Allowance for hardship from this increase in the rent was sought by the tenant in their application. However they provided no significant evidence in support of their claim. No change to the effective date of the increase is made by the Tribunal. Decision and effective start date[19]The starting date of the new rent of £800 pcm inclusive to be levied is from and including 1 June 2026.[20]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. Otherwise any further reduction in this figure on what is levied, is a matter between the parties, only. Chairman N Martindale FRICS Date 9 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).