By Cameron Blackshaw, Local Democracy Reporter
A landlord has been told to lower their rent demands after their flat was judged to be worth over £200 less than the market value due to its “very poor condition”.
A property tribunal calculated that the ground floor studio flat in Blackheath would be worth £1,400 per month based on market rate, but determined it is actually worth £1,183 per month due to its “lack of modernisation” and “general disrepair”.
Nicholas Payne has been the sole tenant of a flat in Falconwood Court, Montpelier Row, since 1998. On October 31, last year, Mr Payne’s landlord E J & D Azouz proposed an increase of rent from £1,025 per month to £1,250 per month, an increase of nearly 22 per cent.
Following this proposal, My Payne made an application to the Residential Property Tribunal to determine whether the rise was fair. While the panel concluded its value was about £70 less than that which was being demanded, it ruled that if it wasn’t in such a state, it would be worth approximately another £200 a month.
The tribunal undertook an inspection of the property on March 31 and this inspection determined that “the external fabric and common parts of the block had been modernised and improved” but the same could not be said of the flat itself.
The tribunal report states: “Internally, the flat was found to be in very poor condition. It requires extensive redecoration throughout, modernisation of kitchen and bathroom areas, the electrical installation is antiquated and not fit for modern purpose, the carpet was worn through and exceptionally dirty – and there was inter pane condensation to the antiquated double glazing and one of the internal double glazed panes on a fanlight had broken.”
According to the tenant, the property’s carpet and radiators are the same ones from when the flat was built in 1968 and the flat was last decorated in 1997.
The tribunal decided on April 7 that the rent should be set at £1,183 per month, £217 less than its open market value of £1,400 per month, due to the “antiquated” central heating radiators, the doubling glazing windows being “no longer fit for purpose” and there being “inadequate electrical installation by modern standards”.
This 15.5 per cent decrease in value was also due to the kitchen and bathroom being “inadequate by modern standards” and the property requiring a “full decoration internally”.
Pictured top: Falconwood Court in Montpelier Row, Blackheath (Picture: Google Street View)
