Achieved rents, not asking rents: what wins at the rent tribunal

When a tenant refers a Section 13 rent increase, the First-tier Tribunal decides what the home would let for on the open market. It cannot set more than the landlord proposed. It can set less — including less than the tenant pays now. What decides where it lands is the evidence in front of it.

The short version

• Achieved rents beat asking rents. A letting that was agreed, with a date and a rent, is evidence. An advert is a hope.
• Like-for-like beats volume. Same bedrooms, same kind of home, close by, let recently.
• Adjust for the differences, openly. No parking, a smaller garden, older kitchen: say how much each is worth.
• An area average is not evidence. ONS and Local Housing Allowance figures are context, not comparables.

What counts as an achieved rent

Evidence	Weight	Why
Your own letting of a similar home, agreed in the last 12–18 months	Strong	A real rent, a real date, and you can show the agreement
An agent’s letter confirming rents agreed on similar homes	Strong	Names the homes, the dates and the rents
A ‘let agreed’ listing with the agreed date	Usable	Shows the home let; confirm the rent if you can
A published tribunal decision on a similar home nearby	Context	Too few to price from; shows how a figure fared
An asking rent on a portal	Weak	Not a rent anyone agreed to pay
An area average (ONS, LHA)	Not evidence	Covers every kind of home in a wide area

Three strong comparables, adjusted

1. Pick homes like yours: the same number of bedrooms and the same type, within about a mile, let in the last year if you can.
2. Record each one: address, postcode, bedrooms, type, furnished or not, rent, the date it was let, and the document that proves it.
3. Adjust each rent for the differences, with a reason and an amount — for example −£50 a month for no parking.
4. Put your proposed rent next to the adjusted figures. If it sits above most of them, expect a cut.

What the tribunal ignores: the s.14(2) disregards

The tribunal values the home as it is, but must ignore two things (Housing Act 1988, s.14(2)): improvements the tenant made at their own cost, and any fall in value caused by the tenant’s failure to keep to the tenancy. So write down the condition, who paid for what, and any damage — before you set the figure.

It can go below today’s rent

This is the risk landlords miss. The tribunal decides the open-market rent for the home on the evidence; it is not choosing between the old rent and the new one. If similar homes let for less than the tenant pays now, it can set the lower figure.

District	Rent: current → proposed → set	Decision
M1 (Manchester)	£1,650 → £1,700 → £1,450	MAN/00BN/MRA/2026/0043
DA2 (Dartford)	£2,350 → £2,375 → £2,300	HAV/29UD/MRA/2026/0020

How Abide.Rent helps

• A comparables locker on each rent review: add a letting from your own book in one click, upload an agent’s letter or a let-agreed listing, or type one in.
• Each comparable is graded strong, usable or weak, with the reasons, and the review shows how many strong ones you have against the three you need.
• The condition record and the s.14(2) disregards sit on the review and go into the evidence pack.
• The landlord sees the ‘can go below today’s rent’ warning before approving.

More: comparable lettings evidence and tribunal decisions by area.

Source: Abide.Rent’s reading of First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) market-rent decisions published on GOV.UK, with a postcode district, to 7 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Not legal advice.