How to object to your landlord's comparables at a rent tribunal hearing

Your own comparables are only half the battle. The other half is what you do with the landlord's.

A First-tier Tribunal decides one question at a Section 13 rent-increase hearing: what is the open market rent for your property? Both sides submit evidence. The landlord will usually turn up with a list of comparables — nearby lettings they say support their proposed figure. If those comparables hold up, the tribunal may set the rent close to what the landlord asked for. If you can pull them apart, the tribunal is likely to set it close to yours.

This guide shows you exactly how to object to landlord comparables, point by point, on the four things tribunals care about. It also gives you three objection scripts you can read aloud at the hearing. If you followed yesterday's guide and built your own comparables table, this is the companion tool that turns that table into an outcome.

What the landlord has to produce

Under the guidance published alongside the Renters' Rights Act 2025, a landlord supporting a Section 13 or Form 4A rent increase is expected to produce at least five comparable lettings. Those comparables need to be contemporaneous, similar to the subject property and from a credible source.

In practice, landlord evidence at tribunal often falls short of that standard. You will see, commonly:

• Fewer than five comparables.
• Comparables that are from outside the area, outside the last six months or of a different property type.
• Asking-price listings mixed in with let-agreed listings, with no distinction drawn.
• A short paragraph from the landlord's letting agent rather than dated listings with URLs.
• Properties that are bigger, newer or in better condition, with no adjustment for those differences.

Each of those is a real objection. None of them requires you to be a lawyer. They do require you to read the landlord's bundle carefully and work through it against a framework. That framework has four lenses.

The four-lens objection framework

Every comparable can be objected to on one or more of four grounds: location, like-for-like, recency and provenance. Use them in that order.

Lens 1 — Location

The tribunal looks for comparables in the tightest possible radius of the subject property. Same street is ideal. Same estate is acceptable. Same postcode sector is the outer limit for full weight.

Objection phrasing:

"The landlord's comparable at [address] is 1.2 miles from the subject property, in postcode sector [X] rather than ours. That area has different demand characteristics — [reason: e.g., closer to the station, different school catchment, different local rental stock]. I'd ask the tribunal to discount this comparable as too distant to be a like-for-like reference."

You can back this up with a simple printout from Google Maps showing the distance, or a screenshot of the two postcode sector boundaries.

Lens 2 — Like-for-like

Two homes might be 50 metres apart and still not comparable. The tribunal will look at:

• Number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
• Floor area.
• Property type (terrace, semi, flat, purpose-built vs conversion).
• Condition and decor.
• Outdoor space and parking.
• EPC rating.
• Furnished vs unfurnished.
• Length of the tenancy.

If the landlord's comparable differs on any of these, you can object. The strongest objection is not "throw it out entirely" — it's "discount it to reflect the difference".

Objection phrasing:

"The landlord's comparable at [address] is a three-bedroom semi-detached house with off-street parking and a garden. My property is a two-bedroom terrace with neither. Even on the landlord's figures, at least £75 per month of that rent is attributable to parking, garden and the third bedroom. Adjusted, the true comparable figure is closer to [£X] per month."

Lens 3 — Recency

The rental market moves quickly. A let agreed 18 months ago tells the tribunal nothing about market rent today.

Objection phrasing:

"Three of the landlord's five comparables were listed or let more than a year ago. The tribunal's own guidance prefers comparables from the last three to six months. I'd ask the tribunal to disregard those three entries, leaving only two current comparables on the landlord's side."

If this reduces the landlord's evidence to fewer than five comparables, say so explicitly. Five is the standard the tribunal expects; fewer than five on a contested hearing weakens the landlord's position significantly.

Lens 4 — Provenance

Where a comparable comes from matters. In order of weight:

1. A signed, dated tenancy agreement for a recent let (strongest).
2. A let-agreed listing on Rightmove, Zoopla or OpenRent.
3. A current asking-price listing on Rightmove, Zoopla or OpenRent.
4. An estate agent's unpriced comment ("market rent around here is £1,600").
5. A figure pulled from Zoopla's estimated-market-rent tool or similar.

Objection phrasing:

"The landlord's comparables 2 and 4 are asking-price listings, both of which remained on the market for more than six weeks — which typically signals that the asking price was above what tenants would actually pay. Tenants only prove market rent when they sign a tenancy; asking prices prove only what agents will try for."

The "missing evidence" objection

Sometimes the strongest objection is that the landlord has not produced enough.

If the landlord's bundle contains fewer than five credible comparables, the tribunal has a problem: they cannot reliably set a market rent on weak evidence. Historically, this has played out in two ways:

• The tribunal sets the rent at the tenant's evidence-based figure, because only the tenant has produced a proper evidence table.
• The tribunal declines to increase the rent at all, ruling that market rent has not been proved — so the existing rent stands.

Both outcomes are favourable for the tenant. This is why a thorough, honest tenant comparables table is so powerful at hearing: when the landlord is thin, you fill the evidence vacuum.

Three objection scripts

Take a printed copy of each of these and mark them up before the hearing. Tribunals expect the tenant to speak from notes; you don't have to memorise anything.

Script 1 — The "too-distant" objection

"Before turning to the evidence itself, I'd like to raise a point on the comparables the landlord has relied on. Three of the five comparables submitted are located more than half a mile from the subject property, in a different postcode sector with materially different local amenities. I would invite the tribunal to attach limited weight to those three comparables and to focus on the two remaining submissions, which sit alongside my own five comparables on the same street and in the same postcode sector."

Script 2 — The "asking vs let-agreed" objection

"Two of the landlord's comparables are current asking-price listings that have remained live for several weeks without being let. In my own evidence bundle I have included only comparables that are let-agreed or have been let in the last three months — these are better evidence of what tenants actually pay. I'd invite the tribunal to weight let-agreed evidence above asking-price evidence in the usual way."

Script 3 — The "adjustment needed" objection

"The landlord's comparable at [address] is a three-bedroom property; my home is a two-bedroom. On the landlord's own figures, the comparable lets for £[X]. Adjusting that figure down to reflect one fewer bedroom — at a reasonable rate of £100 per month per additional bedroom for this area — brings the adjusted comparable to £[X minus 100] per month, which is much closer to my own evidence."

Each of these scripts takes about 45 seconds to deliver. The tribunal chair will often ask a follow-up question — that is a positive sign, because it means the objection has landed.

What the tribunal actually credits vs dismisses

Experienced property chamber panels tend to respond predictably to arguments about evidence. Patterns that work for tenants:

• Consistent, honest adjustments. A tenant who acknowledges a comparable is slightly bigger or newer and adjusts the figure down is more credible than one who just discards anything inconvenient.
• Clean sourcing. A URL, a dated screenshot and a note of the source platform beats a vague "I saw it on Rightmove".
• Numerical summaries. Median, range, and a proposed figure at the top of your summary page let the panel see the shape of the evidence without doing the maths.
• Specific objections to the landlord's bundle. Generic "the landlord's evidence is thin" rarely moves the panel. Numbered, point-by-point objections do.

Patterns that work against tenants:

• Overstating adjustments ("£200 off for no parking" when the area would support £30).
• Throwing out any comparable that doesn't favour you, without explanation.
• Personal attacks on the landlord or the letting agent.
• Arguing about matters unrelated to market rent — repairs, conduct, prior disputes. Those have their own forum (the County Court, the Ombudsman, or a separate tribunal application).

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 — why objecting is now safer

Until 30 April 2026, tribunals can set the rent higher than the landlord asked for. That deterrent has stopped many tenants from applying at all. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 removes it. For Section 13 or Form 4A increases with a due date on or after 1 May 2026, the tribunal cannot exceed the landlord's proposed figure.

That turns a rent tribunal into a one-way street for the tenant. Your worst-case outcome is the rent the landlord already proposed. Your best-case outcome is the figure your comparables support — which, on typical evidence, tends to be 10-25% lower.

If your notice is pre-1 May 2026, the old rules still apply. Even so, a tenant with strong comparables rarely ends up above the landlord's figure — the tribunal's job is to set market rent on evidence, and the cases where a landlord undershoots market dramatically are rare. But you should weigh the risk honestly before applying.

Worked example

Two-bedroom terrace, BS5 postcode. Current rent £1,250 pcm. Landlord proposes £1,600 pcm via Section 13 (Form 4). Tenant applies to tribunal using Form RR1 and submits five comparables showing a median of £1,450 pcm.

Landlord submits five comparables:

1. Two-bed terrace, 0.1 miles, £1,525 let-agreed last month. Strong.
2. Two-bed terrace, 0.2 miles, £1,575 asking price, on market 5 weeks. Weak.
3. Three-bed semi, 0.3 miles, £1,650 let-agreed two months ago. Different property type.
4. Two-bed terrace, 1.1 miles, £1,700 let-agreed. Different postcode sector.
5. One-bed flat, 0.4 miles, £1,200 asking price. Different size.

Tenant objects at hearing:

• Lens 1 (location): comparable 4 is too distant; disregard.
• Lens 2 (like-for-like): comparable 3 is a three-bed semi; adjust down £150 to £1,500. Comparable 5 is a one-bed flat; adjust up £250 to reflect extra bedroom, but still not genuinely comparable — use only as a range indicator.
• Lens 4 (provenance): comparable 2 is asking-price and has been on the market 5 weeks; reduce weight.

After objections, the credible landlord evidence narrows to comparable 1 at £1,525 plus an adjusted comparable 3 at £1,500. Tenant's own evidence sits at a median of £1,450. The tribunal sets rent at £1,475 — a saving of £125 per month compared to the landlord's proposal, and close to the tenant's evidence-based figure.

Key takeaways

• The tribunal sets market rent on evidence presented — not on what the landlord claims, and not on what an agent says.
• Every comparable can be objected to on location, like-for-like, recency, or provenance.
• Asking prices are weaker evidence than let-agreed figures; let-agreed figures beat estate-agent quotes.
• If the landlord can't produce usable comparables, the tribunal may decline to increase the rent at all.
• From 1 May 2026, the tribunal cannot set a rent higher than the landlord proposed — objecting becomes a one-way street.

FAQs

Do I have to bring my own comparables or can I just object to the landlord's?

You can run a case purely on objections, but it's risky. The tribunal has to set a figure somehow, and if only the landlord has produced evidence — even weak evidence — the tribunal may still use it. Submitting your own five comparables alongside your objections is much stronger, and using both together is the approach we recommend.

What if the landlord turns up with no comparables?

The tribunal will rely on whatever evidence exists — typically yours. If neither side has evidence, the panel can refuse to set an increase at all, in which case the existing rent continues. This is one of several reasons to apply to the tribunal with your own comparables table rather than relying on the landlord's work.

Can I object to a comparable for being furnished when mine is not?

Yes. Furnished lets typically command a premium of £50-100 per month compared to unfurnished equivalents. You can ask the tribunal to adjust the comparable down by that range, or to disregard it if the difference is too large to adjust reliably.

Is an asking-price listing acceptable evidence at tribunal?

It is acceptable but weaker than a let-agreed listing. Asking prices reflect what landlords are willing to try for, not what tenants are willing to pay. If a listing has been on the market for more than three to four weeks, that itself is evidence that the asking price is above market.

Does the tribunal have to tell the landlord in advance which comparables I'm objecting to?

Directions from the tribunal usually include a deadline for written responses to the other side's bundle. If you object in writing before the hearing, the landlord should have a chance to respond. If you raise a new objection on the day, the tribunal may still hear it but will give the landlord a chance to comment. Either way, written advance objections tend to be the strongest — they give the panel time to absorb the argument.

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