Open market rent at tribunal: the tenant evidence pack guide

The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) answers one question when it considers your Section 13 rent challenge: what would a willing tenant pay for this property today, if it were newly advertised on the open market?

That question has a factual answer, and your job is to provide the evidence that pins it down. Most tenants go into a hearing with a few screenshots and good intentions. The ones who get the best outcomes go in with a structured evidence bundle that a panel can work through in under twenty minutes.

This post is the operational companion to What the rent tribunal actually measures: market rent and the £47 decision maths. That post explains the theory. This one tells you exactly what to put in the pack, how to find the evidence, and how to format it so the tribunal can actually use it.

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What "open market rent" means in practice

Before you start gathering evidence, it helps to have the definition sharp in your mind. Open market rent is the rent a willing tenant — not you specifically, not someone desperate — would agree to pay for your specific property to a willing landlord, as if the tenancy were starting fresh today, on similar lease terms.

That definition does four things for you:

1. It anchors the tribunal to today's market, not the rent you agreed two or three years ago.
2. It makes the comparison about your property, not a general neighbourhood average.
3. It makes conditions at the time of letting relevant — how the property was presented when you moved in matters.
4. It excludes your personal circumstances. The tribunal is not interested in what you can afford.

Keep that definition in mind as you build your pack. Every piece of evidence you include should speak to one of those four dimensions.

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What tribunal weighs: a quick recap

The panel weighs five things when assessing open market rent. Location, comparability, recency, evidence quality, and the condition of the property when it was let. The full explanation of how each factor works is in the companion post. For now, what matters is that your evidence pack needs to address each of these directly.

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The evidence pack: what goes in it

Think of your pack as a bundle with seven sections. You will combine them into a single, page-numbered PDF before you submit. Here is what each section contains.

Section	Contents
1. Cover letter	One page, headline ask, brief signpost to bundle contents
2. Comparables PDF	3-5 comparable lettings, one per page, with screenshot
3. Property defects PDF	Photos with date stamps, written descriptions
4. Agent valuations	Three email confirmations from local letting agents
5. EPC certificate	Downloaded from the gov.uk register
6. Condition-at-let evidence	Original inventory, check-in report, move-in photos
7. Correspondence chain	All landlord/agent communications, in date order

Each section is described in detail below. Build them in parallel — do not wait until you have finished one before starting the next.

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Comparable lettings: the most important section

Comparables are the spine of your case. They are the direct evidence of what the market is actually doing, and they are the hardest thing for a landlord to argue against if they are well-chosen.

Where to look

• Rightmove — filter to "to rent", set your postcode, and sort by most recently listed. Rightmove has the widest stock.
• Zoopla — similar coverage. Useful as a cross-check on Rightmove.
• OnTheMarket — smaller database but sometimes lists properties that do not appear on the majors.
• Local letting agent websites — agents sometimes list properties on their own site before pushing them to the portals. A quick search for the top three letting agents in your postcode and a scroll through their available stock can turn up good comparables.

How to filter

You want properties that match yours on the factors the tribunal cares about most:

• Same bedroom count — this is non-negotiable. A two-bed comparable does not speak to a three-bed.
• Same location radius — ideally within half a mile of your property, certainly within a mile. Postcode boundaries are a reasonable proxy.
• Same condition tier — a recently refurbished property is not comparable to a Victorian terrace that has not been touched since 2004. If your property is mid-tier, find mid-tier comparables.
• Similar amenities — parking, garden, EPC rating, and white goods all affect market rent. A perfect match on all of these is rare, but a note explaining any differences strengthens your submission.
• Advertised within the last twelve months — the tribunal prefers the last six months. Anything older than a year loses significant weight.

How to save them

[!warning] Rightmove and Zoopla listings disappear within days of a property being let. Do not bookmark and come back later. Save them the moment you find them.

For each comparable you want to use:

1. Open the listing on screen.
2. Print to PDF or use your browser's save-as-PDF function. Make sure the URL and the page title are visible in the PDF header or footer.
3. Take a screenshot of the full listing, including the property address, the asking rent, and the date stamp if visible.
4. Note the date you saved it. If the listing does not show a date, note when you found it.

That triple approach — PDF, screenshot, and a note of the date — means you have evidence even if the listing disappears before the hearing.

How many

Three to five strong comparables is better than ten weak ones. A panel can engage with a focused selection; a huge pile of marginally relevant listings creates noise and undermines your credibility. If you can only find two strong ones, include them with a note explaining why the market is thin.

How to format

For each comparable, create a single page in your PDF with:

• One-line summary: address (or nearest postcode), bedrooms, rent, date advertised, where listed.
• Screenshot of the listing below.
• A brief note (two to three sentences) explaining why it is comparable to your property and, if there are any differences, what adjustment that suggests.

Order your comparables from most recent to oldest.

What makes a comparable strong

A strong comparable has the same bedroom count, is within half a mile, is in similar condition, has been advertised within the last six months, and is genuinely available to let (not "let agreed" or "under offer"). If it also matches on parking, garden, and EPC band, even better.

What makes a comparable weak

A comparable is weak if it has a different bedroom count, is in a different neighbourhood, is more than twelve months old, is a different property type (flat vs house), has significantly better or worse amenities, or is shown as "let agreed" rather than genuinely available. Weak comparables can hurt your case by giving the landlord something to attack.

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Agent valuations: an hour's work that carries real weight

Three independent letting agent valuations are among the most powerful pieces of evidence you can submit. They show what a professional, who lists properties for a living and knows the local market, would put on the board for your home today.

How to get them

Ring three local letting agents — not national chains, but agents who actively list in your specific area. Look for boards in your street, search by postcode on Rightmove, or check Google Maps.

Tell them: "I am a tenant trying to understand the current market. What would you market a property like mine at on a new let?" Give them the basic details — bedrooms, address, broad condition.

When they give you a figure, ask them to confirm it by email. Most will. If they will not, note the agent's name, the date, and the figure they gave you in a short written note. Three valuations clustering around a range are difficult for a landlord to argue against.

[!tip] Do not mention the landlord or the tribunal when you call. Just ask as a prospective tenant trying to understand the market. You will get more candid answers.

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Property defects: condition affects market value

A property with unaddressed maintenance issues is worth less on the open market than the same property in good repair. The tribunal recognises this. If your home has defects that a reasonable landlord should have fixed, they are directly relevant to what the market rent should be.

Common defects that belong in the pack:

• Damp or mould (bathroom, external walls, basement)
• A boiler that breaks down repeatedly or fails to heat the property adequately
• Single glazing in a property where double glazing is standard for the area
• Broken or poorly functioning extractor fans
• Drafts from poorly fitted doors or windows
• Dated kitchen or bathroom that has not been updated in fifteen or more years
• Peeling paint, loose tiles, cracked plaster
• Noise issues from thin walls, poorly fitted windows, or shared plant room

How to document them

For each defect:

1. Photograph it. Use your phone's camera and make sure location and date are switched on in settings so the metadata is embedded.
2. Write a short description: what the defect is, how long it has been present, how often you have reported it, and what impact it has on your use of the property.
3. If you have reported it in writing to the landlord or agent, include that correspondence in section seven (the correspondence chain).

Do not exaggerate. Describe what is actually there. Tribunal panels can usually tell when a defect list has been inflated, and it damages your credibility on the comparables.

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EPC certificate: low ratings carry legal weight

The Energy Performance Certificate for your property is free to download from the government register at gov.uk/find-energy-certificate. Search by postcode and select your address.

An EPC rated E, F, or G is more than just a mark-down on liveability. Under the Domestic MEES Regulations 2018, landlords in England are legally required to bring properties up to at least EPC E before letting them. A property below that threshold puts the landlord in a legally difficult position and is objectively harder to let on the open market than an equivalent property with a higher rating.

[!info] Even if your property is rated D, include the EPC. A D rating is below average and is relevant to comparables. If a comparable you are citing is rated B or C, you can argue that the difference in energy efficiency justifies a rent below the comparable's asking price.

Include the full EPC certificate as one page in your pack, with the rating and the address clearly visible.

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Condition at let: what the tribunal uses as its baseline

The tribunal does not assess market rent for your property as if it were freshly renovated. It assesses it in the condition it was in when the tenancy started — or, more precisely, as if it were newly let in that condition today.

This matters in two directions. If the property was let in excellent condition and has since deteriorated due to the landlord's failure to maintain it, the tribunal takes the original condition as the baseline. If the property was let in a tired state and the landlord has since renovated it, that renovation is generally not the tenant's obligation to fund through a higher rent.

The evidence for condition at let comes from the original tenancy inventory, any check-in report produced at the start of the tenancy, and photographs you took when you moved in. If you do not have these documents, note that they were not provided. The absence of a landlord-produced inventory is itself informative — the landlord cannot later claim the property was in better condition than it appeared.

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Correspondence chain: the tone matters too

Include every piece of written communication from the landlord or letting agent during the notice period: emails, texts, letters, WhatsApp messages. Export or print them to PDF in chronological order.

The chain gives the tribunal context for the relationship and the negotiating positions taken. It also shows whether the landlord engaged in good faith before you applied. If any messages were aggressive or designed to pressure you, include them without comment — the tribunal will read them.

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The cover letter: one page, no more

Your cover letter is not the place to make your case in detail. It is a signpost to the bundle and a statement of your headline ask.

Structure it as follows:

1. One sentence identifying the property and the tenancy — address, tenancy start date, your name as tenant.
2. One sentence summarising the proposed rent increase — from £X to £Y, effective date per the Section 13 notice.
3. One sentence stating your position — you are challenging the proposed rent on the basis that it exceeds the open market rent for the property.
4. A short summary of the bundle contents — four or five bullet points, one per section.
5. Your headline ask — you are asking the tribunal to set the rent at £[figure] based on the comparable evidence.

Keep it to one page. The panel will spend the bulk of their time on the comparables, the valuations, and the defect photos. The cover letter just orientates them.

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Bundle formatting: getting it to the tribunal properly

Once all seven sections are complete, you need to combine them into a single PDF. Free online tools such as ilovepdf.com or smallpdf.com handle this without any software. Alternatively, Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) can merge PDFs on a Mac or PC.

When the bundle is assembled:

• Page-number it — most PDF combiners have a page-numbering option. Use it.
• Add an index page — a simple list of sections with their page numbers, immediately after the cover letter.
• Check the file size — if it is over 25 MB, compress it. Most tribunal submission portals have file size limits.
• Submit it at least seven days before the hearing — the tribunal rules require both parties to have access to each other's evidence before the hearing. Check your hearing notice for the exact submission deadline.

[!warning] Send the bundle to the tribunal via the submission method specified in your hearing notice. Do not email it unless you have been told to. Most hearings use the HMCTS online portal or a dedicated email address on the case correspondence.

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What to leave out

The following will not move the tribunal. Leave them out entirely:

• Affordability arguments — your income, your savings, your other outgoings, the impact on your family. The tribunal is not assessing what you can afford.
• Emotional appeals — how long you have lived there, how much you love the area, how stressful the process has been.
• Landlord character — whether the landlord is a good or bad person, whether they are wealthy, whether they are a professional landlord or an accidental one.
• Mortgage rate arguments — what the landlord's mortgage costs are, or are not, is not a factor in open market rent.
• Comparisons to social rent or LHA rates — the tribunal does not apply Local Housing Allowance rates unless the property is subject to a regulated tenancy. Standard assured tenancies are assessed against the open market.

Every page in your bundle should speak to the question: what would a willing tenant pay for this property today? If a page does not answer that question, it does not belong in the bundle.

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Worked example: a Southwark tenant, £1,650 to £1,925

Here is how a complete pack comes together in practice.

The situation: A tenant in Southwark, south London, receives a Section 13 notice proposing a rent increase from £1,650 to £1,925 per month on a two-bedroom flat. The proposed increase is £275 per month, or 16.7%.

Step one: comparables. The tenant spends two hours on Rightmove and Zoopla, filtering to two-bedroom flats within half a mile. They find:

Address	Rent	Date advertised	Source
Flat A, SE1	£1,650	March 2026	Rightmove
Flat B, SE1	£1,675	February 2026	Zoopla
Flat C, SE17	£1,695	January 2026	OnTheMarket
Flat D, SE1	£1,700	December 2025	Rightmove
Flat E, SE17	£1,750	October 2025	letting agent website

Flat E is slightly older and slightly further away, but included as a ceiling reference. The four most recent comparables cluster between £1,650 and £1,700.

Step two: agent valuations. The tenant calls three local letting agents and requests email confirmation.

• Agent 1: £1,650 (email received)
• Agent 2: £1,675 (email received)
• Agent 3: £1,725 (phone, note of call written same day)

Step three: defects. The property has an unaddressed boiler that has broken down twice in eighteen months (both repairs reported to the agent in writing, delays of ten days and fourteen days respectively) and damp in the bathroom wall that has been reported once, with no response received. Photos taken with date stamps. Written descriptions drafted.

Step four: EPC. The EPC for the flat is rated D. Downloaded from the gov.uk register and included in the pack.

Step five: cover letter. The tenant states that the comparable evidence and independent valuations place the open market rent for the property in the range of £1,650 to £1,700. They note the EPC rating and the two unaddressed maintenance issues as factors a willing tenant would take into account when agreeing a rent. They ask the tribunal to set the rent at £1,650.

The outcome. The tribunal reviews the bundle, notes that the four most recent comparables average £1,680 and the three agent valuations average £1,683. It makes a modest allowance for the D-rated EPC and the two maintenance issues. It sets the rent at £1,690.

The landlord's proposed increase was £275 per month. The tribunal award is £40 per month above the existing rent — an increase the tenant can manage, and one that reflects the actual market rather than the landlord's ambition.

The maths in summary:

• Proposed rent: £1,925
• Comparable range: £1,650-£1,700
• Agent valuation range: £1,650-£1,725
• Adjustments (EPC D, two maintenance issues): small downward
• Tribunal outcome: £1,690
• Saving vs proposed increase: £235 per month / £2,820 per year

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Next steps

Once your pack is complete, review it against this checklist before submitting:

• Cover letter is one page and states the headline ask
• Three to five comparables, each with screenshot, URL, and date saved
• Three agent valuations with email confirmation
• Defect photos with date stamps, one description per defect
• EPC certificate downloaded from gov.uk
• Original inventory or check-in report (or a note explaining it was not provided)
• Correspondence chain in date order
• Single PDF, page-numbered, with index page
• Submitted at least seven days before the hearing

If you are still at the stage of deciding whether to apply at all, the companion post walks through the £47 fee, how the tribunal weighs evidence, and the break-even calculation that tells you whether it is worth applying given your proposed increase.

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RentSOS provides information for tenants in England. This post is not legal advice. If your situation is complex, consider speaking to Citizens Advice or a local law centre before your hearing.