Tribunal evidence bundle: what to include and what to leave out

Your bundle is the single most important thing you prepare. Here's exactly what should be in it and what to leave out.

If you're challenging a Section 13 rent increase notice at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in England, the evidence bundle is the document the panel will actually read. Get it right and the tribunal has everything it needs to decide a fair market rent. Get it wrong — or pad it with the wrong stuff — and you make the panel's job harder, which rarely helps your case.

This guide walks you through the four sections a strong tenant bundle contains, what to leave out, and how to present it cleanly.

What the tribunal actually reads

A First-tier Tribunal rent case has two parts: the written evidence and the hearing. Most of the decision is shaped by the bundle. The hearing is usually short, sometimes held on the papers only, and the panel uses it to check detail or ask questions that the bundle didn't answer.

So the bundle does the heavy lifting. The panel — usually a legally qualified chair and a valuer member — is looking for one thing: what is the open market rent for this property on the date the Section 13 notice takes effect (Housing Act 1988, s.14)?

Everything in your bundle should help answer that question. Anything that doesn't is noise.

The four sections of a tenant evidence bundle

We recommend splitting your bundle into four clearly labelled sections. This mirrors how the tribunal reads evidence and makes it easy for the panel to navigate.

Section 1: Cover page and index

A single page at the front listing:

• Case reference (if the tribunal has given you one)
• Property address
• Your name as respondent
• Your landlord's name as applicant (or vice versa, depending on who applied)
• The date the Section 13 notice takes effect
• A numbered index of what's in the bundle, with page numbers

This sounds small, but tribunals appreciate it. It signals you've taken the process seriously.

Section 2: Procedural evidence

This is the paperwork that sets the scene. Include:

• The Section 13 notice itself (Form 4). The tribunal needs to see the exact notice you're challenging.
• Your tenancy agreement, or the most recent one if there have been several. This confirms the terms, the current rent, and whether the tenancy is periodic or fixed.
• Any written correspondence between you and your landlord about the increase — emails, letters, WhatsApp messages. Include it if it's relevant to the rent. Leave out general chat.
• Your application form to the tribunal (Form 6), if you made the application.

Keep this section factual. No commentary, no highlighting. The tribunal will read the notice and form its own view on validity (we cover what makes a notice invalid in a separate guide).

Section 3: Market rent evidence

This is the section that usually decides the outcome. You're trying to show the tribunal what similar properties are actually letting for in your area right now.

Aim for 5 to 10 comparable listings from the last 3 months. Use a mix of:

• Rightmove
• Zoopla
• SpareRoom (for rooms in shared houses)
• OpenRent

For each comparable, include a screenshot showing the listing, the rent, the date you captured it, and the full address or postcode area. Print it clean — no browser toolbars, no cropped rent figures.

A good comparable is:

• In the same town, ideally the same neighbourhood or postcode district
• A similar property type (flat vs house, number of bedrooms)
• Roughly the same size and condition
• Let on similar terms (furnished vs unfurnished, bills included or not)

A bad comparable is a property in a different market, a different size, or priced unusually high or low. The tribunal will spot it and it weakens the rest of your evidence.

Section 4: Property-specific evidence

This is where you show what's different about your home that might pull the market rent down from the headline figure. Include:

• Disrepair photos, dated, with a short factual caption ("Damp on north wall of bedroom, February 2026"). Don't over-dramatise. Let the photo speak.
• Any reports — environmental health notices, damp surveys, gas safety issues.
• The EPC rating if it's relevant. A low rating (E or below) can affect value.
• Improvements you paid for yourself. The tribunal should disregard these when setting the rent (Housing Act 1988, s.14(2)). Receipts or invoices help.
• Works outstanding — things the landlord has promised to fix but hasn't.

Keep it proportionate. Two photos of the same mould patch is enough; fifteen isn't.

What to leave out

This is where most tenant bundles go wrong. The tribunal can only decide market rent — not whether your landlord is reasonable, whether you can afford the increase, or whether the situation is fair on you personally.

Leave out:

• Emotional appeals. "This has been incredibly stressful" won't move the needle.
• Affordability arguments. What you earn, what you can pay, whether you have children — none of it changes the market rent.
• Personal circumstances, unless directly relevant. Being a carer or disabled may be relevant if it affects the property (e.g. adaptations you've paid for). Otherwise, it's not evidence the tribunal can use.
• Unrelated landlord grievances. Slow repairs, a disagreement over the deposit, rude messages — none of it belongs here unless it goes to the condition of the property.
• Anecdotes without proof. "My neighbour pays £200 less" is worthless without the listing or tenancy to back it up.
• Long legal arguments. The panel knows the law. You don't need to quote statute at length.

A tight bundle that focuses on comparables and condition beats a thick bundle full of frustration. Every time.

How to present comparables

A simple table at the start of your market rent section saves the tribunal enormous time. Six columns:

Ref	Address / area	Property type	Monthly rent	Date listed	Source
C1	SE15 postcode	2-bed flat, furnished	£1,650	02/03/2026	Rightmove
C2	SE15 postcode	2-bed flat, unfurnished	£1,575	18/02/2026	Zoopla
C3	SE14 postcode	2-bed flat, furnished	£1,700	25/02/2026	OpenRent

Then follow the table with the screenshots, numbered C1, C2, C3 to match.

This turns scattered listings into a clean, readable piece of evidence. The panel can cross-check at a glance.

Timing: when to send the bundle

The tribunal usually directs bundles to be filed 7 days before the hearing, but check the directions letter you receive — dates vary by case. If you're late, the tribunal can refuse to admit your evidence.

Two practical tips:

• Start early. Comparables need to be captured close to the hearing date, but everything else (notice, tenancy, photos, improvements) can be pulled together weeks in advance.
• Don't leave screenshots to the last minute. Listings get taken down when the property lets. A comparable captured three weeks ago and then removed is still valid evidence; a comparable you meant to capture and forgot about isn't.

How to submit

Send the bundle to both the tribunal and your landlord at the same time. Email is normally fine — check the directions letter for the exact address. In your covering email, list what you're sending and copy your landlord (or their representative) in.

If the bundle is large, a single PDF with bookmarks for each section is easier to read than a zip of separate files. Free tools like PDF24 or Smallpdf will merge files into one PDF.

Keep your own copy, exactly as sent. Bring printed copies to the hearing if it's in person — one for you, one for the panel, one spare.

Where our evidence pack fits in

Our RentSOS evidence pack (£14.99) gives you the market rent section and a property-specific checklist pre-built for your postcode — the comparables table, the listings, a condition prompt list, and the framing. You still assemble the procedural section yourself (it's your notice, your tenancy, your correspondence), but the heaviest research lift is done.

If you'd rather do the whole thing yourself, this guide is the blueprint. The pack just saves you the evening spent on Rightmove.

Quick note on 1 May 2026

From 1 May 2026, under the Renters' Rights Act, tribunal decisions on Section 13 referrals can no longer be backdated, and the tribunal can't set a rent higher than what the landlord proposed. In plain English: challenging is safer than it used to be. The downside risk that used to put tenants off is gone.

That doesn't mean every challenge succeeds. But the cost of trying is lower from May onwards.

Five key takeaways

1. The bundle is the case. Most of the decision is made on paper, so make the bundle do the work.
2. Four sections: index, procedural, market rent, property-specific. Clear structure helps the panel and helps you.
3. 5 to 10 comparables, captured recently, from reputable sites. Quality beats quantity — bad comparables hurt your case.
4. Leave out affordability, emotion, and unrelated grievances. The tribunal can only decide market rent.
5. Send the bundle to the tribunal and landlord together, usually 7 days before the hearing. Check your directions letter for the exact date.

FAQs

How long should the bundle be? There's no rule, but 20 to 40 pages is typical for a well-organised tenant bundle. Anything over 60 usually means padding. The panel reads better bundles more carefully.

Do I need a lawyer to prepare the bundle? No. The First-tier Tribunal is designed so tenants and landlords can represent themselves. A clear, well-structured bundle from a tenant is often more useful than a legal submission that misses the point.

Can I add evidence after I've sent the bundle? Only with the tribunal's permission, and only if there's a good reason. Assume the bundle you send is the bundle the panel will read. Don't hold things back.

What if I can't find 5 comparables in my area? Widen the search — a similar town nearby, or a slightly different property type with a note explaining the difference. Three strong comparables beat ten weak ones, so don't pad the table.

Does the landlord see my bundle? Yes. Both parties exchange evidence. You'll also see your landlord's bundle, which usually argues for the higher rent. Read it carefully and be ready to respond to specific comparables at the hearing.

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This guide covers Section 13 rent increase challenges at the First-tier Tribunal in England only. We can't promise outcomes — every case is different — but a clean bundle gives you the best chance of a fair decision.