Habib Choudhury v Paulina Madej

Facts

The property is a converted studio flat in a four-storey end of terrace building at Flat 4, 122 Maryland Street, London. The respondent, Ms Paulina Madej, has been the tenant since September 2010. In February 2025 the appellant landlord, Mr Habib Choudhury, served a notice under section 13(2) of the Housing Act 1988 proposing a new rent of £1,600 per month in place of the existing £650 per month. Ms Madej referred the notice to the First-tier Tribunal under section 13(4) of the Housing Act 1988, and on 27 November 2025 the FTT determined the rent. In its "Summary reasons" the FTT said that, having considered the comparable evidence provided by the parties and its own expert general knowledge of rental values in the area, the open market rent for the property in good tenantable condition was £1,000 per calendar month; it then made deductions for lack of white goods, arrangement and size, and disrepair, arriving at £750 per calendar month, assumed to include electricity and water. The landlord sought permission to appeal on the basis that the FTT had ignored comparable evidence from both parties indicating a higher rent. The FTT refused permission, but the Upper Tribunal granted it on the basis that the FTT had failed to explain why the market rent fell below that of the comparables.