How to serve a Notice

Introduction

There are many different types of notice that a landlord may need to serve depending on their tenancy. These notices will each have their own specific requirements. Some of these requirements may even vary depending on whether you serve the notice to tenants in England or Wales.

However, whether it is a section 21 notice or a notice to quit, then there are certain practices that you should follow as a landlord if you want to ensure the notice is served correctly on a residential tenancy.

This short guide is designed to help you understand the best practices that you will need to follow to ensure you serve a notice correctly.

Choosing your method of service

Service on the tenant

Your notice can always be served by hand to the individual tenant or tenants who live in the property. This is the best method if possible as it gives you the opportunity to have your tenants confirm they have received the notice by signing and dating the document.

Service to the property

If it is not possible to get the tenant to sign for the document, then the best method is to deliver the notice to the property yourself. As long as you have a professionally drafted tenancy agreement then it should contain a clause that specifies the notice will be considered served if it is delivered to the property.

Service by post to the property

A well-drafted tenancy agreement will also contain similar provisions allowing for notices to be served by posting the notice to the property. The key thing to remember with this is that the notice must reach the property for service to be affected. If you post the notice by recorded/signed for delivery then the tenant may refuse to sign for it.

Can my agent serve a notice for me?

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The rest of this content requires you to register on the NRLA site. It contains information on whether your agent can serve a notice, how many notices you should serve, how to evidence you have served the notice and when a notice is considered to have been served on the tenant.

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