Serve notice
To serve notice is to formally deliver a written notice to your residential tenants in the way required by law and the tenancy agreement. For a private landlord, serving notice is usually the first step in changing something important about a private tenancy. For example ending an assured tenancy using specific possession grounds, increasing rent, or requiring access.
Under the Renters’ Rights Act, you normally serve notice on statutory forms which explain the ground relied on, the date the tenancy is intended to end, and the tenant’s rights. Simply emailing, texting or telling a tenant verbally is not enough unless the law and the contract both allow it. You must follow any service clause in the agreement, for example posting to the property, hand delivery through the letterbox, or agreed email. Also keep proof, and give at least the minimum notice period.
If notice is not correctly served, the court may refuse a possession order, even where statutory grounds such as arrears or serious anti-social behaviour are made out. Poorly drafted or misleading notices can also count against you with the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman and in any enforcement action.
Professional landlords treat serving notice as a precise paperwork exercise: using the right form, checking dates and addresses carefully, and recording service so that any later end of tenancy or regaining possession is on a solid footing.
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