How To Notify Tenants Of A New Landlord (Section 3 Notice)

Section 3 – requirement to inform tenants of assignment of new landlord

Section 3 covers requirements #1 and #2.

Under Section 3 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords have a legal obligation to notify tenant(s) that they are the new landlord, along with their contact details (name and address). This is often the case after purchasing a property or some other assignment (e.g. inheritance) with sitting tenants.

Notice can be given to tenants by serving a “Section 3 notice”. The notice itself doesn’t need to be any particular format as long as it contains the necessary details:

• Landlord’s full name
• Landlord’s address (this must be the landlord’s actual address, and not just a proxy address suitable for service of documents)

When landlords should serve a Section 3 notice by

S3 (1) the new landlord shall give notice in writing of the assignment, and of his name and address, to the tenant not later than the next day on which rent is payable under the tenancy or, if that is within two months of the assignment, the end of that period of two months.

Penalties for not complying with Section 3

There are two potential consequences of not complying:

1. Being fined (up to £2500)
2. Both the former (“the old landlord”) and new landlord can be held jointly and severally liable for any breaches of the tenancy agreement. However, the legislation does state that the old landlord can protect themselves by providing their own notice in writing of the assignment, and providing the new landlord’s name and last-known address.

Section 48 – notification of address for service of notices

Section 48 covers requirement #3.

I’ve already written a dedicated blog post on Section 48 (Tenant’s Right To Know Landlord’s Address), so I’ll only go over the bare-bones here.

Under Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, landlords have a legal obligation to provide their tenants with an address (in England or Wales) where notices can be served on the landlord. This can be done by serving a “Section 48 notice

Similarly to a Section 3 notice, it doesn’t need to be any particular format as long as it contains the necessary details:

• An address where notices and other documents can be served by the tenant to the landlord (this can be the same as the landlord’s actual address – which it commonly is)

Section 48 is usually complied with in the tenancy agreement (i.e. the address is provided with in the contract). However, a Section 48 Notice is commonly served when a landlord has changed addresses during the tenancy, or in this case, when there is a new landlord.

Just to clarify, Section 48 does not require landlords to provide their own address, but rather an address where notices can be served (for example, if you’re using a letting agent to manage your rental property, their address can be provided). Section 3 requires landlords to provide their actual address (and as mentioned, the address can be the same for both notices).

If you only need to serve a Section 48 notice, you can download a template from here.

When landlords should serve a Section 48 notice by

• If there is a change in address, the tenant should be notified in writing within two months after the transfer
• If the tenant has made a written request for an address, the information must be provided in writing within 21 days

Penalties for not complying with Section 48

There are three potential consequences of not complying:

• Tenants can withhold rent until they are issued with an address
• Being fined (up to £2500)
• Landlords will not be able to enforce payment of rent, rent arrears or service charges through the courts. Although, this can be avoided by serving the Section 48 notice before any court proceedings to recover rent or service charges.

Download “New Landlord” notice template (to help comply with both Section 3 & 48)

This template can be used as notice to inform tenant(s) of the following:

• notification of a new landlord;
• contact details of the new landlord (to help comply with Section 3 & 48);
• New bank details for updating rent payment standing order.

The template can be modified to suit your requirements/needs.

Download your “New Landlord” notice template

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