My tenant is telling me – through my agent – that he has a right to my name and address – otherwise, he claims, he is legally entitled to withhold rent. Can this be right? Surely, if I employ and agent or solicitor to manage my property I have a right to remain anonymous?
Some landlords like to keep their distance and remain anonymous as far as their tenants are concerned and they do this by having a property agent or even their solicitor or accountant take care of their lettings.
This can be achieved to some extent providing you comply with the legal requirements, but if the tenant insists on knowing the identity and address of their landlord the laws says otherwise.
An important aspect of residential letting in England & Wales is the necessity to supply the tenant with an address for service of notices, the payment of rent and service charges and for the reporting of defects and repairs etc.
Under the requirements of section 48 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1987 rent or service charges are not lawfully due unless the tenant has been given, in writing, an address in England and Wales at which notices can be served.
It is usual that the tenancy agreement clearly states such an address for service of notices.
Where the tenancy agreement clearly states the landlord’s address, then there is no need for the serving of a separate notice containing these details and this therefore eliminates future problems with proof of service.
The address supplied need not necessarily be the landlord’s residence, so your tenant is only partly correct. The address supplied can be that of the landlord’s agent, for example: a solicitor, an accountant or a managing agent.
Where the landlord resides abroad, then the landlord is obliged to supply an address, for example an agent, in England & Wales.
However, under the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 a tenant can demand, from the last person receiving rent, or the landlord’s agent, a written statement of the landlord’s name and address.
These details must be supplied within 21 days. Failure to comply on the part of the agent or landlord is a summary offence subject to a fine.
This article by Tom Entwistle first appeared in Landlord Magazine Nov/Dec 2008
