Following a judgement in the Court of Appeal landlords and letting agents can continue serving key documents to tenants by post.

The Court of Appeal ruled that documents can be sent by post if the tenancy agreement specifies it.

This a important clarification as the soon to be introduced Renters’ Rights Bill will require landlords to serve a number of new documents.

Invalid claim

The case of D’Aubigny v Khan centred on a challenge by the tenant over which documents could be sent in the post.

The tenant (D’Aubigny) stated that the landlord (Khan) could not send the EPC, gas safety certificate and the How to Rent Guide by post as they were not notices.

The tenant claimed they did not receive the documents and so they were not properly ‘served’ and as a result the Section 21 notice was invalid.

Court finds in favour of landlord

The court ruled against the tenant stating there is a presumption that a letter sent to the correct address will be deemed received unless the recipient can prove otherwise.

James Wood, Head of Policy at NRLA says: “In this case the landlord’s strongest argument was that the contract provided for services of notice by post.

“Given the Court of Appeal’s decision, clauses like this would also apply to any other formal information required by the law,” he says.

“Had the tenant been successful in this appeal, landlords may not have been able to post this document to prove compliance, leaving them open to potential fines.”

Leading property lawyer David Smith, of JMW Solicitors, says: “This will be a relief to a fair few landlords and supporting organisations as this form of words is in pretty universal use across the sector”.