Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

Information to be given to tenant E+W

1 Disclosure of landlord’s identity. E+W

(1) If the tenant of premises occupied as a dwelling makes a written request for the landlord’s name and address to—

(a) any person who demands, or the last person who received, rent payable under the tenancy, or

(b) any other person for the time being acting as agent for the landlord, in relation to the tenancy,

that person shall supply the tenant with a written statement of the landlord’s name and address within the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which he receives the request.

(2) A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with subsection (1) commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

(3) In this section and section 2—

(a) “tenant” includes a statutory tenant; and

(b) “landlord” means the immediate landlord.

2 Disclosure of directors, &c. of corporate landlord. E+W

(1) Where a tenant is supplied under section 1 with the name and address of his landlord and the landlord is a body corporate, he may make a further written request to the landlord for the name and address of every director and of the secretary of the landlord.

(2) The landlord shall supply the tenant with a written statement of the information requested within the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which he receives the request.

(3) A request under this section is duly made to the landlord if it is made to—

(a) an agent of the landlord, or

(b) a person who demands the rent of the premises concerned:

and any such agent or person to whom such a request is made shall forward it to the landlord as soon as may be.

(4) A landlord who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a request under this section, and a person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement imposed on him by subsection (3), commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

3 Duty to inform tenant of assignment of landlord’s interest. E+W

(1) If the interest of the landlord under a tenancy of premises which consist of or include a dwelling is assigned, 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.

(2) If trustees consititute the new landlord, a collective description of the trustes as the trustees of the trust in question may be given as the name of the landlord, and where such a collective description is given—

(a) the address of the new landlord may be given as the address from which the affairs of the trust are conducted, and

(b) a change in the persons who are for the time being the trustees of the trust shall not be treated as an assignment of the interest of the landlord.

(3) A person who is the new landlord under a tenancy falling within subsection (1) and who fails, without reasonable excuse to give the notice required by that subsection, commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

[F1 (3A) The person who was the landlord under the tenancy immediately before the assignment (“the old landlord”) shall be liable to the tenant in respect of any breach of any covenant, condition or agreement under the tenancy occurring before the end of the relevant period in like manner as if the interest assigned were still vested in him; and where the new landlord is also liable to the tenant in respect of any such breach occurring within that period, he and the old landlord shall be jointly and severally liable in respect of it.

(3B) In subsection (3A) “the relevant period” means the period beginning with the date of the assignment and ending with the date when—

(a) notice in writing of the assignment, and of the new landlord’s name and address, is given to the tenant by the new landlord (whether in accordance with subsection (1) or not), or

(b) notice in writing of the assignment, and of the new landlord’s name and last-known address, is given to the tenant by the old landlord,

whichever happens first.]

(4) In this section—

(a) “tenancy” includes a statutory tenancy, and

(b) references to the assignment of the landlord’s interest include any conveyance other than a mortgage or charge.

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 3(3A)(3B) inserted by Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (c. 31, SIF 75:1), s. 50

[F2 3A Duty to inform tenant of possible right to acquire landlord’s interest. E+W

(1) Where a new landlord is required by section 3(1) to give notice to a tenant of an assignment to him, then if—

(a) the tenant is a qualifying tenant within the meaning of Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (tenants’ rights of first refusal), and

(b) the assignment was a relevant disposal within the meaning of that Part affecting premises to which at the time of the disposal that Part applied,

the landlord shall give also notice in writing to the tenant to the following effect.

(2) The notice shall state—

(a) that the disposal to the landlord was one to which Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 applied;

(b) that the tenant (together with other qualifying tenants) may have the right under that Part—

(i) to obtain information about the disposal, and

(ii) to acquire the landlord’s interest in the whole or part of the premises in which the tenant’s flat is situated; and

(c) the time within which any such right must be exercised, and the fact that the time would run from the date of receipt of notice under this section by the requisite majority of qualifying tenants (within the meaning of that Part).

(3) A person who is required to give notice under this section and who fails, without reasonable excuse, to do so within the time allowed for giving notice under section 3(1) commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.]

Textual Amendments

F2 S. 3A inserted (1.10.1996) by 1996 c. 52, s. 93(1); S.I. 1996/2212, art. 2(2)(with Sch.)