Landlords and letting agents can continue serving key documentation such as gas safety certificates to tenants by post following an important test eviction case.

This follows a judgement in the Court of Appeal which has ruled that documents can be sent by post if the tenancy agreement specifies it.

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), which was involved in pursuing the case, has welcomed the decision, especially as the Renters’ Rights Bill will require landlords to serve a number of new documents.

Invalid claim

The test eviction case of D’Aubigny v Khan centred on a dispute over which documents could be sent in the post.

The tenants (D’Aubigny) argued that the landlords (Khan) could not send the Energy Performance (EPC) and gas safety certificates, with the How to Rent Guide, by post as they were not ‘notices’.

They said they did not receive these documents and so they could not be considered ‘served’, which made a Section 21 notice invalid.

Ruled against

But the court ruled against the tenants, and also said 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.”

This will be a relief to a fair few landlords and supporting organisations.”

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”.

Read more about evictions.