This is a blog clinic question from Helen who is a tenant:
I wonder if you could comment on whether the letting agent my landlord uses has complied with section 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 or not.
I am a tenant on an assured shorthold tenancy (now periodic) and I wrote asking the letting agent who manages the property (collects the rent etc.) for my landlord’s address as per section 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
They wrote in reply that my landlord’s address is on the tenancy agreement (which it is).
However given the tenancy has been running for six years that doesn’t necessarily give me my landlord’s current address. Rather naively, I thought the act meant they should supply the landlord’s current address by writing it out for me. That leaves me having to work out for myself if my landlord has moved or not in the last six years which defeats the point of my writing to ask for the address in the first place.
Many thanks.
But if the landlords address is still the same, then they have already provided you with a written statement. People often do live in the same place for a long time. I would suggest you write to the agents again and ask them to confirm that the address in the tenancy agreement is still current.
However on looking at the statute it does not actually say that the address must be a current one. The wording is
shall supply the tenant with a written statement of the landlord’s name and address
The address they provide also does not necessarily have to be the landlords residential address. Here is what the definitions section says:
“address” means a person’s place of abode or place of business or, in the case of a company, its registered office
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If YOU have a problem, why not put it to the blog clinic? However there are a lot of questions submitted, so if you need an answer quickly remember that members of my Landlord Law service can ask me questions in the members forum area, and will normally get an answer with 24 hours.
Are you a landlord? 
Probably not relevant to this case but an agent can also be served with a notice under Section 7 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 ordering the landlords name and address to be given immediately.
The caveat is that notice can be served for the purposes of intended proceedings which may be be brought. I have always argued that I am serving the notice on them with the intention of bringing proceedings based on the evidence in front of me, acknowledging that this may change once I have interviewed the landlord.
Agents get fined for not complying with a section 7 notice.
Ive had this debate with a few people recently and would argue that the landlord is running his business from the agents premises so therefore how wrong would it be to actually give the agents address?
Hi Darrel, yes that is something that has crossed my mind too.
Although the fact that the legislation requies the tenant to ask the agent sort of implies that the agent should give a different address than his own. What does anyone else think?
My personal interpretaion has always been that if the landlord runs a business then he can give the place of buisness as the address (this is NOT the same as the agent’s address). If they don’t have a separate business address then it would have to be their residential address.
However, ARLA’s technical award documentation states that (under requirements of Section 47) “The address given by the landlord should be their residental address, wherever it is in the world, not an address ‘care of’ their work or care of another person.”
Hi Tessa, Thank you for commenting on my question :)
I’d be happy with place of abode or place of business as what I really wanted was to write to the landlord without going via the agent (as my comments are about the agent).
I am surprised as I had got the impression the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 means the address as of the time the written request was made or at least when rent was last received. Taking:
[i]“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.”[/i]
too literally it seemed to me place of abode is where someone lives at the time of writing as opposed to where they used to live several years ago and similar for place of business.
Also as it’s under the heading [i]Disclosure of landlord’s identity.[/i] I had hoped there’s an implication its purpose is so that the tenant can write to the landlord directly. If that isn’t so then I wonder what the section is for?
I don’t think the agent is going to provide any more information.
Your comment is very interesting Ben, I’ll have to remember that but thankfully no one is intending to bring proceedings :)
If you want to check the truth of the Agent’s information, remember that for £4 you can search the address given at the Land Registry and find out if it is owned by the Landlord. Bear in mind however that ownership doesn’t necessarily mean that it is occupied by the landlord and that your letter will get to him!
@Simon Absolutely. The majority of rented properties that arent buy to let, are let out without the lender’s knowledge or permission. Land Reg office copies often just show the owner living at the same address.
It gives you the name of the mortgage lender though
If the landlord does not like the agent and wished to change agents, often the charges for keeping the current tenants is such that tenants need to be changed at the same time. So it may not be in your best interests to let the landlord know how bad the agent is.
(I am assuming that the agent is bad, as otherwise why would a tenant feel the need to write to the landlord?)
If I were a tenant in this situation I would send a quick letter by recorded delivery to the previous address asking the landlord to please get in touch with me direct. If it is undelivered then the tenant can go back to the agency to obtain the current address.
Thats a great idea Yvette – so simple and yet so effective.
Has to be the current address on any reasonable measure of that great legal word “reasonable”.
No way did the Statute intend that an out of date address could be given if a more recent one was know. The Law may be an ass but is not that bad