Section 48 Notice (Landlord’s Address for Service)
Quick answer
Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires a landlord of a residential dwelling in England or Wales to give the tenant a written address in England or Wales at which notices can be served. Until a compliant address is given, no rent is legally due. A common cure for an overseas landlord is to use the letting agent’s UK address (with the agent’s consent), but the address must be the landlord’s address for service, not a generic correspondence address.
At a glance
- What
- A notice giving the tenant an address in England or Wales for serving notices on the landlord
- Law
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, s.48
- Effect if missing
- Rent is not lawfully due until the address is given
- Where
- Usually stated in the tenancy agreement
Full guide
Read the complete landlord guide on Section 48 Notice (Landlord’s Address for Service)
Deadlines, fines and step-by-step compliance in our in-depth resource.
Open full guideWhy Section 48 Notice (Landlord’s Address for Service) matters for landlords
Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires you to give the tenant an address in England or Wales at which notices can be served on you. Until you do, rent is not treated as lawfully due — which matters if you later rely on rent arrears for a Section 8 Ground 8 possession claim, because the arrears may not count. The address is normally built into the tenancy agreement, so it is easy to satisfy, but easy to overlook when using a bare template. It is a small clause with an outsized effect on a possession case.
Tracked inside LetCompliance
Stop tracking Section 48 Notice (Landlord’s Address for Service) in spreadsheets
LetCompliance scores every property 0–100 across Gas Safety, EICR, EPC, deposits, Right to Rent and Fire Risk — with deadline reminders 90/30/14/7/1 days out and a court-ready PDF you can export in one click. Built for UK landlords + letting agents.
Official sources
LetCompliance editorial reviews this entry every quarter against the sources above. Always confirm specific duties with a qualified solicitor or your local council.
Related terms
Section 47 Notice (Rent Demand Address)
Section 47 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires a landlord’s name and address (or that of an agent in England and Wales) to appear on every rent demand for a residential property. If the demand omits this, no rent is legally due until a Section 48 notice (or compliant rent demand) is served. Routinely missed by individual landlords self-managing without a template; the breach blocks rent recovery and pauses any Section 8 ground 8/10/11 arrears clock until cured.
Sub-letting
A tenant granting occupation rights to a third party (a sub-tenant) while the original tenancy continues. Most ASTs prohibit sub-letting without written landlord consent; under the Housing Act 1988 unauthorised sub-letting is ground 12 (discretionary) for possession and may also be a banning-order offence under section 79 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 if rent is taken from the sub-tenant beyond the rent paid to the landlord (“rent-to-rent fraud”). The Renters Rights Act 2025 retains sub-letting consent as a contractual landlord right with a reasonable-refusal threshold.
Disrepair
A property condition falling below the landlord’s repairing obligations under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 or the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. Tenants can sue for damages and specific performance. Disrepair is not in itself a defence to a possession claim, but a damages counterclaim can be set off against rent arrears — which can drop the arrears below the Ground 8 threshold — and it weighs against the landlord on the reasonableness test for discretionary grounds.
Improvement Notice
A formal notice served by the local housing authority under section 11 (Category 1 hazard) or section 12 (Category 2 hazard) of the Housing Act 2004 requiring a landlord to remedy hazards identified through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). The notice specifies the works, the deadline and the route of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. Failure to comply is a criminal offence with civil penalty up to £30,000, and triggers a 12-month Rent Repayment Order window.
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (Section 11)
The cornerstone repair-obligation statute for residential lets in England and Wales. Section 11 implies into every short-term residential tenancy a landlord obligation to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property, and to keep in repair and proper working order the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and water heating. Cannot be contracted out of. Breach is the basis for tenant disrepair claims, and Section 11 is what actually bites on a private landlord today — Awaab’s Law SLA enforcement is a social-sector regime the Renters Rights Act 2025 carries the power to extend to the PRS.
Schedule 2 (Housing Act 1988 Possession Grounds)
The schedule of statutory grounds a landlord uses to seek possession of an assured / assured shorthold tenancy under Section 8. Grounds 1–8 are mandatory (court must grant possession if proven): includes ground 1 (landlord-occupier intent), ground 1A (landlord sale, post-RRA 2025), ground 8 (3+ months rent arrears post-RRA 2025), ground 14 (anti-social behaviour). Grounds 9–17 are discretionary (court considers reasonableness): includes ground 11 (persistent late payment) and ground 12 (breach of tenancy). Choice of ground sets the notice period and the burden of proof.