Section 48 Notice Template — Address for Service of Notices
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A Section 48 notice for English landlords. Until you serve this on the tenant, no rent is legally due. The post-RRA AST template includes Section 48 inline — use this standalone where the tenancy agreement doesn’t.
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When you need this document
Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires every landlord of a residential tenancy in England or Wales to give the tenant a written address in England or Wales where notices can be served. Until that address is provided, no rent is legally due. This isn’t a theoretical point — it’s a regularly cited defence in arrears claims.
For new tenancies post-RRA 2025, the AST tenancy agreement should include Section 48 inline (DocuTenant’s AST template does this at Section 6.8). For existing tenancies where the agreement doesn’t mention the service address, or where the landlord’s address has changed, a standalone Section 48 notice does the job.
A correctly served Section 48 notice protects the landlord’s right to recover rent. It’s a 30-second document that prevents a common, expensive defence. Generate it once for any tenancy where the service address isn’t already in the tenancy agreement.
Who needs this document
- You are letting in England and live at a different address
- The tenant must have an address in England or Wales at which notices can be served on you. Without one, rent is not lawfully due.
- You use a managing agent
- The agent’s address can serve, but it has to be given to the tenant in writing. An address on an email footer is not service.
- You have moved since the tenancy began
- The address on the original agreement is no longer valid for service and needs replacing before you rely on any arrears.
- You are about to serve a Section 8 notice
- Sort the Section 48 address first. A tenant who has never been given one has a straightforward answer to an arrears claim.
Mistakes that invalidate it
The errors that turn a document you thought was compliant into one that gives you nothing.
Giving an address outside England and Wales
It does not satisfy Section 48. A landlord living in Scotland letting an English property needs an English or Welsh service address.
Using a PO box or a care-of address with no standing
The address must be one at which notices can genuinely be served on you.
Relying on the address being "obvious" from correspondence
The requirement is that it is given by notice in writing. Inference does not discharge it.
Serving a separate notice when the agreement already carries it
Harmless, but unnecessary — our England tenancy agreement folds Section 48 in as clause 6.8, so a separate notice is only needed if the address changes.
What’s included
- Compliant with Section 48, Landlord and Tenant Act 1987
- Single landlord or company landlord variants
- Multi-tenant service (one notice per named tenant)
- Updates trigger — use again if landlord’s address changes
- Tracks date of service for evidence of compliance
- PDF or DOCX export, free to preview before you buy
RRA 2025 context
England and Wales only. Section 48 is part of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 and applies to residential tenancies in England and Wales. Scotland has separate rules under the PRT framework — the PRT tenancy agreement itself records the landlord’s address for service.
Post-RRA AST agreements include Section 48 inline. If you’re using DocuTenant’s AST template (or any post-RRA AST that incorporates Section 48 as a clause), you don’t need a separate Section 48 notice. Use this standalone notice for pre-RRA tenancy agreements that don’t include the address, or for any tenancy where your service address has changed since the agreement was signed.
Related templates
Documents you might need alongside this one.
AST Tenancy Agreement Template
A post-RRA tenancy agreement for private landlords in England. Periodic only, with Section 48 inline, configurable obligation clauses and an explicit advance-rent cap. Build it and preview it free; pay £9 only when you download.
View templateSection 8 Notice Template (Form 3A)
A Section 8 possession notice for English landlords, on the post-RRA prescribed Form 3A. Pick from all 37 grounds, with correct notice periods, conditional warnings, and Universal Credit exception logic. Preview it free before you buy.
View templateDeposit Prescribed Information Template
A schemes-aware deposit prescribed information document. Custodial or insured variants, relevant-persons section (Housing Act 2004 s.213(5)), and the 5-week deposit cap warning for English tenancies. Free to build and preview.
View templateForm 4A Rent Increase Notice Template
A Section 13 rent increase notice on the new prescribed Form 4A. 52-week cap, two months’ notice, and tribunal-aware wording that reflects the RRA’s upper-limit and no-backdating rules. Preview it free; pay only when you download.
View templateFrequently asked questions
What happens if I don’t serve a Section 48 notice?
Do I need to serve a new Section 48 if I move house?
Can a letting agent’s address be the service address?
Does the AST template already cover this?
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Sources
Every statute, form and scheme named above, linked to the primary source.
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (Section 48 address for service) — legislation.gov.uk
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