Updating post from Reddit.
Hi all,
We’re looking for some advice regarding the validity of serving Section 21 and Section 8 notices via email, specifically in the context where the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) explicitly states that notices can be served by email.
Has anyone here successfully served either notice by email and had it upheld in court? We're trying to determine whether the courts will accept it as valid service, or whether it's still safer (or required) to serve notices in person or by post, regardless of what’s agreed in the tenancy agreement.
Would really appreciate any first-hand experiences or legal insights!
According to Practice Direction 6A, service of notices by electronic methods (e.g email) will be acceptable, provided that
(1) The tenants have previously indicated they are happy to receive such notices by email AND they have provided the email address(es) for such notices to be sent to.
A clause in the signed tenancy agreement saying something like "The tenant agrees that notices under this email will be valid if sent by email to joe@email and jane@email" will be sufficient
(2) In addition to the above, before serving the notice, you must first ask the tenants who is to be served and if there are any limitations to the recipient’s receiving the email (for example, the maximum file size their email can accept ..if they can accept pdf attachments etc).
You must retain evidence of doing the above before sending the notice.
Provided the above is done, you can serve a valid notice by email.
You don't have to send by post too, but I recommend it as the consequence of getting it wrong can be costly.
It's not automatic, right? You must have agreement from the tenant, as stated in the tenancy agreement, that notices can be served by email.
However, we always send via every method: email, hand delivery, and recorded delivery. Eliminate that argument completely by being comprehensive. Then use the date on the recorded delivery as the date of service, as it is always later.