Landlords and tenants are often required to give notices to one another, but preparing and serving notices can be a minefield, with plenty of room for mistakes.

Innocent and minor errors can potentially invalidate the notice, and may prove expensive. As notices often give rise to rights and obligations, it is important to ensure that any notice you serve is valid, or consider whether any unwanted notice you receive is, in fact, valid.

The basic rule is that the form (which may be contractually or statutorily prescribed), the content (such as the receipient(s) and dates in the notice), the method of service and the required time for service of a notice must all be correct in order for a notice to be valid. If there are any defects in the way in which the notice is prepared or served, it cannot automatically be relied upon and may be challenged by the recipient.

The rules are slightly different for every kind of notice and there is a lot to think about, in addition to any conditions that may be required to be satisfied prior to, upon or after service of a notice.

As a consequence, we suggest that you should seek legal advice at an early stage if contemplating giving any notice to ensure that you are able to satisfy all conditions, as well to ensure that any notice served is valid.  We would also recommend seeking legal advice should you wish to challenge the validity of a notice that you receive.

For further information on commencing, exiting or disputing a commercial property lease please contact Bryony Dew, Solicitor on 01256 305553 or email bryony.dew@lambbrooks.com

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.