Your Notice must be correctly served (ie delivered), or it will not be effective.
The Notice is only served when the contract holder is deemed to have received it. The time the Notice takes to get to the contract holder is not included in the notice period given to contract holders (ie the amount of notice they’re given is the time between the date they receive the Notice and the notice’s expiry date). Therefore, consider allowing extra time for delivery (eg at least 3 days via Royal Mail).
You can serve your Notice:
-
directly to the contract holder (ie by handing it to them in person)
-
by leaving it at or posting it to:
-
the contract holder’s last known home or business address
-
a place the contract holder has specified that they can receive Notices, or
-
the dwelling to which the Notice relates
-
by sending it in electronic form, but only if the contract holder has explicitly indicated to you that they’re willing to receive Notices electronically (eg if this was included as a specification in the occupation contract)
You should also retain proof that the Notice has been served. For example:
-
proof of delivery from Royal Mail or a courier service. It’s best to use a recorded delivery service as a minimum
-
a statement from a witness who saw you hand deliver the Notice to the contract holder or to one of the places outlined above. The statement should attest to the time and date of posting. A witness should have mental capacity, not be related to you, and not be under 18 years old
-
an electronic confirmation of delivery
-
a signed statement from the contract holder confirming that they’ve received the Notice and when
If there are multiple contract holders, you should serve your Notice to all contract holders. The easiest way to do this is usually by delivering it to the dwelling.
