Who can validly serve a Section 13 notice: letting agents and notices after a sale

Most guides on challenging a Section 13 rent increase focus on what the notice says: the wrong date, the wrong tenancy type, the wrong names. But a notice can be wrong before you even get to the figures, if the person who served it had no authority to serve it in the first place.

This walkthrough is about that question. Who is actually allowed to serve a Section 13 notice? Can a letting agent do it? And what happens if a notice turns up from a landlord who has already sold the property? It covers England only and assumes a Section 13 rent increase on an assured or assured shorthold tenancy.

The basic rule: the notice must come from the landlord

A Section 13 notice proposes a new rent, and it has to be served by the person entitled to the rent, your landlord. That sounds obvious, but in practice rent is often collected and paperwork often served by someone else: a letting or managing agent, or sometimes a former owner who has just sold up. The question is always whether the person who served the notice had the standing and authority to do it on the landlord's behalf.

If they did, the notice can be perfectly valid even though the landlord's own hand never touched it. If they did not, you may have a validity ground to challenge, separate from anything written on the form.

Can a letting agent serve the notice?

Yes, an agent can serve a Section 13 notice, provided the landlord has authorised them to. This is completely normal. Plenty of landlords never deal with paperwork directly and leave it all to a managing agent.

So an agent's name on the notice is not, by itself, a problem. What you are entitled to is clarity. The notice should make the agency relationship clear, so that you can see it is being served for a named landlord, and you should be able to work out who that landlord actually is.

Where it can go wrong:

• The agent serves a notice after their management agreement with the landlord has ended, so they no longer have authority.
• The notice is so vague about who the landlord is that you cannot identify them or find an address to respond to.
• The agent cannot, when asked, confirm that they had the landlord's authority to serve the notice.

If any of those apply, the authority question is live, and it is reasonable to ask the agent to confirm, in writing, that they were authorised to serve the notice on the landlord's behalf.

What if the landlord has sold the property?

This is where validity problems are most common. A Section 13 notice must be served by whoever is entitled to the rent on the date of service. After a sale completes, that is the new landlord, not the old one.

So if your former landlord serves a rent increase notice after they have already sold the property and the sale has completed, they are usually no longer your landlord, and the notice may well be invalid. If the new owner wants to raise the rent, they generally have to serve their own valid notice, in their own name.

The dates are everything here. The questions to pin down are:

1. When did the sale complete?
2. Who actually owned the property on the day the notice was served?
3. Were you properly notified of the change of landlord?

If a notice was served by someone who was not your landlord on the day they served it, that is a strong point to raise.

You have a right to know who your landlord is

If you are unsure who genuinely owns the property or who is entitled to the rent, you do not have to guess. You have a legal right to be told.

• If you make a written request for the landlord's name and address to whoever collects your rent (often the agent), they must provide it. Failing to do so without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence.
• After a sale, the new landlord generally has to notify you in writing of the change.
• You can also check the registered owner at the Land Registry for a small fee if you want to confirm independently.

There are also separate rules that require a landlord's name and an address for service to be given to you, and a rent demand may not even be lawfully due while they are missing. We cover that angle in detail in our guide on no landlord name and address under sections 47 and 48. For the purposes of a Section 13 challenge, the point is simpler: knowing who your landlord actually is tells you whether the person who served the notice had the standing to do it.

What to do if you think the wrong person served the notice

Two warnings first. Do not ignore the notice, and do not assume it is invalid without checking — getting that wrong can leave you stuck with the increase. Instead, test the authority question directly.

Write to whoever served the notice and ask them to confirm:

• Who the current landlord is.
• On what authority the notice was served — if it came from an agent, that they had the landlord's authority; if it came from a possible former owner, that they still owned the property on the date of service.

Keep it factual and keep copies. Their answer, or their failure to answer, tells you whether you have a validity ground. If your time to respond to the increase is short, you can apply to the tribunal to protect your position while the authority question is sorted out, rather than letting the deadline pass.

Template: request for proof of authority and landlord details

To: [name of agent or person who served the notice] Property: [your address] Subject: Section 13 notice dated [date] — request for confirmation of authority and landlord details

Dear [name],

I have received a Section 13 notice proposing a rent increase, dated [date]. Before I respond, please confirm the following in writing:

1. The full name and address of my current landlord (the person entitled to the rent).
2. [If served by an agent:] That you had my landlord's authority to serve this notice on their behalf, and the basis of that authority.
3. [If you believe the property has been sold:] That the person who served this notice was the legal owner of the property, and entitled to the rent, on the date the notice was served.

I make this request so that I can identify who I am dealing with and respond correctly. I look forward to your reply.

[Your name, date]

The bottom line

A Section 13 notice is only as valid as the authority behind it. A letting agent can serve one, but only with the landlord's authority, and a notice served by a former landlord after the property has been sold may not be valid at all. If you are not certain who served your notice or whether they had the standing to do it, ask, in writing, and keep the answers.

If you want to know quickly whether your notice gives you grounds to challenge, including who served it and whether it was done properly, a free check is the place to start.

This guide is general information about who can validly serve a Section 13 notice in England, not legal advice. For advice on your own case, contact Citizens Advice, Shelter, or a housing solicitor.