Citation
Lee, R. and Waterson, G. (2001), "Residential tenancies", Property Management, Vol. 19 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.2001.11319aab.009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited
Residential tenancies
Residential tenancies
Manel v. Memon [2000] 33 EG 74
The basic question under consideration in this case was whether the use of a form of written notice of assured shorthold tenancy (of the type which was required under s.21 of the Housing Act 1988 before it was amended by the Housing Act 1996) which omitted inter alia the three "bullet point" warning sentences, and in particular the one which states: "If there is anything you do not understand you should get advice from a solicitor or a Citizens Advice Bureau, before you agree to a tenancy …" was so defective as to be invalid. Yes it was, said the Court of Appeal, and so seriously defective that it could not be remedied. Since the notice was defective, the tenancy could not be an assured shorthold, and the possession order which had been obtained by the landlord on the basis that it was such a tenancy was set aside.
As regards recovery of possession of property let on an assured tenancy by the commencement of proceedings within 12 months of the tenant's death, pursuant to ground 7 of Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, see Osada v. Shepping [2000] 30 EG 125: commencement of "proceedings" means the commencement of actual court proceedings, not simply the service of a section 8 notice of intention to seek possession. Since the tenant had died on 19 May 1998 and the landlords did not actually issue a summons seeking possession until 2nd June 1999, they were out of time.