The Landlord and Tenant (Notice of Rent) (England) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3096) came into force on 28 February 2005. The regulations relate to the form and content of notices requiring payment of ground rent in respect of residential leases .

The form of the rent demand notice is contained in the schedule to the regulations and contains “notes for leaseholders”. Paragraph 3 of the notes previously stated that:

“Section 167 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 and regulations made under it prevent your landlord from forfeiting your lease for non-payment of rent, service charges or administration charges (or a combination of them) if the amount owed is £350 or less, or none of the unpaid amount has been outstanding for more than three years.”

It came to the attention of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) that this paragraph was misleading. Consequently, on 17 May 2011, the DCLG published a correction slip dealing with paragraph 3.

Paragraph 3 of the notes now make it clear that forfeiture action cannot be taken for non-payment of rent, service charges or administration charges (or a combination of these) unless the unpaid amount is more than £350 or consists of (or includes) an amount which has been outstanding for more than three years. The notes now accurately reflect section 167 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 and the regulations made under it.

A Word version of the corrected form of notice can be downloaded below