Case G: Death of tenant
7.126 The security of tenure conferred by the 1986 Act is intended to accrue for the lifetime of the tenant, subject to the possibility of succession rights being available should Part IV of the 1986 Act apply.269 Accordingly, Sch 3 Case G enables the landlord to serve notice to quit:
(a)following the death of a person who immediately before his death was the sole (or sole surviving) tenant under the contract of tenancy and
(b)not later than the end of a period of three months, beginning with the date on which notice in writing (a ‘relevant notice’) was served on him by the executor or administrator of the tenant’s estate informing him of the tenant’s death.
If an application for succession is made, the landlord has three months from being given notice of application pursuant to s 40(5).270‘Relevant Notice’
7.127 For the purpose of time running against the landlord, the ‘relevant notice’ served by the deceased tenant’s executors or personal representatives must be in terms which make it sufficiently clear to the ordinary landlord that the tenant is purporting to exercise his rights under the 1986 Act.271 The fact that the landlord is aware of the tenant’s death is irrelevant if no sufficient notice has been served, and time will not start running against him.272 A cheque drawn by the executors in payment of rent, without more, is thus not a relevant notice for these purposes,273 neither will a letter from solicitors stating that they do (or do not) act in connection with the estate of the late tenant.274 The notice must be explicit, and clearly purport to put the landlord on notice of the tenant’s death for the purpose of Case G. It follows from para 12 of Sch 3 to the 1986 Act that if no executor has been appointed, or letters of administration obtained, no ‘relevant notice’ can be served.275 Where notice is received from the tenant’s executors or administrator, and a succession application ensues, the three-month period for notice to quit runs from the date of the first of those events to occur.276
7.128 The following points should be noted:
(i)Joint tenancies
The event triggering the application of Case G is ‘the death of the sole (or sole surviving) tenant’.277 Where the tenancy is vested in joint tenants, Case G can therefore only be invoked on the death of the last surviving tenant.
Moreover, if the joint tenancy includes a corporate tenant with perpetual succession, the right to invoke Case G cannot arise: such a tenant cannot ‘die’ in the required sense.278(ii)The reference in Case G to the ‘tenant’ (the death of whom triggers its application) does not include an executor, administrator, trustee in bankruptcy or other person deriving title from a tenant by operation of law. The death of such a person does not, therefore, invoke Case G. If, following the tenant’s death, the landlord fails to serve notice to quit within the three months allowed (see above), his position may be prejudiced in that the estate will vest in the tenant’s personal representatives, the subsequent death of whom will not trigger the applicability of Case G.279
(iii)The notice to quit must be served not later than the expiry of three months after written notice of the tenant’s death, or notice of a succession application, is given to the landlord. Notice to quit can, however, be validly given prior to receipt of written notice of death from the tenant’s personal representatives. There is no need for the landlord to wait for the service of a ‘relevant notice’ by the executors informing him of the tenant’s death. The interaction of the time limits for notice to quit under Case G, and for application by the deceased tenant’s family for succession to the tenancy, can be important. If an application for succession is to be made, it must be submitted to the agricultural land tribunal within three months, beginning with the day after the date of death.280 If no succession application is made within three months of death, the landlord can then serve a Case G notice to quit (whether or not he has received ‘relevant notice’ of death from the tenant’s executors or personal representatives) secure in the knowledge that it cannot be challenged. The relative advantage for the landlord in waiting or proceeding will depend on the date within the rent cycle on which the tenant died.
(iv)Where an application for succession to the tenancy is made under Part IV of the 1986 Act, the notice to quit has only qualified effect. By virtue of s 43 ibid it cannot have effect unless either no application to succeed to the tenancy is made within the time allowed, or none of the applicants is found to be eligible and suitable for succession, or the tribunal consents to the operation of the notice to quit under s 44. Where an applicant has been found ‘eligible’ and ‘suitable’ for succession, the latter provision gives the landlord a final opportunity to prevent a succession tenancy being awarded by applying for the tribunal’s consent to the notice to quit. The tribunal can grant consent on one or more of the grounds specified in s 27, ie the notice is assessed in the same way as an unqualified notice given subject to the tribunal consent procedure. If the tribunal grant consent within three months prior to the original operative date of the notice to quit, or at any time thereafter, they can (on the tenant’s application) specify that it take effect from a later date. The latter must be not later than the end of three months after the original operative date, or the date of granting consent, whichever last occurs.281
(v)To be valid the notice to quit must state that it is given pursuant to Case G on the death of the sole (or sole surviving) tenant. It should be served on the tenant’s personal representatives if they have obtained a grant and/or the person responsible for the control of management of the holding.282 In the event of doubt, a notice to quit addressed to the personal representatives should also be served on the Public Trustee.283