Sunset Limited & Anor v Abdulla Al-Hindi

A bankruptcy petition based on rent arrears cannot be presented while Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, section 48 has not been complied with. Until the landlord furnishes an address in England and Wales for service of notices, the rent is treated as not due. The defect is assessed at the date of presentation under the Insolvency Act 1986. A later section 48 notice does not retrospectively validate the petition or the necessary statutory demand.

Sunset Limited and Morville Limited presented a bankruptcy petition against Abdulla Al-Hindi for unpaid rent under leases of four properties. The debtor was permitted to rely on the absence of a compliant address for service under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. The petitioners relied on addresses appearing in statutory demands, correspondence, notices to quit and court documents, and later served a section 48 notice after the petition had been presented. The central issue was whether the later notice cured the earlier absence of a compliant notice and permitted the bankruptcy petition to proceed.

1. The petition was dismissed. The petitioners were not entitled to present it on 23 June 2022 because the petition debt was not due as a matter of law.
2. Section 48(1) requires the landlord to furnish the tenant with an address in England and Wales at which notices, including notices in proceedings, may be served. The Jersey addresses in the tenancy agreements and proprietorship registers did not comply.
3. The addresses of solicitors or agents appearing in statutory demands, correspondence, notices to quit and proceedings were purpose-specific. They did not identify an address at which notices could generally be served on the landlords. The evidence did not establish that the parties’ course of dealing nevertheless left the debtor in no doubt as to a compliant address.
4. Under section 48(2), rent otherwise due is treated as not due until the landlord complies. The failure does not extinguish the landlord’s right to recover the rent permanently. Dallhold Estates (UK) Pty Ltd v Lindsey Trading Properties Inc [1994] 1 EGLR 93 established that the rent becomes due when the compliant notice is given.
5. The petition had to satisfy the requirements of sections 267 and 268 of the Insolvency Act 1986 when it was presented. At that time the debt was neither payable immediately nor payable at a certain future time, since a compliant notice might never have been served.
6. The later notice of 6 February 2023 did not cure the defect. Rogan v Woodfield Business Services Ltd [1995] 1 EGLR 72 did not establish that a section 48 notice had retrospective effect in all circumstances. Any procedural cure contemplated there involved treating a claim as reissued after service of the notice, not validating an already presented bankruptcy petition. The petition was listed for disposal and consequential orders.