April 26, 2011
The High Court has ruled on the correct service of notices in relation to break clauses in the recent case of MW Trustees (and others) v Telular Corporation [2011]. In the case, the tenant served notice to end the tenancy in accordance with a break clause in their lease. The notice was sent within the correct time period by special delivery as required but unbeknown to the tenant, the landlord had assigned the tenancy so it was served on the wrong landlord. When they were informed of the mistake, the tenant then forwarded the notice to the managing agents who accepted it and confirmed termination of the tenancy. The court held that the notice was validly served in accordance with the lease as the lease did not require it to be addressed to the landlord but only to be served on him/her in some way. Immaterial errors in the form of the notice would be ignored if a reasonable recipient would understand its purpose. However, the law in the prior case of Rennie v Westbury Homes (Holdings) Ltd [2007] is likely to still apply if the notice is required to contain an “indispensable condition”. The absence of such a condition will invalidate the notice.