Notice of Proposed Sale of Tenant’s Left Behind Possessions (Residential Property)

This Notice of Proposed Sale of Tenant’s Left Behind Possessions (Residential Property) is designed for landlords who need to deal with belongings left behind by a tenant after a tenancy has ended. 

When a tenant vacates a property but leaves items behind, the landlord does not automatically have the right to dispose of them. Instead, the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 imposes specific obligations on landlords to protect the tenant's property and follow a formal process before taking any action. 

The Notice enables landlords to comply with those legal requirements and begin the correct procedure for dealing with uncollected goods. 

Why Is This Notice Important?

Many landlords mistakenly believe that goods left behind are "abandoned" and can be disposed of immediately. In reality this is not the case. Under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977, landlords who take control of a tenant's goods become what is known as an "involuntary bailee". This means you must not deliberately or negligently damage, sell, or dispose of the goods and you must follow a formal notice procedure before selling or disposing of them. 

Failure to follow the correct legal process can result in:

• claims for wrongful interference with goods;
• potential court proceedings and financial penalties; and 
• liability for the full value of the tenant's belongings

Using this Notice helps protects landlords from legal risk by ensuring compliance with the correct statutory procedure.  You should download and read the Guidance Notes before serving this Notice. 

Further template notices are available for Commercial Landlords [Property Left Behind by Commercial Tenants subfolder] and for various non-Landlord/Tenant scenarios [ Sale of Uncollected or Abandoned Goods subfolder in Business folder ] .

Optional phrases / clauses are enclosed in square brackets. These should be read carefully and selected so as to be compatible with one another. Unused options should be removed from the document.

Once you have purchased access to the appropriate document folder click on the “Download Document” link below. You will be asked what you want to do with the file. It is recommended that you save the document to a location of your choice prior to viewing.

Notice of Proposed Sale of Tenant’s Left Behind Possessions (Residential Property) is part of Property. Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Property for 1 year.