What is a Section 166 demand? (and how to serve one correctly)

A Section 166 demand is the prescribed notice a freeholder must serve before ground rent on a long lease becomes payable. Here is what it must contain, the timing window, and the mistakes that make it invalid.

If you own the freehold of a house or flat let on a long lease, the small ground rent the leaseholder pays each year is not automatically due. Since 2004, Section 166 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 has required you to ask for it, in a specific, prescribed form, before the leaseholder has any obligation to pay. Get the notice right and the rent falls due. Get it wrong and the leaseholder is entitled to ignore it.

This guide explains exactly what a Section 166 demand is, what it must contain, the timing window that catches most freeholders out, and how to keep the whole thing valid.

What a Section 166 demand actually is

It is a written notice, in a form prescribed by regulations, that demands payment of ground rent under a long lease of a dwelling. "Long lease" means, broadly, a lease originally granted for more than 21 years, which covers almost every residential ground-rent arrangement. Until that notice is served, the rent is not payable and the leaseholder is not in default by failing to pay it.

The notice is not a court document and you do not need a solicitor to serve one. But because it is a statutory notice, the law dictates what must be on it and when.

What the notice must contain

The prescribed form must set out:

• the name of the leaseholder;
• the amount of ground rent due and the period it covers;
• the date on or before which payment must be made (see the timing rule below);
• the date on which the rent would have been due under the lease, had the notice not been required;
• the name and address of the freeholder (the landlord), and if that address is not in England and Wales, an address in England and Wales at which notices may be served;
• the prescribed explanatory notes for leaseholders that the regulations require to accompany the form.

Omitting any prescribed element can render the notice invalid. The most common omissions are the landlord's name and address or the explanatory notes.

The timing window: 30 to 60 days

This is where most demands fail. The payment date you put on the notice must be:

If you serve the notice by post, allow for deemed service time when counting the 30 days, so the leaseholder genuinely receives their full period.

How to serve it

Serve the notice on the leaseholder by post or by hand to the property, or to any address the leaseholder has notified for service. Keep a record of what you sent and when. If payment is ever disputed, you will need to show that a valid notice was served and when the clock started.

Arrears and the six-year limit

Ground rent is a simple contract debt. Under the Limitation Act 1980, you have six years from the date each year's rent became due to recover it. Arrears older than six years are generally statute-barred and cannot be enforced. Practically, that means you should keep demands current rather than letting years accumulate, and issue a separate notice for each year's rent.

If arrears are approaching or beyond six years, take advice from a solicitor before acting. The Limitation Act 1980 can bar the older sums, and whether time has run depends on the precise dates and any payments or acknowledgements. Have it checked rather than judged by eye.

Why an invalid notice matters

A Section 166 notice is the foundation for everything that follows. If the rent is never validly demanded, it never becomes payable. That means the leaseholder is not in arrears, no late-payment consequence can apply, and any further step you take rests on nothing. Conversely, a clean, correctly served notice puts the obligation beyond argument. It is worth getting right.

A note on scope: this page explains the administration of ground-rent demands. It is general information, not legal advice. The first time you use a demand template, have the wording checked by a solicitor.