Finding your landlord's name and address: the written request the law gives you, the public registers, the deposit scheme, and when a trace is the answer

Your right to the landlord's name and address

Under section 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 a tenant can make a written request for the landlord's name and address to anyone who demands rent from them, or who last received rent, or who acts as the landlord's agent. The person asked must supply it in writing within 21 days, and failing to do so without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence. If the landlord is a company, section 2 lets you go further and request the names and addresses of its directors and secretary. Make the request in writing, keep a copy and proof of sending, and address it to whoever you actually pay.

Separately, under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 a landlord must give the tenant an address in England and Wales at which notices can be served. Until that address has been given, rent and service charges are treated as not being due. The address does not have to be the landlord's home, and it is often the agent's office, but it is an address, and it is the one at which court papers can be served on the landlord. Section 47 of the same Act requires the landlord's name and address to appear on any written demand for rent. If your tenancy agreement, your rent demands and your deposit paperwork carry no address for the landlord at all, say so in writing: it is the landlord who is in breach, not you.

The public registers

• HM Land Registry. Almost every rented property in England and Wales is registered, and for a small fee anyone can download the title register, which names the registered owner and gives their address for service. The owner is not always the person who let the property to you, but it is usually the landlord or someone who knows exactly where they are.
• Companies House. If the landlord is a company, its registered office and its directors' service addresses are public and free to search.
• Landlord registers. Scotland has a national landlord register that can be searched online, Wales requires landlords to register with Rent Smart Wales, and Northern Ireland has a landlord registration scheme. In England some councils run selective or additional licensing, and a licence holder's details can be requested from the council. A house in multiple occupation needs a licence, and the licence register is public.
• The deposit scheme. If your deposit was protected, the scheme holds the landlord's contact details and can tell you whether the deposit is still protected and by whom. If it was not protected, that is a claim in itself, below.

When you need the address to make a claim

In each case the claim form needs an address at which the landlord can be served, and the court expects reasonable steps to find their current one. A section 48 address that was an agent who no longer acts, or an owner's address for service that is ten years old, is where the public routes run out.

When the landlord has disappeared

A landlord who has stopped answering, whose agent has dropped the property, whose address on the title is an old one, and who holds your deposit, is a debtor like any other. Recovering money owed under a tenancy and pursuing a legal claim are legitimate interests under UK GDPR, so tracing a landlord is lawful, and it is a purpose Trace Bureau records and acts on. The minimum to start is the landlord's full legal name plus a date of birth or a previous address, and the address on the title register, on the tenancy agreement or on an old rent demand counts as a previous address. The landlord's name is on the Land Registry title even when you only ever knew a first name.

Trace Bureau cross-references more than 150 sources, registers and records, and a private investigator verifies the result before it is released. You receive a dated PDF report with the landlord's current registered UK address and a confidence rating: Confirmed, Probable or Possible. The landlord is not told who instructed the trace. Standard is £150, delivered within 3 to 5 working days, and Priority is £200, delivered within 2 to 3 working days. Nothing is paid at instruction. Your card is only held, and it is charged only when a private investigator has verified the address. Not found, no fee. If you want to know what else the landlord owns before you enforce, a property ownership check from HM Land Registry can be added at £30.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own tenancy law, deposit schemes and tribunals. In Scotland the landlord register is public and most tenancy disputes go to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland; in Northern Ireland landlords must register with the Landlord Registration Scheme. The trace covers the whole of the UK; the legal routes differ, so check the guidance for your nation.

When to instruct a trace

When the written request, the title register and the deposit scheme have given you a name and a dead address, and the sum or the claim justifies finding the live one. Instruct a trace online in about five minutes.