Can a landlord use a PO Box address?

Why do landlords consider a PO Box?

For understandable reasons. A PO Box keeps your home address off tenancy paperwork and stays the same when you move house. The difficulty is that landlord post is not ordinary post. Tenant notices, court papers and council letters have to reach you, and some of the rules now say what kind of address they will accept.

Does the PRS database accept a PO Box?

No. The PRS database, called Register your rental property, asks for a correspondence address for each property, and GOV.UK says it cannot be a PO Box number. Landlords registering as an organisation also give a business address, and that cannot be a PO Box either.

The database opens region by region from 15 December 2026, and landlords of assured or regulated tenancies must register themselves and each property. If you use a PO Box today you will need a different correspondence address for the register. See what address to give on the PRS database and the date for your region.

Can you use a PO Box for your section 48 notice?

Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 does not mention PO Boxes. It asks for an address in England and Wales at which notices, including notices in proceedings, may be served on you.

Notices can arrive by post, by a signed-for service or by hand. A street address where post can be received and signed for handles all of them, which makes it the safer choice. If you want to rely on a PO Box for section 48, take advice first. The same thinking applies to the written statement for new tenancies, which also asks for an address in England and Wales for notices. See section 48 notices.

What happens to signed-for and court post at a PO Box?

That depends on the provider, so ask before you rely on one. The questions that matter are these:

• How does an item that needs a signature reach you, and who signs for it?
• Can a notice be delivered by hand, and where would it go?
• How quickly will you know that a court, council or deposit scheme letter has arrived?
• How often is post collected from the box, and what happens while you are away?

A notice that sits uncollected for weeks helps nobody. Section 48 exists so tenants can serve notices on you, and missing one can cost you time and money in a dispute.

Where does a PO Box work and where does it not?

For the detail behind each row see every landlord address rule in one table and section 47 and rent demands.

Can a landlord who lives abroad use a PO Box?

Living abroad does not change the rules above. Section 48 still needs an address in England and Wales where notices can be served on you, so a PO Box or a home address outside England and Wales will not do for that. The PRS database still needs a correspondence address for each property that is not a PO Box number. A landlord abroad needs an address here that keeps working while they are away. Landlord Address scans your letters within one working day so you can read them online wherever you are. See overseas landlords.

What can you use instead of a PO Box?

• Your home address, if you are content for tenants and registers to have it.
• Your letting agent's office, if the agent agrees to accept notices for you. See using your letting agent's address.
• A solicitor's office, if the solicitor agrees.
• A virtual office, if it will handle landlord post properly. See virtual office addresses.
• A correspondence address built for landlords, such as Landlord Address.

Landlord Address is not a PO Box. It is our address in England with your personal reference. Our staff sign for recorded and signed-for letters, log them and tell you they have arrived. Every item is logged the day it arrives, and legal and official post is flagged to you the same working day. See mail handling and service levels or compare your options.

Common questions

Is Landlord Address a PO Box?

No. It is our address in England, where our staff receive your post, sign for recorded letters and log every item under your reference.

Will a PO Box keep my address off the PRS database?

No. The correspondence address for each property cannot be a PO Box number, and the database asks individual landlords for their residential address as well.

Can I use a PO Box for the Land Registry?

At least one of your addresses for service must be a postal address. Check practice guide 55 for what HM Land Registry accepts. See your Land Registry address.

I gave my tenants a PO Box. What should I do now?

Give each tenant a new section 48 notice with a street address for notices. Our section 48 template is ready to copy, and the guide to changing your landlord address lists everyone else to tell.