Landlord selling house, can I stay? Your 2026 tenant rights guide
Your landlord has said they are selling. A sale doesn't end your tenancy. Under section 141 of the Law of Property Act 1925, your tenancy passes to the new owner on the same terms: same rent, same deposit, same rights. The only way to evict you because of a sale is the new Ground 1A under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. It is much harder on landlords than Section 21 was. This page covers your rights, the Ground 1A timetable, free advice near you, and how a cash sale with you still living there can keep you in your home.
Share this page with your landlordQuick answer: If your landlord sells, your tenancy and your rights usually transfer to the new owner, so a sale on its own doesn't force you to leave. You can only be asked to leave through the correct legal notice and court process. This page explains your rights and where to get free, independent help.
Three steps, and you stay put
This is what happens when a landlord sells to us with a tenant in place. Nobody is evicted and nothing about your tenancy changes.
Step 1
Your landlord contacts usThey tell us about the property and the tenancy. You don't have to do anything, and you don't have to move out for viewings.
Step 2
They get an offer the same dayIn writing, valid for 14 days, on the property and the tenancy as they stand. It's their decision, not ours and not yours.
Step 3
You keep your homeYour tenancy passes to us on completion on the same terms. Same rent, same deposit, same rights, and a letter with our details.
Your tenancy doesn't end when the property sells
You don't have to move because the house is being sold. Under section 141 of the Law of Property Act 1925, the tenancy passes to the new owner on completion day. You don't sign anything new. You don't give notice. The buyer simply becomes your landlord on the same terms.
The rent is the same. The deposit is the same. Your rights to notice before viewings, to peace in your own home, to challenge a rent rise and to repairs all move across with the property. This was confirmed in Wandsworth Borough Council v Atkinson (1996) and is the normal position in England.
The new owner must write to you with their name and address within two months, under section 3 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Rent isn't legally due to them until they do. If the sale goes through and no letter arrives, don't panic. Don't pay rent into an account you can't check. Wait for the letter.
What changed for you on 1 May 2026, the Renters' Rights Act 2025
The rules changed on 1 May 2026, and mostly in your favour. That is when the first part of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 started in England. If your landlord is selling, these are the changes that matter:
Section 21 has been abolished
The no-fault eviction route is gone for all new notices, and most notices served before the change have expired or become unenforceable.
Your fixed term has ended
Your tenancy is periodic now. It rolls from one rent period to the next on the same money terms, and you can give two months' notice.
Section 8 is the only route
On prescribed grounds, using the new Form 6A. A sale-led eviction has to go through Ground 1A.
Rent rises follow Section 13
One increase in any 12 months, statutory form, two months' notice, and you can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal.
Rent in advance is capped
Rent in advance beyond one month is now unlawful, and so is rental bidding.
More is still to come
A Private Rented Sector Database and a PRS Landlord Ombudsman are on the way, and Awaab's Law reaches private renting in October 2026.
Not sure where you stand?
Tell us about the property and we'll come back the same day with a written offer, valid for 14 days. No obligation, and no pressure either way.
Get my free cash offerShelter and Citizens Advice both publish plain-English summaries, kept up to date. The Act itself is on legislation.gov.uk. Our own guide is at Section 21 abolished, what tenants and landlords need to know.
Ground 1A, the new sale-led eviction route and its limits
Ground 1A is the only ground a landlord can use to get you out so they can sell. It came in with Schedule 1 of the 2025 Act. The rules look simple, but they are slow and costly for the landlord.
Want a real figure rather than an estimate?
Two minutes on the form is enough. We price on the property itself, not to a set percentage, and it's our best offer first time.
See what we'd payAll in, Ground 1A keeps the property off the rental market for at least 16 months: four months' notice plus the 12-month re-let ban. It takes longer again if you contest it in court, because possession claims are slow.
That is often the point where a landlord starts thinking about selling with you still in the house instead. More on that below.
Your other rights as a tenant during a sale
You can stay, and these everyday rights carry on while the house is on the market.
Viewings, the 24-hour notice rule and your right to refuse
You can say no to viewings. Your tenancy gives you quiet enjoyment of your home, and that usually beats any "viewings clause" in the agreement. Your landlord can come in to inspect on at least 24 hours' written notice under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, but they can't force viewings on you. In practice, offering two slots a week at times that suit you, with the landlord or agent there, tends to work better than refusing outright. The right to refuse is still yours.
Your deposit: Housing Act 2004 protections continue
Your deposit stays protected all the way through the sale. Under sections 212-215A of the Housing Act 2004 it must sit in one of the three approved schemes (DPS, TDS or MyDeposits). Your old landlord is responsible for it until it is passed on. The new landlord then has 30 days from completion to protect it in their own name and send you fresh prescribed information, which is the paperwork telling you where your money is held. If they miss that, a court can order them to pay you one to three times the deposit, and they can't use most Section 8 grounds against you. Keep your original paperwork and ask the new landlord in writing to confirm the deposit is protected again.
Rent increases. Section 13 only
A new landlord can't put the rent up the day they buy. Since 1 May 2026 the only lawful way is a Section 13 notice on Form 4A, with two months' notice, and only once in any 12 months. You can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The tribunal can't set your rent higher than the figure your landlord asked for, and it often lands lower.
Harassment and illegal eviction: criminal offences
Pushing you out by making your life difficult is a crime. That covers turning up unannounced again and again, changing the locks, cutting off gas, water or electricity, threats, or letting agents in without notice. It can be harassment of an occupier under section 1 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, which carries up to two years in prison. You may also be able to claim damages under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Report it to your council's tenancy relations or housing standards team, and to Shelter or Citizens Advice.
What if you were served a Section 21 before 1 May 2026?
Most old Section 21 notices have now run out. Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, one served before 1 May 2026 only still counts if your landlord started court action before the earlier of (a) six months from the date it was served, or (b) three months from 1 May 2026. For most people that cut-off was 1 August 2026. After that the notice is dead and the landlord has to start again under Section 8 with a new Form 6A.
Section 21 notices have also always been easy to get wrong. Deposit not protected. Prescribed information never sent. No current EPC. No current gas safety certificate. No government "How to Rent" guide at the start of the tenancy. Any one of those makes the notice invalid, and the landlord has to start again. So don't assume a notice in your hand is valid. Ask Shelter (0808 800 4444) or Citizens Advice to review it. Both services are free.
Why an in-situ cash sale to an investor may be the best outcome for you
We should be upfront: South Yorkshire Property Buyers is an investor cash buyer, so we have an interest here. Here is what we do and why it can suit you too.
Serve Ground 1A and evict
Four months' notice, a court hearing if you contest it, then 12 months when they can't re-let. Slow and expensive for them.
Sell empty on the open market
They have to get you out first, because most open market buyers want to move in themselves. Same Ground 1A route, same wait.
Sell with you still in the house
A buyer who lets property wants a paying tenant, not an empty house. Your tenancy carries over and you keep your home.
Working to a deadline?
Tell us the date. Most sales complete in 7 to 28 days, and if we can't work to your timescale we'll say so straight away.
Talk to us todayCash buyers who buy to let are different. We don't want to live there. We want a house that pays rent from the day we complete, so a reliable tenant is the point, not a problem. Section 141 LPA 1925 carries your tenancy over on completion. You get a Section 3 letter with the new owner's name and address within two months. Rent, deposit and rights carry on as before. Your landlord avoids Ground 1A's 16-month freeze and the fine that comes with breaking it. You keep your home.
This isn't a favour, it is just how the investor model works. Selling with the tenant in place is the normal route in England. Ground 1A is the alternative, not the rule.
How to suggest a tenanted in-situ sale to your landlord
Ask early, before they serve Ground 1A or put it with an estate agent. Some landlords have never thought of selling with a tenant in place. Others don't know that buyers who want tenanted houses exist locally.
A simple message, by text, email or letter, might read: "I understand you are thinking of selling. I would like to stay in the property. Would you consider selling to a cash buyer who keeps the tenancy in place? I have read about how the in-situ sale process works under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and it sounds like it might suit both of us."
You can then share our landlord page, Sell a tenanted property in situ. It sets out the Ground 1A timings, what selling with a tenant really costs a landlord, and how our offer works. The decision is theirs. We won't push them and we won't push you. If they would rather sell empty on the open market, that is their right. Completion usually takes 7 to 28 days, there are no estate agent fees, and you stay put.
South Yorkshire in detail
We buy only in South Yorkshire and the postcodes around it. Here is the local picture: rents, licensing, and where to get free advice.
What renting costs locally now
Rents in Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley have risen faster than wages, and faster than the rest of Yorkshire. Sheffield is the dearest of the four by some way. The plain point for you is this: moving almost certainly means paying more than you pay now. That is why staying put, through a sale with you in place or otherwise, is worth more than it looks on paper.
Selective Licensing and HMO licensing: where it matters
If your home should be licensed and isn't, your landlord can't use most Section 8 grounds against you, and the council can prosecute. So it is worth checking. Sheffield City Council runs Selective Licensing in areas including Page Hall, Fir Vale and parts of the east of the city, plus Additional Licensing for HMOs across the whole city, and it is extending the Selective Licensing area. Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley run mandatory HMO licensing for larger shared houses. Each council has a licensing register you can search online.
Where to get free local advice
- Shelter England: national helpline 0808 800 4444, online chat, regional adviser in Sheffield; england.shelter.org.uk.
- Citizens Advice: Sheffield, Doncaster (central library), Rotherham and Barnsley each have a dedicated housing adviser; citizensadvice.org.uk.
- Your council's housing options team: Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley councils all have online application portals and statutory homelessness prevention duties under sections 175-177 of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017) as soon as you are threatened with homelessness within 56 days.
- South Yorkshire Housing Association, additional tenant-support helpline and supported housing routes.
Red flags and how to verify any cash buyer
Be cautious. This trade has a poor reputation for good reason. The usual tricks are a big headline offer that gets cut just before exchange, tie-in contracts, and a firm you can only reach through a PO box. Check any buyer, including us, against these six points.
- Companies House. The buyer should be an incorporated UK company, active, with accounts filed on time.
- A real UK trading address. Not a PO box, not a virtual office only. South Yorkshire-based buyers should be reachable in South Yorkshire.
- The Property Ombudsman or NAPB membership. Both run code-of-practice schemes with complaint and redress routes.
- No upfront fees, no tie-in option agreements. A legitimate buyer never charges the seller or the tenant a fee, and never asks you to sign an exclusivity option at the start.
- Proof of funds available on request. A solicitor's letter on letterhead, dated within 14 days, showing cleared funds for the purchase.
- Right to your own solicitor. Any buyer who insists the seller uses a solicitor they choose, particularly one the buyer can't name openly, is a red flag.
Your honest options if you can't stay
Sometimes the landlord won't sell with you in place, and the notice runs out. These are the real options.
- Go to the council the day a valid Section 8 notice arrives. Don't wait. They owe you help once you are threatened with homelessness within 56 days (s.195 Housing Act 1996), and more once you are actually homeless (s.189B). Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley all have online forms and out-of-hours numbers.
- Local Housing Allowance and Discretionary Housing Payment. Housing benefit rates have been frozen, so they don't cover most Sheffield rents. A Discretionary Housing Payment from your council can cover the gap for a while. Ask for one.
- Family, friends, or temporary housing. Careful here. Leaving before the bailiffs come can make the council say you made yourself homeless (s.191), which cuts what they owe you. Get advice on your own case before you go.
- Renting somewhere else. Hard right now, but not impossible. Start early. Get your references and last six months of bank statements ready. Look just outside your current postcode, where there is less competition.
If the eviction notice arrives, don't face it alone. Shelter's helpline is free. Citizens Advice's housing service is free. Your council's housing options team is free. Use them.
If your landlord is open to selling tenanted in situ
We buy tenanted properties across South Yorkshire with the tenancy preserved: no Ground 1A, no eviction, no estate-agent fees, a written cash offer to your landlord the same day. Completion in 7 to 28 days. The cleanest outcome for you is often that we buy and you stay. Share our landlord page if it helps the conversation.
Information for landlordsFrequently asked questions for tenants
No. The sale itself doesn't end your tenancy. Under section 141 of the Law of Property Act 1925, the tenancy passes to the new owner at completion, on exactly the same terms. You don't sign anything and you don't give notice. Your deposit, rent and rights carry on as before. The only way you can be made to leave is if the landlord, or the new owner, serves a valid Section 8 notice on a set ground. For a sale that ground is Ground 1A, brought in by the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
At least four months in writing, on the prescribed Form 6A, naming Ground 1A and the facts relied upon. The notice can't expire in the first 12 months of your tenancy. If the landlord then re-lets or markets the property for re-letting in the 12 months after the date specified in the notice, that is a criminal offence under section 16J of the Housing Act 1988 with a civil penalty up to £40,000.
No. A new owner has exactly the same powers and obligations as the previous landlord, no more. They can't end your tenancy on completion. They can't demand a new tenancy on different terms. To recover possession they must serve a valid Section 8 notice on a prescribed ground (Ground 1A for sale, Ground 1 for moving in, Ground 8 for serious rent arrears, and so on), wait out the notice period, and, if you don't leave, obtain a court possession order. An informal request to leave carries no legal force.
Your deposit stays protected all the way through. Your old landlord is responsible for it until it is handed over. The new landlord must then protect it under sections 212-215A of the Housing Act 2004 and send you fresh prescribed information within 30 days of completion. If they miss that deadline, a court can order them to pay you one to three times the deposit, and they can't use most Section 8 grounds against you. Keep your original paperwork and ask the new landlord in writing to confirm your deposit is protected again.
Yes. Your tenancy includes the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment, which generally overrides any "viewings clause" in the agreement. The landlord is entitled to access for inspection on at least 24 hours' written notice under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, but they can't insist on viewings without your consent. In practice a reasonable compromise: two viewing slots per week at agreed times, accompanied, usually works better than a flat refusal, but the legal right to refuse is yours.
Not because of the sale. Since 1 May 2026 the only lawful way to raise rent on a periodic assured tenancy is a Section 13 notice on Form 4A, with at least two months' notice, and only once in any 12 months. You can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the date it starts. The tribunal sets the rent at the going rate for a similar property. It can't set it higher than the figure your landlord asked for. It costs £47 to apply, and you keep paying the old rent until they decide.
Probably not any more. Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, a Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 only still counts if your landlord started court action before the earlier of (a) six months from the date it was served or (b) three months from 1 May 2026. For most people that cut-off was 1 August 2026. After that the notice is dead and the landlord must start again under Section 8. Don't assume yours is valid. Ask Shelter (0808 800 4444) or Citizens Advice to check it for you, free.
No. Ground 1A can't be used in the first 12 months of your tenancy, and the notice can't be timed to run out before then either. If your tenancy already existed on 1 May 2026, those 12 months run from when the tenancy first started. So a tenant of three or four years is already past that point. Someone who signed a fresh tenancy in July 2026 can't face a Ground 1A possession date until July 2027 at the earliest.
Yes, and it is often the cleanest outcome for everyone. Cash buyers who buy to let want a house that earns rent, not an empty one. If your landlord sells to an investor like South Yorkshire Property Buyers, your tenancy carries on under section 141 LPA 1925, on the same rent and the same terms. You get a letter with new bank details, and a Section 3 notice giving the new owner's name and address. Your landlord avoids Ground 1A's 16-month freeze, which is four months' notice plus a 12-month re-let ban. You keep your home. It is a fair thing to raise. Share our landlord page with them if it helps.
That is a criminal offence under sections 16E, 16J and 16M of the Housing Act 1988. After serving a Ground 1A notice, the landlord must not re-let or market the property for 12 months from the date given in that notice. If they break that, the council can fine them up to £40,000, and serious or repeated breaches can go to the magistrates' court. Report it to your council's housing standards team, and to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133. You may also be able to claim rent back through a Rent Repayment Order.
Several places, and all of them are free. Shelter England: helpline 0808 800 4444, plus online chat and an adviser based in Sheffield. Citizens Advice: Sheffield, Doncaster (central library), Rotherham and Barnsley each have a housing adviser. Your council's housing options team: they must start helping you as soon as you are threatened with homelessness within 56 days, and that includes the day a valid Section 8 notice is served. That duty comes from sections 175-177 of the Housing Act 1996, as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. South Yorkshire Housing Association also runs a tenant support helpline.
Six checks: Companies House (incorporated, active, accounts up to date), a clear UK trading address (not a PO box), The Property Ombudsman or NAPB membership, no upfront fees and no tie-in option agreements, proof of funds available on request via a solicitor's letter, and your absolute right to instruct your own solicitor.
Frequently asked questions
You keep paying your current landlord until the new owner tells you, in writing, who they are and where to write to them. That letter is required by law within two months of the sale. Rent isn't properly due to a new owner until you get it. If someone rings or texts you new bank details, wait for the written notice and check it before you pay a penny.
Only if you have somewhere to go and the money genuinely covers what it costs you. This is often called cash for keys. It is legal, but it is a deal, not an order, and you are allowed to say no. Add up moving costs, a new deposit and rent up front before you answer. Get free advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice first, and put anything you agree in writing.
A board outside is usually allowed, but what happens inside your home is different. Photos of your rooms and your things need your agreement, and you can ask for personal items to be kept out of shot or say no to photos altogether. Your right to quiet enjoyment of your home generally comes ahead of a viewings clause in the agreement. Ask for any request in writing.
No, your landlord can sell whenever they like, but the sale doesn't push you out. Since 1 May 2026 fixed terms in England have ended and tenancies roll on from one rent period to the next. You can only be made to leave through a valid Section 8 notice and, if you stay, a court order.
No new contract, and no rent change on the day we buy. Your tenancy carries on exactly as it is, so the same rent, the same deposit and the same terms. We would write to you with our name, address and where to pay. We can't promise your rent will never rise, because costs change, but any increase has to follow the Section 13 route: once a year, two months' notice, and you can challenge it at tribunal.
Usually 7 to 28 days from your landlord accepting our offer, and there is very little for you to do. The fastest we have completed is 7 days. We don't need an open house or a stream of viewings, though we may ask for one short visit at a time that suits you. After completion you get a letter telling you who owns the house now and where to pay the rent.
Usually yes, a bit, and it is only fair that you know that. A house sold with a tenant in it tends to fetch less than an empty one, because fewer buyers want it. We price every property on its own facts rather than on a formula, so we won't put a percentage on it, but a cash sale does mean taking less than a full open-market price in return for speed and certainty. The figure we give your landlord is our best offer at that point, based on what they have told us, not an opening number we work up from. That is why some landlords still go down the eviction route. Others decide a quick, sure sale now beats waiting well over a year for an empty house.
Be careful, because leaving before you have to can cost you help later. If you go without a valid notice and a court order, the council can decide you made yourself homeless on purpose, and that limits what they have to do for you. Speak to your council's housing options team or Shelter before you hand the keys back. Moving early is sometimes the right call, but get free advice first.
You still don't have to be out on completion day, but the new owner can start the legal route to move in. They have to serve a written Section 8 notice on the moving-in ground, give you at least four months, and go to court if you don't leave. That ground also can't be used in the first 12 months of your tenancy. Ask Shelter to check any notice you are given, because plenty are served wrongly.
No. Nobody can come into your home without your agreement, and you are owed at least 24 hours' written notice for an inspection. Turning up unannounced, letting themselves in, changing the locks or cutting off gas, water or electricity to push you out can be a criminal offence. Write down every date and time, keep the messages, and report it to your council's housing standards or tenancy relations team.
Yes, and this is one of the few times you could be in real trouble. If the mortgage came before your tenancy and the lender never agreed to the property being let, your tenancy may not bind the lender. A court can usually delay possession for up to two months to give you time. Ring Shelter on 0808 800 4444 straight away and tell your council's housing options team as soon as you hear.
No. Repair duties don't pause during a sale, and they pass to the new owner as well. Your landlord still has to keep the structure, roof, pipes, heating and wiring in working order, whoever owns the house. Report every problem in writing and keep the replies. If nothing happens, your council's housing standards team can inspect and order the work. A sale isn't a reason to live with damp or no heating.
Guides that might help right now
Tenant Rights When Your Landlord Sells
What transfers with the property, what a new owner can and can't do, and where to get free help.
Read guide →
What Is an Assured Periodic Tenancy?
Your fixed term has gone. Here's what replaced it, and what it means for notice on both sides.
Read guide →
The Renters' Rights Act: the First 30 Days
What actually changed on the ground once Section 21 went, for renters and landlords alike.
Read guide →For landlords: sell with the tenant in place.
This form is for property owners. If you're a tenant, pass it to your landlord. We buy tenanted properties across South Yorkshire with the tenancy preserved.
Our promise to you: We will never pressure you into a sale. Your enquiry is completely confidential. If we make you an offer and it isn't right for you, there is absolutely no obligation to proceed.