selling

Sell with a sitting tenant in place, or with vacant possession?

Sitting tenant or vacant possession? Compare selling a rented house in England with the tenant in place against Ground 1A, with notice, buyers and tax.

4 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 6

The choice in one table

A sitting tenant means someone is renting the home at the time of the sale. A landlord in England has two broad routes: sell with the tenancy in place, or end the tenancy first and sell with vacant possession. This page compares them. It covers England only; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. We read the GOV.UK pages on 4 November 2026, and this is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Factor	Sell with tenants in place	Sell with vacant possession
Who can buy	Mainly investors, because most buyers want a home to live in	Investors and people who want to live there
Notice route	None needed. The tenancy continues	Section 8 notice, Form 3A, Ground 1A
Timeline	No waiting for notice or court	At least 4 months' notice, longer if a court order is needed
Earliest start	Any time	Ground cannot be used until 12 months after the tenancy started
Price effect	No official source gives a figure. Compare a valuation with an investor offer	No official source gives a figure. Compare the same way
Paperwork	Tenancy agreement, rent history, deposit protection	Notice, evidence of intention to sell, court papers if needed
Tax	Capital Gains Tax can apply either way	Capital Gains Tax can apply either way

We give no price difference between the routes, because no official source gives one. A written valuation of the home as it stands, set against a real investor offer, is the honest comparison.

Part 2 of 6

What changed on 1 May 2026

GOV.UK says Part 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026 and that landlords cannot use section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to seek possession. It says that since then you can only give a tenant a notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, which needs a ground for possession. A valid notice uses Form 3A, or one substantially similar, gives the correct notice period and sets out each ground and why it applies.

GOV.UK also says existing assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies, and a tenancy agreement cannot have an end date. This matches the position in our guide to selling a house with tenants, which sets out the same dates.

Part 3 of 6

Sell with tenants in place

The tenant stays and the sale goes ahead around the tenancy. GOV.UK does not set separate rules for this route, so ask your conveyancer how the tenancy and deposit pass to the buyer. The practical questions are the ones a buyer's solicitor will ask: a copy of the tenancy agreement, the current rent and history, and proof that the deposit is protected. GOV.UK says deposit protection requirements apply to most possession grounds, so a protected deposit matters to any buyer.

Who buys a tenanted property? Typically an investor. A buyer who needs a mortgage should ask their lender early whether it lends on a tenanted property. We found no GOV.UK page that sets lender rules, so treat that as a question to ask, not a rule.

Do tenants have to allow viewings? We found no GOV.UK rule that answers this. In practice it depends on cooperation and the tenancy agreement, so ask in writing and give reasonable notice. Never pressure a tenant to leave.

Part 4 of 6

Sell with vacant possession

To end the tenancy for a sale you need Ground 1A, the sale ground. GOV.UK's guidance for landlords says:

You must give 4 months' notice before you can apply to the court for a possession order.
Notice can be served during the first 12 months, but it cannot expire before the 12 month period ends.
The ground cannot be used for non-shorthold assured tenancies created before 1 May 2026.

If the tenant does not leave, the landlord applies to court. Our tenanted sale tool helps you plan the timing, and the guide to selling a tenanted property compares all three options in more depth.

Part 5 of 6

Tax: the same either way

Capital Gains Tax can apply when a landlord sells a rental. GOV.UK lists buy-to-let property as an example, and says you must report and pay on most UK property sales within 60 days. On the CGT rates page, GOV.UK says basic rate taxpayers pay 18% on gains within the basic band from 6 April 2026, higher and additional rate taxpayers pay 24%, and the allowance for 2026 to 2027 is £3,000. Try the Capital Gains Tax calculator with your own figures, and take tax advice, because your income decides the rate.

Part 6 of 6

Which suits you?

Choose tenants in place if you want to avoid notice and court, the tenant is reliable and an investor offer is acceptable. Choose vacant possession if you want the widest set of buyers and can wait out at least 4 months of notice. The landlord keep or sell tool can show whether selling is right at all.

If money or the tenancy has become stressful, Citizens Advice has free housing advice, and a solicitor can check your notice before you serve it.

Our take

Price the tenanted sale against the vacant one

Our view: neither route is automatically better. No official source gives a price gap, so the honest comparison is a written valuation of the home as it stands set against a real investor offer. Since 1 May 2026 vacant possession in England means Ground 1A and at least 4 months' notice, so timing matters as much as price. The common mistake is serving notice before checking it.

What Your Property Check adds: our free house valuation gives a value range from real HM Land Registry sold prices in your postcode, with the comparable sales and working shown, and the sale method comparison sets auction, estate agent and cash buyer side by side on net proceeds and timescale.

Check my value

Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

Can you sell a house with a tenant living in it?

Yes. You can sell with the tenant in place, usually to an investor, and the tenancy continues. Give buyers the tenancy agreement, the rent history and proof that the deposit is protected.

What is a sitting tenant?

A tenant who is living in the property at the time of the sale. If you sell with the tenancy in place, ask your conveyancer how it passes to the buyer.

Who buys a tenanted property?

Mostly investors, because many buyers want a home to live in. A buyer needing a mortgage should ask their lender early about lending on a tenanted home.

Does a tenant have to allow viewings?

We found no GOV.UK rule that sets this out. Ask in writing, give reasonable notice and check the tenancy agreement. Do not pressure a tenant, change the locks or use any unlawful route.

How does the sale ground work after Section 21 ended?

Ground 1A needs 4 months' notice before applying to court, cannot expire inside the first 12 months of the tenancy, and uses Form 3A under section 8. A court order is needed if the tenant stays.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.