When a landlord sells a rented property, landlords always face a dilemma.
Is it a good idea to sell a property with sitting tenants?
Selling a property with sitting tenants is often a good idea, as it allows landlords to maintain rental income, avoid eviction costs, and appeal to investors looking for ready-made income-generating properties.
A common question is, should I sell with the tenant in situ or should I evict the tenant and sell with vacant possession?
Can you sell a house with tenants still living there?
Yes, you can sell a house with tenants still living there, and the tenancy agreement simply transfers to the new owner, making it a common and straightforward process for landlords.
Like any situation, there are pros and cons, and these need to be weighed up carefully. The answer will depend on the landlord’s individual situation and their motivations for selling and the timescales they are looking to achieve with the sale.
According to the latest data from Rightmove (March 2026), the average time to sell a property is currently 59-77 days.
If you have served notice on your tenant, you have to be prepared to pay the mortgage on the property while the sale is waiting to complete. You will also be paying the council tax, buildings insurance, and standing utilities and possibly ground rent and service charge pro-rata too. If the sale drags on these charges can start to accumulate.
There is also the threat of an empty property attracting asset theft and vandalism, not to mention that there is no one in the property to report issues such as water leaks, or in the recent cases of storms, damage from bad weather.
Largely due to the uncertain sales process, where 1 in 4 sales typically fall out of bed, many landlords choose to sell their property with the tenant in situ.
This means that they can carry on receiving a rental payment during the sales process.
There is no need to serve notice on the tenant, and there’s no need for the tenant to feel insecure about whether they are going to keep their home.
You simply inform them that you are selling the property to a new landlord and that there will be little change to their tenancy.
When it comes to tenants holding a “life tenancy”, you would not be able to evict them anyway, so would have to sell with them in situ. These types of tenancies are typically bought by landlords and property buyers like ourselves who specialise in buying property with protected tenancies and who generally have to be cash buyers as lenders are not willing to lend on these types of tenancies.
So, you have decided to sell your property with the tenant in situ and the next thing to consider is the timescales.
Are you going to wait a long time for the right investor to come along and make you an offer?
The chances are that the landlord will be using mortgage finance to buy your property and this can make things take even longer as a lender is involved.
Due to stricter lending criteria introduced earlier this year, many landlords are finding it had to raise mortgage finance and are also having to put in much larger deposits, so this means that there are less landlords buying investment property.
How to sell a tenanted property fast
The fastest way to sell a tenanted property is to work with a direct property buying company, which removes delays from estate agents, avoids long chains, and allows completion in a matter of weeks.
Estate Agency Haart reported this week that the number of landlords registering to buy is down 52% year on year due to the above, and also the introduction of a punishing new tax regime called Section 24, which might be the very reason you are selling in the first place!
However, do not despair! LandlordBuyer was set up as a property purchasing service for landlords and we specialise in buying tenanted properties.
Our Director, Jason Harris Cohen shares some insights of our rented property buying service in this video:
If you wish to sell your tenanted property quickly, with no hassle, no viewings, no fuss, and a guaranteed date to get the money in your bank account, then let us make you a no-obligation offer.
Who buys properties with Sitting Tenants?
Properties with sitting tenants are typically bought by buy-to-let investors and specialist property buying companies, like LandlordBuyer, who value the immediate rental income and hassle-free acquisition.
We will consider buying any type of property in England, with any kind of tenancy, and in any condition.
We are genuine cash buyers with a significant cash fund standing by. We are not a broker or introducer, you sell your property direct to us and deal with us every step of the way to completion.
We offer a professional and quick service and have developed the LandlordBuyer brand specifically to assist landlords looking to exit a tenanted property without going through all the normal stress, expense, and uncertainty of a traditional sale.