Sell a Tenanted Rental Property — In Situ or Vacant Possession

The UK buy-to-let landscape has changed more in the last three years than in the previous fifteen. EPC minimum standards. Section 24 interest relief restrictions. The Renters’ Rights Act 2026. Higher stamp duty on additional dwellings. Selective licensing in an increasing number of council areas.

For many landlords, the sums that made buy-to-let attractive a decade ago no longer work. If you’ve decided to exit, we can buy your tenanted property directly — either with your tenants in place (you step out; they stay) or with vacant possession if you’ve already started that process.

Selling with tenants in situ

The cleanest route out of a rental property, for most landlords, is to sell the property with the tenancy in place. You don’t evict. You don’t serve a Section 21. You don’t pay for a void period. On completion day, the tenant keeps living in their home — they just have a new landlord (us).

How it works practically:

1. You tell us about the property and the current tenancy (type, length, rent, tenant details, deposit scheme).
2. We make a written offer within 24 hours, reflecting the property as an investment asset (income yield + underlying value).
3. On acceptance, solicitors are instructed. We handle all landlord-to-landlord transfer paperwork.
4. At completion, the tenancy transfers to us. Deposit registration updated. Next rent payment redirects. Tenants are notified formally of the new landlord and given our contact details.

What tenants see: one letter, one change of payee on their standing order. That’s it. They don’t have to move. Most never notice the transition at all.

Renters’ Rights Act 2026 context

The Renters’ Rights Act, with primary provisions in force from 1 May 2026, reshapes the landlord-tenant relationship in England:

• Section 21 abolished. Landlords can no longer give “no-fault” notice. Ending a tenancy now requires specific grounds (rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, landlord moving back in, property being sold, etc.) with evidence and, in most cases, longer notice periods.
• Rolling periodic tenancies. Fixed-term ASTs effectively end — all tenancies convert to rolling periodic structures.
• Rent increase caps. Once per year, via a specified notice, with tribunal challenge available.
• Decent Homes Standard applies to the private rented sector for the first time.
• Mandatory landlord database and a landlord ombudsman.

For landlords selling with vacant possession, the Act makes eviction slower and more contested. For landlords selling with tenants in situ, the Act doesn’t require eviction at all — the sale just transfers the landlord obligations to the new owner.

Selling in situ is the structurally easier route under the new framework. Many landlords are choosing it for exactly this reason.

Selling with vacant possession

If you’d prefer to sell empty — some landlords do, usually because they believe it produces a higher sale price — we can buy that way too. The usual process:

1. You serve the appropriate notice under the current or post-Act framework (ground depending on circumstances).
2. The tenant moves out, or the court makes a possession order.
3. The property is sold empty. We complete in days once vacant.

Realistically: under the Renters’ Rights Act, vacant possession takes materially longer than it used to. If you’re not already well advanced in the eviction process, selling in situ is usually faster, even at a modestly lower net price.

How we value a tenanted property

A tenanted property is valued differently from an empty one. The main factors:

• Rental yield. What rent the property generates relative to its underlying value.
• Tenant covenant. Reliable paying tenant, long-standing occupancy, no arrears = positive. Problem tenants, arrears, or disputed deposits = negative.
• Tenancy type. Modern AST = standard valuation. Protected tenancy = substantially below vacant-possession value. HMO with licence = specific HMO-investor valuation.
• Property condition. As always, condition affects price.
• Location. Rental demand in the postcode determines yield sustainability.

Our offers on tenanted property typically land between 78% and 90% of vacant-possession market value, reflecting the investor-priced nature of the asset. On a property worth £300,000 empty, we’d typically offer £234,000–£270,000 with a good tenancy in place. That’s higher than auction (often 70–75% for tenanted property) and avoids the months of void-period risk of marketing for empty-sale.

HMOs, licensed properties, and portfolios

• HMOs — we buy. Mandatory, selective, or additional licensing all transferred or reapplied for on completion.
• Licensed properties in selective licensing areas — we take on the licence or apply for a new one.
• Protected (regulated) tenancies — we buy. Pricing reflects the occupancy rights.
• Portfolio sales — if you’re selling multiple properties together, we can look at a portfolio price. Usually more efficient than selling one at a time.

Related terms

• Cash buyer — what we are.
• Exchange of contracts — the legal moment the sale is binding.
• Conveyancing — the legal process, which for tenanted sales includes extra landlord-transfer work.
• Completion day — when you’re out and we’re in.

Start a tenanted-property offer

Share the postcode, the current rent, and the tenancy type. We’ll come back within 24 hours with a written offer reflecting the property as a rental investment — with or without tenants, whichever you prefer.