Can you evict a tenant if you buy a house with them already in it?

In England, buying a tenanted property now means buying both the asset and the statutory possession rules attached to it. The practical question is no longer just “can I evict?”, but which ground applies, how long it takes, and whether the price and finance still make sense.

Can you evict a tenant if you buy a house with them already in it?

Yes: in England a buyer can evict a sitting tenant to sell the property under Ground 1A or to live in it under the reformed Ground 1, because the old “money’s-worth” bar that stopped a purchaser using the occupation ground has gone from 1 May 2026. Buying a house with a tenant in situ does not itself end the tenancy: the tenancy ends only when a court possession order is executed, and section 21 is no longer available after 1 May 2026. Ground 1A requires an intention to sell and the current tenancy must usually have begun at least 1 year before the relevant date; GOV.UK says the tenant gets 4 months’ notice before the landlord can apply to court. The commercial cost matters too: tenanted stock typically sells 10–20% below vacant value, an ordinary residential mortgage will not complete on a tenanted purchase, and the possession claim issue fee is £415. In Wales, a periodic standard contract can still be ended by plain landlord notice; in Northern Ireland, a purchaser or heir counts as landlord by statutory definition.

What happens to the tenancy agreement when the property is sold?

When a rented property is sold, the tenancy agreement continues and the buyer becomes the landlord, taking the benefit of the rent and tenant covenants and the burden of the landlord’s obligations. In England, the new landlord must give the tenant written notice of the assignment and their name and address by the next rent day, but if that rent day is within 2 months of the assignment the deadline is the end of that 2-month period, so the practical deadline is whichever is later. In Wales, the Renting Homes regime is different: the new landlord must give the contract-holder notice of the change in identity and an address for documents within 14 days of becoming landlord. In Scotland, where a private residential tenancy is transferred, the landlord’s interest transfers with the property, and the new landlord must notify the tenant of the assignation and the new landlord’s name and address within the appropriate period, described in the statute as 2 months or the next rent day if later. In practice, the buyer inherits the tenancy as it stands, including unusual terms the previous landlord agreed.

Can you evict a tenant you have inherited if the property is in Scotland?

Yes, buying and inheriting are treated the same way in Scotland because any transfer of ownership passes the landlord’s interest to the new owner, but inheritance is not itself an eviction ground. A Scottish private residential tenancy cannot be ended by the landlord, tenant or agreement except under Part 5 of the 2016 Act, so the new owner needs a valid notice to leave and, if the tenant stays, a First-tier Tribunal eviction order. The relevant grounds are the ordinary Schedule 3 grounds, such as intending to sell or intending to live in the property; the statute states that landlord intention to live in the let property is an eviction ground, and the tribunal must also be satisfied that it is reasonable to issue an eviction order where reasonableness applies. If the tenant has occupied for more than 6 months and the sell or live-in route is used, the landlord cannot apply to the tribunal until 84 days after the notice period begins. Shelter Scotland’s practical position is consistent with that: a new landlord cannot make the tenant sign a new agreement.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Housing Act 1988 s.5 — “Where an order of the court for possession of the dwelling-house is obtained, the tenancy ends when the order is executed.” Source
• GOV.UK, repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 — “Landlords cannot use section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to seek possession of their property.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2, Ground 1A — “(a) the landlord who is seeking possession intends to sell a freehold or leasehold interest in the dwelling-house or to grant a lease of the dwelling-house for a term certain of more than 21 years which is not terminable before the end of that term by notice given by or to the landlord;” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2, Ground 1A timing — “(i) the current tenancy began at least 1 year before the relevant date, or” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2, reformed Ground 1 — “The current tenancy began at least 1 year before the relevant date and the landlord who is seeking possession requires the dwelling-house as the only or principal home of any of the following—” Source
• GOV.UK, grounds for possession guidance for tenants — “Your landlord must give you 4 months’ notice before they can apply to the court for a possession order to evict you.” Source
• GOV.UK, repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 — “It costs £415 to apply.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.173 — “The landlord under a periodic standard contract may end the contract by giving the contract-holder notice that he or she must give up possession of the dwelling on a date specified in the notice.” Source
• Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 art.2 — ““the landlord” includes any person from time to time deriving title under the original landlord and also includes, in relation to any dwelling-house, any person other than the tenant who is, or but for Part III of the Rent Order would be, entitled to possession of the dwelling-house;” Source
• Landlord Resource, tenant in situ — “Because a tenanted property suits a smaller pool of buyers, mostly investors rather than families who want to move in, it tends to sell 10 to 20 per cent below its vacant value.” Source
• Landlord Resource, tenant in situ — “A normal residential mortgage will not let you complete on a property with a tenant in it.” Source
• Law of Property Act 1925 s.141 — “Rent reserved by a lease, and the benefit of every covenant or provision therein contained, having reference to the subject-matter thereof, and on the lessee’s part to be observed or performed, and every condition of re-entry and other condition therein contained, shall be annexed and incident to and shall go with the reversionary estate in the land, or in any part thereof, immediately expectant on the term granted by the lease, notwithstanding severance of that reversionary estate, and without prejudice to any liability affecting a covenantor or his estate.” Source
• Law of Property Act 1925 s.142 — “The obligation under a condition or of a covenant entered into by a lessor with reference to the subject-matter of the lease shall, if and as far as the lessor has power to bind the reversionary estate immediately expectant on the term granted by the lease, be annexed and incident to and shall go with that reversionary estate, or the several parts thereof, notwithstanding severance of that reversionary estate, and may be taken advantage of and enforced by the person in whom the term is from time to time vested by conveyance, devolution in law, or otherwise; and, if and as far as the lessor has power to bind the person from time to time entitled to that reversionary estate, the obligation aforesaid may be taken advantage of and enforced against any person so entitled.” Source
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.3 — “If the interest of the landlord under a tenancy of premises which consist of or include a dwelling is assigned, the new landlord shall give notice in writing of the assignment, and of his name and address, to the tenant not later than the next day on which rent is payable under the tenancy or, if that is within two months of the assignment, the end of that period of two months.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.39 — “If there is a change in the identity of the landlord, the new landlord must, before the end of the period of 14 days starting with the day on which the new landlord becomes the landlord, give the contract-holder notice of the change in identity and of an address to which the contract-holder may send documents that are intended for the new landlord.” Source
• Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 s.328 — “If the interest of the landlord under a tenancy of premises which consist of or include a house is assigned, the person to whom that interest is assigned (in this section referred to as “the new landlord”) shall, within the appropriate period, give notice in writing to the tenant of the assignation and of the name and address of the new landlord.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.45 — “When ownership of a property let under a private residential tenancy is transferred, the landlord’s interest under the tenancy transfers with it.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.44 — “A tenancy which is a private residential tenancy may not be brought to an end by the landlord, the tenant, nor by any agreement between them, except in accordance with this Part.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 Schedule 3 — “It is an eviction ground that the landlord intends to live in the let property.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 Schedule 3 — “(c) the Tribunal is satisfied that it is reasonable to issue an eviction order on account of those facts.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.54 — “(ii) 84 days after it begins if subsection (3) does not apply.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.51 — “The First-tier Tribunal is to issue an eviction order against the tenant under a private residential tenancy if, on an application by the landlord, it finds that one of the eviction grounds named in schedule 3 applies.” Source
• Shelter Scotland, private residential tenancy — “Your new landlord cannot make you sign a new tenancy agreement.” Source