We recently had the case with one of our clients: a few weeks after moving in, he was informed that his current landlord had sold the property to another landlord.
What are the tenant’s rights in this situation?
The answer is very simple: the tenant is guaranteed to stay in the property until the end of the tenancy agreement’s fixed term, even if the owner has changed.
At the end of the term though, the new landlord has the right not to renew the tenancy agreement, and do what he/she wants with the property (like the original landlord would have had anyway).
Beware: for 12 months tenancy agreements with a mutual break clause at the 6 months mark, the new landlord has the right to end the tenancy after the 6 months.
Tenants should therefore be sure that they want this flexibility, which comes with a risk, before implementing it.
Keep this in mind when negotiating a tenancy agreement: even if a 12 months fixed term with no break clause can seem inflexible, it does in turn offer guarantees of stability for the tenant.
