When property ownership changes hands what happens about sitting tenants?

This is a question to the blog clinic from Susan (not her real name), who is a landlord in England.

Hi there, I hope you can help. In April 2019 my father let a property which he owned at the time. In 2020 he transferred the property into my ownership. It was only then I found out he had put my name and details on the tenancy agreement and made me the landlord without my knowledge/consent. I never benefitted financially from this arrangement.

The tenant is causing a lot of problems, she is 8 months in arrears and has caused damage to property, and also obstructs access for remedial works.

How can I get rid of her? Is the tenancy agreement invalid as I didn’t consent to the property being let? Or do i need to serve section 8 notice, and what grounds?

Thank you in advance,

Answer

Presumably, you were aware that the property was being transferred into your name?

When the ownership of a property which has a tenant in occupation changes, the new owner automatically becomes the landlord of the tenant. So, unless your father put the property into your name without your knowledge or consent (which I suspect is not the case), you are the tenant’s landlord.

A tenancy is a legal interest in land, and the tenants have rights.  These cannot be taken away merely by the landlord selling or transferring the property to someone else.

As the new landlord, you will ‘stand in the shoes’ of your father, the preceding landlord, and take over the rights and obligations he had towards the tenants.

Eviction options

I assume that the tenancy has a fixed term, which means that you cannot (unless the fixed term has two months or less to run) serve a ‘no fault’ section 21 notice at this time.

However, if the tenant is 8 months in arrears, you can use the rent arrears ground to evict her.

If you are not familiar with court claims and, in particular, possession proceedings, I would strongly recommend that you use solicitors.  It is easy to inadvertently make a mistake if you don’t know what you are doing, which can result in significant financial losses.

Note that my Landlord Law service has a lot of help and guidance for landlords who are looking to evict, plus forms you can use to instruct our recommended eviction solicitors.

Find out more here.

There are two other points you need to know about:

Section 3 notice

You need to notify the tenant in writing that you are their new landlord and provide them with your name and address. You can also inform them of any changes to the rent payment arrangements.  This is under s3 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

Your section 3 notice must be served within two months of acquiring the property. Failure to do this is a criminal offence.

The Renters Rights Act (coming soon)

The law is shortly to change for landlords when the Renters’ Rights Bill, which, at the time of writing, is in the final stages of its passage through Parliament, comes into force.

It is expected that the bill will receive the Royal Assent sometime in September 2025 and come into force in spring 2026.

The new legislation will bring in substantial changes, for example, fixed terms will be abolished, there will be new strict rules about rent  and also new rules about the tenant’s right to keep a pet.

You can find a lot of information about the new legislation here.