Buying a property with a tenant in it: the notices, the documents and the deposit (England 2026)

The section 3 and section 48 notices are the part most buyers of a let home have never heard of. The rest is reading what you take on before you exchange, because the tenancy, its deposit and its history pass to you as they stand. Since 1 May 2026 that tenancy has no end date, and getting the home back needs a ground for possession and, if the tenant stays, a court order.

This guide is about assured tenancies. A tenancy that began before 15 January 1989 may be a regulated tenancy under the Rent Act 1977 instead, because the Housing Act 1988 stopped new ones being created from that day, with narrow exceptions (section 34). A regulated tenancy has its own rules on rent and possession, and Ground 1 does not apply to it, so if the seller’s papers show one, ask a solicitor before you exchange.

Every rule below was read on legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 22 October 2026, and the deposit schemes’ own guidance the same day. It is not legal advice: the contract is your conveyancer’s job, and a possession question belongs with a housing solicitor.

The timeline at a glance

What you take on at completion

When the sale completes, the tenancy carries on with you as the landlord. For a tenancy granted since 1 January 1996, the buyer “becomes bound by the landlord covenants of the tenancy” and “becomes entitled to the benefit of the tenant covenants” from the transfer (Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995, section 3(3)). No new agreement is needed. Where the title is registered, the transfer itself “does not operate at law until the relevant registration requirements are met” (Land Registration Act 2002, section 27(1)), so ask your conveyancer whether HM Land Registry has registered it before you serve a Section 8 or Section 13 notice in your own name.

The tenancy is periodic. GOV.UK: “All assured shorthold tenancies automatically became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026.” An old end date no longer applies, and the rent can go up only through the Section 13 process.

The safety duties are yours. The gas safety regulations define the landlord as the person “for the time being entitled to the reversion”: you, from completion.

Arrears from before completion stay with the seller on a tenancy granted since 1 January 1996. Section 23 of the 1995 Act gives the buyer no rights “in relation to any time falling before the assignment” unless they are expressly assigned, so read the rent statement before you agree the price. On an older tenancy, ask your conveyancer who can recover them.

Before exchange: the documents to ask the seller for

Ask for these through your conveyancer. A gap found now can be put right by the seller before completion; found later, it is yours.

Two rows carry a trap. If a tenant had no right to rent when the tenancy was granted, the Home Office code keeps the original landlord liable after a sale, but a follow-up check that lapses after you buy is yours. And band C by 2030 is a government aim, not the law: GOV.UK’s landlord guidance (updated 5 May 2026) calls it an aim, so a pack that says band C applies today is wrong.

Does an HMO or selective licence transfer to the buyer?

No. The Housing Act 2004 says of an HMO licence and of a selective licence alike: “A licence may not be transferred to another person” (sections 68(6) and 91(6)). The seller’s licence does not become yours on completion.

If the home must be licensed and is not, an offence is committed by the person having control of it or managing it and by the landlord (section 72(1) for an HMO, section 95(1) for selective licensing), and the council can impose a financial penalty instead of prosecuting (section 249A). It is a defence that an application for a licence “had been duly made” and was still effective at the time (sections 72(4) and 95(3)).

So ask the council before exchange whether the home is licensable and how it handles a change of owner, and have your application made by the day you complete. The landlord licence fee pages list what each council LetCompliance has read charges.

Does the deposit transfer to the new landlord?

It moves with the tenancy, but not by itself. A deposit must be dealt with under an authorised scheme “as from the time when it is received”, and that applies “despite any agreement to the contrary” (Housing Act 2004, section 213(1) and (9)), so it stays protected the whole way through, whatever the sale contract says. Each scheme runs its own change of landlord:

• Deposit Protection Service. The landlord responsible can transfer the deposit to another landlord through their online account, and the move is immediate. A new landlord can also request it; the DPS makes the move if the holder agrees or does not answer within seven calendar days.
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme. TDS says it is “the responsibility of both the current landlord and new owner” to keep the deposit protected, and that an insured registration “cannot just be transferred between two TDS Insured accounts”. The new landlord tells the tenants where it is protected and re-issues the Prescribed Information and scheme leaflet (TDS guidance of 16 August 2019).
• mydeposits. Ask mydeposits for its process before completion, and agree in writing with the seller who does what on the day.

The 30-day clocks in section 213 run from the day a landlord receives a deposit, for the scheme’s initial requirements (section 213(3)) and for the Prescribed Information (section 213(6)). The Act does not spell out how that applies when a deposit passes to a buyer, so the cautious course, and what TDS asks for, is to have it protected in your name and give fresh Prescribed Information within 30 days of completion.

The history matters as much as the balance. Where protection or the information was late, the tenant can apply to court for one to three times the deposit (section 214), and a court may make a possession order only once the deposit is protected and the information given, late or not, or the deposit returned, except on Grounds 7A and 14 (section 215). If the dates are wrong, ask your conveyancer what the contract can do about it before you exchange.

On completion: the section 3 and section 48 notices

Section 3: tell the tenant who the landlord is now

Section 3(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 says that when the landlord’s interest 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.” A sale counts: the section treats “any conveyance other than a mortgage or charge” as an assignment (section 3(4)).

Failing to give it without reasonable excuse is a summary offence with a fine of up to level 4 on the standard scale (section 3(3)), which is £2,500. The seller has reason to chase you: until written notice of the sale and your name and address is given, by either of you, the seller stays liable to the tenant alongside you (sections 3(3A) and 3(3B)).

Section 48: an address for service in England and Wales

Section 48(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 says a landlord “shall by notice furnish the tenant with an address in England and Wales at which notices (including notices in proceedings) may be served on him by the tenant.” Until that is done, any rent, service charge or administration charge is “treated for all purposes as not being due” (section 48(2)). The address in the seller’s agreement is the seller’s. If you live abroad, give an address in England or Wales where post will reach you.

Section 47 adds that each written demand for rent must show the landlord’s name and address; a demand without them holds back service and administration charges, not the rent (section 47(2)). The section 48 notice guide covers both.

One letter does both

Neither notice has a prescribed form. One dated letter to every tenant on the tenancy, kept with proof that it went, covers section 3 and section 48:

[Date]

To [every tenant’s name], [property address]

Notice of assignment (Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 3) and of the landlord’s address for service (Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, section 48)

On [completion date] the landlord’s interest in [property address] passed from [seller’s name] to me, and I am now your landlord. My name and address are [name], [address].

Under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, I give you notice that the address in England and Wales at which you may serve notices on me, including notices in proceedings, is [address].

Your tenancy continues on its current terms. From the rent due on [date], please pay the rent to [account name, sort code and account number].

[Signature], [name]

If you are buying jointly, name every landlord. Your conveyancer may write to the tenant on completion as well; check what went, and when.

Rent, council tax and the bills

Rent. Rent for the period in which completion falls is normally shared on the completion statement; check the figure against the rent statement. After that the tenant pays you, and only the tenant can change a standing order, which is why the letter gives your account. If the seller collected by Direct Debit, ask how that stops on completion so the tenant is not charged twice.

Council tax. For a home let to one household, the tenant who lives there is liable for council tax rather than the owner (Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 6), so the sale does not touch their bill. Where rooms are let separately, or the home is an HMO, the owner is liable instead (Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992, Class C), and from completion that owner is you: tell the council the date you completed.

Utilities. Accounts in the tenant’s name stay in the tenant’s name. Any the seller paid, as in a bills-included let, move into your name from completion, with a meter reading on the day.

Can a new landlord evict a tenant after buying?

Only through the court, and not quickly. GOV.UK’s guidance says that from 1 May 2026 tenants can no longer be evicted using the ‘no fault’ section 21 process. A landlord who wants the home back serves notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 on one of the grounds in Schedule 2 and, if the tenant does not leave, asks the court for an order.

For a buyer who wants to live in the home, the ground is Ground 1. Since 1 May 2026 it reads: “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” the landlord or close family: a spouse, civil partner or someone they live with as a couple, a parent, grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild, or a child or grandchild of that spouse or partner.

Can a landlord buy a property and use Ground 1 straight away?

The ground no longer shuts buyers out. The version in force before 1 May 2026 could not be used by a landlord who had “acquired the reversion on the tenancy for money or money’s worth”, which is what buying with a tenant in place is. The ground as it now stands has no such words, so a buyer who genuinely needs the home for themselves or close family can rely on it. What limits it is time:

• The year runs from the start of the current tenancy, not from your purchase. The “relevant date” is the date given in the notice as the earliest date proceedings can begin (Schedule 2, paragraph 12). If the current tenancy began three years ago, the year has passed; if it began last month, the date in your notice must be at least a year after it did. With a tenant who has renewed, the current tenancy may be the latest agreement rather than the day they moved in, so read the dates on it.
• The notice is four months. The date in a Ground 1 notice cannot be earlier than four months from service (section 8(4AA)), and proceedings must begin within 12 months of service (section 8(3)(c)).
• The deposit has to be in order before the court can make the order (Housing Act 2004, section 215).
• The intention has to be real. A landlord must not rely on a ground without reasonably believing they may obtain possession on it (section 16E(1)(e)), and once Ground 1 is relied on, the home cannot be let or marketed to let until 12 months after the date in the notice, with narrow exceptions (sections 16E, 16F and 16M).

So a buyer cannot go to court until at least four months after serving notice, and the order comes after a hearing. Plan in months, not weeks: the eviction timescales guide sets out each stage, and the Ground 1 and 1A guide covers the evidence a court looks for.

Can the seller give you vacant possession instead?

Sometimes, and it takes as long. A seller can serve notice on Ground 1A, which needs the same year from the start of the current tenancy, the same four months’ notice and a court order if the tenant stays. Exchange on a promise of vacant possession while that notice is running, and your completion date depends on a hearing date.

Ground 1A also sets off the ban on letting or marketing the home to let, which runs from the day the seller’s notice is served until 12 months after the date in it (sections 16E and 16M). Section 16E puts the ban on “the landlord” and on anyone marketing the home for them, and keeps it on a person until that period ends, “whether or not the tenancy continues”. If you plan to let the home yourself inside that period, ask your solicitor how it applies to you before you exchange.

After completion: the PRS Database

GOV.UK said on 9 September 2026 that the service to register a rental property launches on 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands, reaching other areas over 12 months, and that all landlords actively letting property will need to have registered by 14 November 2027. The regulations that set out what a landlord enters, and how an entry changes when a home is sold, were still a draft on 22 October 2026, not yet made, so none of that is law yet. The PRS Database guide keeps each region’s dates.

Setting the let up as yours

After completion the work is the same as running any let, except that it starts part way through. LetCompliance is landlord software for the whole let, and a bought tenancy goes in as it is:

• The property and the tenancy. Added by hand or from a spreadsheet, with the date the tenancy really began, the rent and the rent day. Rent charges start from the month you add it; earlier months are recorded only if you choose to add them.
• Rent into your own account by Direct Debit through Stripe, with no commission taken, on the trial and every paid plan.
• The deposit. The scheme, the reference and the date it was protected again in your name; the record counts the 30 days from that date, shows whether fresh Prescribed Information is still to give, and produces it as a PDF naming every landlord.
• The certificates and the licence, uploaded with their dates, each with an email reminder before it falls due.
• Your address for service. Saved once in Settings, it fills in the Section 8 and Section 13 notices and the Prescribed Information, and is printed in every tenancy agreement LetCompliance drafts.

Making Tax Digital for the rent you now receive is on every paid plan, not the free plan or the trial, and LetCompliance is from £7.99 a month for one property. Get started

Sources: Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 3; Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, section 47 and section 48; Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995, section 3 and section 23; Housing Act 1988, section 8, section 13, section 16E, section 16M, section 34 and Schedule 2; Land Registration Act 2002, section 27; Housing Act 2004, section 68, section 72, section 91, section 213, section 214 and section 215; the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36; the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, regulation 3; Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 6; the Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992, regulation 2; the Home Office Right to Rent code of practice of 1 October 2026; GOV.UK on assured periodic tenancies for landlords, the Renters’ Rights Act for tenants, the information sheet, EPCs, the minimum energy efficiency standard and the PRS Database launch; and the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026, all read on 22 October 2026, with the Deposit Protection Service and Tenancy Deposit Scheme guidance on a change of landlord read the same day.