Folio 4 · The account carried forward
Buying with tenants in place
In Queensland, a lease does not end because the property is sold: the Residential Tenancies Authority says the buyer takes on any agreement in place, and a tenant on a fixed term can stay until it ends. Victoria’s rules point the same way for a fixed term, but the notice periods and forms differ, and the other states and territories have rules of their own.
General information, not legal advice. This folio reads two regulators, Queensland’s Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) and Consumer Affairs Victoria; in another state, its own tenancy regulator is the place to check. In New South Wales, NSW Fair Trading’s page on a landlord ending a tenancy sets out the grounds that relate to a sale.
- Folio
- 4 of 6
- Rules
- Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld); Consumer Affairs Victoria
- Pages
- Selling a rented property; notice to vacate; entry; bond transfers
- Checked against the sources on 8 October 2026
The same questions, two states
A buyer of a tenanted home inherits a person as well as a lease. These are the points where the two regulators’ pages answer the same question.
| Question | Queensland (RTA) | Victoria (Consumer Affairs Victoria) |
|---|---|---|
| Does the lease end at the sale? | No. The RTA says selling a rental property does not automatically end the tenancy agreement, and the buyer takes on any agreement in place before taking ownership. | Consumer Affairs Victoria says that if the rental agreement runs past the proposed settlement date, the contract of sale should say the property is sold “subject to rental agreement”. |
| A fixed-term lease | The tenant can stay until the end of the fixed term, and the new owner becomes their property owner. | A notice to vacate because of a sale can’t shorten the rental agreement; for a fixed term, its termination date has to be on or after the agreement’s end date. |
| If the buyer wants it empty | On a periodic agreement, the seller’s side gives a Notice to leave (Form 12) allowing at least 2 months after the contract of sale is signed. | 90 days’ notice, when the property is to be sold, or offered to buyers, and vacated when the agreement ends, with evidence such as a signed and dated contract of sale. The property then can’t be re-let as a home for 6 months after the notice, unless VCAT approves. |
| Showing buyers through | An Entry notice (Form 9) with at least 48 hours’ notice for each viewing; an open house or on-site auction only if the tenant agrees in writing. | A Notice of intention to sell at least 14 days before the first entry; written notice at least 48 hours before each entry, stating its reason; and no more than twice a week, for no longer than one hour each time, unless the renter agrees otherwise. |
| The bond | A Change of property manager/owner (Form 5) goes to the RTA to update the bond record. | The rental provider on the bond is changed through a rental provider transfer with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority, started within 5 days of the transfer. |
In Queensland, in order
The RTA’s page on selling a rented property reads as a sequence.
- The seller gives notice
The property manager or owner gives the tenant a Notice of lessor’s intention to sell premises (Form 10), setting out how the property will be marketed.
- Photos and viewings
Entry has to be at a reasonable time and, unless the tenant agrees, not on Sundays or public holidays, or before 8am or after 6pm on other days. Marketing photos shouldn’t show the tenant’s possessions unless they agree in writing.
- The contract is signed
If the tenant is on a periodic agreement and the buyer wants vacant possession, this is when the 2-month Notice to leave can run from.
- Ownership changes
The tenant is given an attornment notice, a letter naming the new owner, their details and where to pay rent, and must be offered at least 2 ways to pay. The bond record is updated with the RTA.
- The new owner’s first year
A change of owner doesn’t reset the 12-month limit on rent increases: the buyer can’t raise the rent until at least 12 months after the current amount became payable.
One more rule bears on timing. If a property is advertised to buyers, or shown to one, in the first 2 months of an agreement (a new one included) and the tenant wasn’t told in writing about the proposed sale before signing, the tenant can end the agreement with a Notice of intention to leave (Form 13) giving 2 weeks’ notice, as long as they give it within 2 months and 2 weeks of the tenancy starting.
In Victoria
Consumer Affairs Victoria uses the terms rental provider and renter. Before buyers can be shown through, the renter must have been told of the sale at least 14 days before the first entry, using the Notice of intention to sell the property form, and the rental provider or agent must make all reasonable efforts to agree on days and times. Each entry to show buyers through also needs written notice at least 48 hours ahead, stating the reason for entry.
Each sales inspection costs the seller something: rental providers must compensate renters for each one, half a day’s rent or $30, whichever is greater. Renters can also object in writing to advertising photos that would show things such as valuables or anything that could identify them.
For a buyer, the line that matters most is in Consumer Affairs Victoria’s guidance for owners who use an agent: a sale with a rental agreement running past settlement should be made “subject to rental agreement”. After the sale, the bond moves to the new rental provider through the RTBA, which the transferee must accept within 5 days or the transfer times out.
The tax side of a tenanted purchase
The ATO counts rent as income in the year the tenant pays it, and expenses are deductible while the property is rented or available to rent on commercial terms. Folio 1 covers both.