What happens when your landlord sells

Aug 29
3 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Introduction

A letter arrives saying the building has been sold and rent should now be paid to a different company. The tenant has no idea who they are, whether anything changes, or whether they should be concerned.

Legally the position is generally straightforward: the lease continues on the same terms and binds the new owner. Practically a great deal can change, because a landlord who was an individual with one building may be replaced by a company with a portfolio, a different approach to service charge, and plans for the site. None of which is visible in the letter announcing the sale. The building was an asset to the previous owner and is a project to the new one.

1. What happens when your landlord sells is that your lease continues

Start with the reassurance.

In most jurisdictions a lease binds a purchaser, so the term, the rent and every other provision remain as they were. A new owner cannot simply change the terms or require you to leave.

2. Verify who you should now be paying

Before changing anything.

Fraudulent notices about changed payment details are a known problem. Confirm the change through your own solicitor or an independently obtained contact rather than the details in the letter. This is a well-established fraud and the amounts involved make it worthwhile to the perpetrator.

3. Expect the relationship to become more formal

The most common practical change.

An informal arrangement with an individual owner frequently becomes a managed relationship with an agent, applied strictly. Things that were tolerated may not be, and requests that were handled by a telephone call may now require an application and a fee.

4. Watch the service charge

Where costs commonly move.

A new owner may take a different view of maintenance, commission works that had been deferred, or introduce management fees. This is entirely within their rights and can change your occupancy cost substantially.

5. Check your own compliance

Before anybody checks it for you.

Alterations without consent, sharing occupation, sub-letting, or a use slightly outside the permitted one. A new landlord conducting a review will identify these, and it is better to have addressed them first. A breach you have already remedied is a very different conversation from one they discover.

6. Establish what their plans are

Worth asking directly.

Redevelopment, refurbishment or repositioning of the building affects you, particularly near the end of a term. A straightforward conversation early is more useful than speculation.

7. Locate your own documents

Frequently a problem at exactly this point.

The lease, any licences for alterations, the schedule of condition, and correspondence about concessions. A new owner will not be aware of informal agreements made with a previous one, and undocumented concessions generally disappear. An arrangement that existed only in a conversation with the previous owner no longer exists.

8. Take deposits and guarantees into account

Practical details that get lost.

Where a rent deposit was paid, confirm that it has transferred. Where guarantees exist, understand who now holds the benefit of them.

9. Think about your position at renewal

The medium-term question.

A new owner's approach at lease expiry may differ substantially, particularly if they have plans for the site. Where your term ends within a few years, this is the moment to start considering options.

Establish a working relationship early rather than waiting for a problem. Introducing yourself, confirming who handles what, and understanding how they prefer to be contacted makes every subsequent interaction easier and costs nothing.

Conclusion

Understand that the lease continues unchanged while the relationship may change considerably.

Verify independently who you should now pay before altering any payment details, expect a more formal and strictly applied relationship, watch for changes in service charge and maintenance approach, review your own compliance with the lease before a new owner does, ask directly about their plans for the building, locate your lease and any documented concessions, confirm that deposits and guarantees have transferred, consider your position at renewal if the term ends soon, and establish a working relationship early.