If you want to sell a home you rent out, you can do it with the tenant still living there.

A sale doesn't end a fixed-term lease (one with an end date): your tenant can generally stay until it ends, whoever owns the home. If your buyer wants the home empty, you'll usually need to give 30 to 90 days' notice, depending on the type of lease and your state or territory.

If you're uneasy about how your tenant will take the news, most of what can go wrong is covered by a rule: how much notice your tenant gets, how often buyers come through and what goes in the photos. When you and your tenant both know them, the selling process is easier.

Each state sets its own rules for three separate steps: telling your tenant you're selling, showing the home to buyers, and ending the lease. This guide lays them out side by side, as they stood on 27 October 2026. It isn't legal advice, so check the rules with your state's tenancy regulator before you give any notice.

Can you sell a house with tenants in it?

Yes. In every state and territory, you can sell a rented home with the tenant in place. You can sell it one of two ways.

• Sell it with the tenant in place. At settlement, the day ownership passes to the buyer, they take over the lease and become the tenant's landlord. This suits a buyer who wants a rental, and the rent keeps coming in while you sell.
• Sell it empty, with vacant possession. The tenant must be out by settlement, so the lease has to end in time, with the notice your state requires. A buyer who wants to move in at settlement will need this. On a fixed-term lease, that generally means settling after the term ends (and in the ACT, after a further 8 weeks' notice).

Does selling end the lease?

No. A sale on its own doesn't let you end a fixed-term lease early. Your tenant can generally stay until the end date.

A periodic lease (one that rolls on after its end date, or never had one) is different. Most states let you end a periodic lease for a sale, with the notice in the table below.

How much notice do you give a tenant when you sell?

If your tenant is on a periodic lease, you'll need to give 30 to 90 days' notice to end it for a sale. NSW has both: 90 days for a planned sale, or 30 days once you've signed a contract. In most states, you can give it before you have a buyer.

Victoria's notice was 60 days until 25 November 2025, so older guides still quote it.

If your NSW tenant has lived there for 20 years or more, a planned sale isn't enough to end the lease. Unless you've signed a contract that requires vacant possession, you'll need a tribunal order.

If the lease is a fixed term. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland and SA, your sale notice can take effect at the end of the term, but generally no earlier. In NSW, the notice is 60 days on a fixed term of six months or less and 90 days on a longer one, or 30 days once you've signed a contract.

Ending a fixed term without a reason. In WA, Tasmania and the NT, you can end a lease at the end of its term without giving one. WA needs 30 days' notice and the NT 60 days (leases from 2 January 2024). In Tasmania, you give it between 42 and 60 days before the term ends.

The ACT. The sale notice applies only to a periodic lease. If the home is on a fixed-term lease, your buyer takes it over for the rest of the term.

Re-letting. Ending a lease for a sale ties your hands for six months in NSW (for a planned sale), Victoria, Queensland and SA: you can't rent the home out again in that time. Each state has exceptions. In Victoria and SA, for example, the tenancy tribunal can agree to it.

In NSW and Queensland, the six months runs from the end date in your notice. In Victoria and SA, it runs from the day you gave it.

If the tenant doesn't leave. You can't remove a tenant yourself. If they stay past a valid notice, you apply for an order: to the tenancy tribunal in most states, or to the Magistrates Court in WA and Tasmania. Leave time for that before settlement.

Ending a periodic lease without a reason. In WA and the NT, you still can, with 60 days' notice (in the NT, for leases from 2 January 2024). In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, Tasmania and the ACT, you need a reason, and a sale is one.

In WA, your tenant has 7 days from a no-reason notice on a periodic lease to ask the court to extend it by up to 60 days, or to cancel it.

What do you have to tell your tenant before you market the home?

In five states and territories, you must tell the tenant in writing that you're selling before buyers come through.

• NSW: written notice at least 14 days before the first inspection.
• Victoria: a notice of intention to sell, on the approved form, at least 14 days before the first sales inspection.
• Queensland: a notice of intention to sell (Form 10), before or with the notice for the first inspection.
• SA: written notice within 14 days of signing a sales agency agreement, or of deciding to open the home to buyers. You can't advertise or hold inspections until 14 days after the tenant gets it.
• ACT: written notice of your intention to sell before any buyer inspection.

In WA, Tasmania and the NT, there's no separate notice. You give the usual notice before each inspection.

If a sale is already under way when a new lease is signed, tell the tenant before they sign. NSW requires it if a sale contract has been prepared, Victoria if you've engaged an agent or prepared a contract, and SA if you've advertised or intend to advertise the home for sale, or signed a sales agency agreement.

Can the tenant leave early once you decide to sell?

In some sale situations, your tenant can end a fixed-term lease early without a break fee (the cost of leaving a lease early). Five states and territories allow it.

• NSW: if you didn't tell them before they signed that the home would be sold, and you put it on the market during the fixed term, they can leave on 14 days' notice.
• Victoria: once you give a notice of intention to sell, they can leave on 14 days' notice, unless you told them of the planned sale before they signed.
• Queensland: if the home is advertised or shown to a buyer in the first two months of the lease, and they weren't told in writing before signing, they can leave on 14 days' notice. They have to give it no later than two weeks after those two months.
• SA: if you sign a sale contract within two months of the lease starting, and you hadn't told them about the sale before they signed, they can end the lease within two months of your written notice of the contract.
• ACT: they can leave on 14 days' notice if you offer the home for sale within six months of the lease starting without telling them before they signed. They can also leave if you're still asking for buyer inspections more than eight weeks after the first request.

WA, Tasmania and the NT have no rule like this. If your tenant would rather leave and you agree, put the agreement to end the lease in writing.

After a sale notice. Once you've given notice to end the lease for a sale, your tenant can leave before the lease ends in Victoria (on 14 days' notice), the ACT (on 2 weeks' notice) and SA.

In NSW, a tenant on a fixed term can give an early exit notice of at least 14 days, but only in the last 60 days of a lease of six months or less, or the last 90 days of a longer one.

In SA, they pay rent until the day they leave. If they give you less than seven days' written notice, rent runs until seven days after they give it.

How many inspections can you hold?

In most states and territories, you'll need to give your tenant 48 hours' notice before each buyer inspection. In NSW, Victoria, SA and the ACT, you're limited to two a week unless the tenant agrees to more.

Open homes. In Queensland, an open home or an on-site auction needs the tenant's written consent. In Tasmania, an open inspection needs their written approval beforehand, and you or your agent have to be there. In Victoria, a tenant protected by a family violence or personal safety order or notice can require inspections by appointment only.

Who's there. In WA, the tenant is entitled to be home during an inspection. In the NT, inspections happen with the tenant there unless they waive this in writing, aren't home or unreasonably refuse to attend. In Queensland, buyers must be accompanied unless the tenant agrees otherwise.

If you can't agree times, the tribunal can set them in SA and the ACT. In Victoria, the tenant can ask the tribunal (VCAT) to limit entry.

Can you photograph a tenant's home for the listing?

Yes, but in most states you need the tenant's consent to publish some or all photos that show their belongings.

• NSW: 7 days' notice to come in once, in the 28 days before advertising, with a fair chance to move or cover belongings. Photos showing their belongings need written consent, asked for no more than 3 weeks before advertising, and the tenant gets free copies of them. They mustn't unreasonably refuse, and no reply within 7 days counts as a refusal.
• Victoria: 7 days' notice to come in for photos and video. The tenant can object in writing to images of belongings that identify them, reveal something sensitive, are valuable enough to raise the risk of theft or would be unreasonable to move. The same goes for any image that may identify someone living there who is at risk of family or personal violence.
• Victoria, reviewing images: if the tenant has asked for identifying or valuable belongings to be left out, they can ask to review the images. You can't advertise them until they've reviewed them and consented in writing.
• Queensland: the tenant's written consent before any advertising photo shows their belongings.
• SA: 7 days' written notice before photos for publication, and written consent for any that show the tenant's belongings.
• Tasmania: written consent before showing the public any image with something that could identify the tenant or another person.
• NT: written consent before publishing images of belongings that identify someone in the home, reveal something sensitive, are valuable enough to raise the risk of theft or would be unreasonable to move. The same goes for any image that could identify the tenant or anyone living there who has experienced domestic violence or is at risk of it.
• NT, reviewing images: the tenant can ask to see the images before giving consent, and consent lasts up to 12 months.

WA's and the ACT's tenancy Acts have no photo rule. Asking first still saves a dispute later.

Do you have to compensate the tenant?

In Victoria, yes. You must pay the tenant for each sales inspection, either half a day's rent or $30, whichever is higher.

Outside Victoria, the tenancy Acts we read and NSW's standard lease don't require it. Anything you offer, such as a lower rent for the weeks the home is on the market, is your choice. Once you've agreed to it, put it in writing and honour it.

What happens when the property is sold?

Make sure the tenant knows in writing who the new owner is and where to pay rent from settlement. Depending on the state, that's your job, the new owner's, or both.

• Queensland: you give an attornment notice, the formal letter that hands the tenancy to the buyer. It must give the buyer's name and address and tell the tenant to pay future rent to the buyer. You must also tell the buyer about the tenancy in writing, and the tenant must be offered at least two ways to pay rent.
• SA: you give the buyer's name and the date rent becomes payable to them, in writing, at least 14 days before settlement, or as soon as possible if settlement is closer. The new owner then gives the tenant their details within 14 days.
• WA and the NT: the new owner tells the tenant their name and address within 14 days.
• Tasmania: the new owner tells the tenant their name and address.
• NSW and Victoria: the tenant must be told in writing when the landlord's name or contact details change.

The bond. In Queensland, a Change of property manager/owner form (Form 5) goes to the RTA (the Residential Tenancies Authority) for the bond record. In Victoria, you and the buyer must tell the bond authority of the transfer. Ask your agent or conveyancer how it's handled in your state.

For what happens on the day, see our guide to what to expect at settlement.

How to work with your tenant while you sell

Your tenant isn't party to the sale, but they live with every inspection, so it's worth keeping them on side.

1. Check the lease. Find out whether it's a fixed term and when it ends, or whether it's periodic. That decides whether you can sell the home empty.
2. Talk to your tenant first. Tell them in person, then give the written notice your state requires.
3. Agree inspection times. Several states expect you to try to agree days and times. The limits in the table above still apply.
4. Put agreements in writing. If the tenant agrees to more inspections, or to leave early, record it and both sign.

When you compare agents, it's worth asking:

• How many tenanted homes have you sold in this area, and did you sell them with the tenant in place or empty?
• Who will give the tenant the notices: you, or my property manager?
• How will you plan inspections so they stay within my tenant's rights?

For the rest of the sale, see our guide to the selling process for investors.

What about tax?

For capital gains tax and the other tax questions a sale raises, see our guide to tax on selling an investment property. Our guide to when to sell an investment property covers whether to sell at all.

Where these rules come from

This guide summarises each state and territory's residential tenancy law (the Act and regulations), as we read it on 27 October 2026.

For NSW, we couldn't open the Act itself, so the guide draws on NSW Fair Trading's pages and the standard lease set by the state's tenancy regulation. Laws change, and your lease may add terms, so check with your regulator before you act:

• NSW: ending a tenancy, notice for access and photos for advertising
• Victoria: Residential Tenancies Act 1997, changes to rental laws and when a rental provider can enter
• Queensland: Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 and when a property is for sale
• WA: landlords ending a tenancy and inspections and privacy
• SA: selling a rental property
• Tasmania: owner ending a lease
• ACT: termination grounds for landlords
• NT: guide to renting in the NT

Frequently asked questions