Sold our rental during lease

Hi all just after a little help on our current situation- We moved into a rental October last year in Sydney and were assured it would be a long term lease as we didn't want to move again so soon, unfortunately they changed their minds and have decided to sell the house.

It is now under contract and I would like to confirm where we stand as to leaving the property, our lease is not up until October, I understand we are entitled to stay until then with the new owners but if we can leave prior to that without facing penalty it may be a better option as we could start looking for the the right place as of now.

From what I have read it appears that if the house is sold during tenancy the tenants have the right to vacate with 14 days notice at no extra charge.

However if the landlord gives notice (3 months) prior to end of lease date, we are required to pay up until the end of lease date regardless it we still live there or not?

So, does that mean we can give 14 days notice up until the new owners give us notice then we are required to pay until end of lease?
Or our 14 days notice remains valid until we eventually vacate?

It's such a long and hard process finding a suitable home, especially in Sydney, so would be great if we had the option to wait for the right place rather than timing it with end of lease.

It's times like this I question my choice to be a rentvestor!

Thanks for your help!

 

Dear JesseT,
Could I suggest you have a look at your lease and check exactly what are the facts about 'leaving without penalty'
Perhaps you could look at 'properties to rent' and tell them the cost of relocation... would they pay?
See if they will 'help you out?
PM me , I may have some further thoughts..

 

From memory (I will need to refer to the standard tenancy agreement),

• You are contracted to remain in the premises until the expiry of the agreement (you may still mutually agree to terminate).
• The lessor has complied with the lease and not sold within the embargo which allows you to break without penalty.
• You or the owner can give notice that you will vacate at the end of the lease (different periods of notice apply)

 

I think you're getting confused between quite a few different provisions and avenues of termination under the relevant tenancy Act. I'm assuming this is in NSW - I do know the sale of house provisions you might be talking about.

You probably should get some specific advice from a tenancy advisory service - there are probably local ones as well as the state tenant's union who can give advice.

 

Yes NSW
Was using fair trading for information which may explain my confusion better since they seem to contradict each other in our scenario if the new owners give notice 'because of the end of the fixed term'

Ending_a_tenancy

When a property is put up for sale
If your landlord notifies you of their intention to sell the property during the fixed term of your tenancy, you can end your agreement, without having to compensate the landlord for the early termination, by giving at least 14 days’ notice. However, this does not apply if before you entered into the tenancy agreement, your landlord disclosed the proposed sale to you for which a contract for sale was prepared

Getting notice from the landlord
If your landlord serves you with a termination notice you can move out any time before the notice ends without having to give your own notice. If you were given notice because of the end of the fixed term, you are responsible for paying the rent until the last day of the fixed term. Otherwise no further rent is payable from the day you hand back vacant possession after getting a termination notice from the landlord.

 

I don't see how they contradict each other at all....?

I'm struggling to understand what you mean.

 

Im sorry I'll try again, going off the above information it appears to me that now that the house has been sold in the fixed term lease, we can find a replacement property and vacate this property with just 14 days notice and no extra charge.

However if the current landlords/new owners give notice that we are to vacate at end of lease date, we are required to pay rent up until our end of lease date? (Or 4 weeks rent) should we leave prior to end of lease date.

So in our situation where the house is sold and we may also receive notice, which one is it?

 

Uh, that is a big "maybe". The section is actually designed for tenants to terminate the tenancy before the property is sold, in order to avoid the hassles of a sale inspections and that sort of disturbance. I'm not actually sure off the top of my head what would happen in trying to use this after the sale - I think there could be issues.

Yeah but that's only if you're relying on that method to terminate the tenancy. Various methods of terminating a tenancy can co-exist at the same time.