Autumn Budget Looms: Selling With Tenants In Situ As An Exit Route

Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Team from a report by Property118. Read the original article for full details.

Autumn Budget Looms: Selling With Tenants In Situ As An Exit Route

With the Autumn Budget due this month, landlords may be feeling the pressure, according to a Property118 article by David Coughlin of Landlord Sales Agency. The piece notes that last year's Autumn Budget announced two percentage point increases in tax rates on property and savings income from April 2027, and on ordinary and upper-rate dividend income from April 2026.

For letting agents and inventory clerks, the practical takeaway is the timeline when a landlord decides to sell with tenants still in place, and what that means for tenancy management, access and end-of-tenancy processes.

Possession Timelines Under Section 8 Ground 1A

The article sets out that, in England, seeking possession to sell under Section 8 Ground 1A requires at least four months' notice, which cannot expire within the tenancy's first 12 months. If tenants do not leave and court proceedings are needed, the article states a landlord could still be waiting for vacant possession at Easter next year or beyond.

That timeline matters for agents managing tenancies where a sale is being considered, and for inventory clerks who may be asked to attend properties during a sale process.

Selling While Tenants Remain In Place

Landlord Sales Agency describes itself as a company founded by landlords for landlords, made up of portfolio exit specialists. It says it has sold properties with tenants remaining in situ and properties where tenants were preparing to leave, and that it has worked around tenants who were difficult to contact or reluctant to provide access, found replacement buyers when sales fell through, and negotiated solutions to survey problems.

The article states the agency manages the whole process from listing to completion, and sells a wide range of properties including single buy-to-lets, HMOs and entire portfolios. It says it holds a private database of over 30,000 buyers who can buy with or without tenants, alerted by text message to new properties.

The article states that sellers typically walk away with 85 – 90% of vacant possession value without the hassle of evicting tenants, with rent coming in up to completion where possible. It adds that the agency works with investors, other landlords, owner-occupiers and, where suitable, tenants who want to buy their own home.