Bought an apartment with a tenant: Can I give notice to move in myself?

Let apartments are often cheaper than vacant ones. There is a reason for that. Many buyers expect to use the apartment themselves after a while or to resell it with vacant possession. Whether that works out is usually decided before the purchase.

The lease comes with it

With the purchase you become the landlord. For most apartments the Tenancy Act applies in full or in part. You then take over the lease as it stands, with the rent, the term and, as a rule, the other agreements too. The sale itself is not a reason to give notice.

Notice only for good cause

Where the Tenancy Act applies, a landlord can only give notice on a ground recognised by law. Notice is given through the court.

Personal use only after ten years

Personal use is one such ground. If you buy a let apartment, however, you can as a rule only rely on it once at least ten years have passed since the purchase. The law wants to prevent someone from buying an apartment cheaply precisely because of the tenant and then giving the tenant notice.

Even after ten years, preferring to live there yourself is not enough. What is required is an urgent need, for yourself or, for example, for your children.

The fixed term is the real key

Much more important is whether the lease is for a fixed term. A fixed-term lease ends on the agreed date if the fixed term is valid and action is taken in time. Until then you are bound. After that, it is up to you how things continue with the apartment.

An open-ended lease, by contrast, often means that the tenant stays for as long as they wish.

The amicable route

In practice an open-ended lease usually ends not by notice but by agreement. The tenant moves out, often in return for a payment. This is permissible and often quicker and cheaper than proceedings with an uncertain outcome. It should, however, be factored in when agreeing the purchase price.

What to look at before you sign

Ask for the lease before you sign a purchase offer. What matters is the fixed term and its end date, the rent and the deposit.

As the buyer you must repay the deposit at the end of the tenancy, even if the seller never handed it over to you. The purchase contract should therefore provide that it is handed over to you or deducted from the purchase price.

Then you know what you are buying: an apartment to live in or an apartment as an investment.

Fixed term, deposit, ending the lease: the lease step by step