Selling a Rental Property with a Tenant in Queensland: Notice and Process

You Cannot Just Tell the Tenant to Leave Because You're Selling

Deciding to sell a rental property does not give you an immediate right to terminate the tenancy. Under section 286 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (RTRA Act), the sale ground requires a specific chain of events before a Form 12 Notice to Leave can be issued.

And there is a hard constraint: the sale ground applies only to periodic tenancies. If your tenant is on a fixed-term lease, you cannot use this ground at all — the buyer takes the property subject to the existing agreement.

The Two-Form Process

Step 1: Form 10 — Notice of Intention to Sell

Form 10 Notice of Lessor's Intention to Sell Premises (Version 16, 1 May 2025) notifies the tenant that you intend to sell. If you want to show the property to prospective buyers, serve Form 10 before or with the Form 9 entry notice. Form 10 is not a prerequisite to marketing the property.

Form 10 does not terminate the tenancy. It is a prerequisite to a later Form 12 citing the sale ground — without it, that Form 12 is invalid.

Step 2: Form 12 — Notice to Leave

A Form 12 citing the sale ground can only be served after a binding contract of sale has been executed that requires vacant possession. The contract must be signed, not merely anticipated. Listing the property, receiving offers, or going under contract with a settlement clause that does not require vacant possession is not enough.

The minimum notice period is two months from the date the tenant receives the Form 12. The handover date must incorporate clear-day calculations and any postal transit time.

Entry Restrictions During the Sale Process

After a Form 12 has been served, the landlord is capped at two property entries per seven-day period — a restriction in effect since 1 May 2025. Open homes and on-site auctions also require the tenant's written agreement; a Form 9 does not authorize them. Exceeding the entry cap is a statutory offence carrying penalties of up to 20 penalty units ($3,454 at the current $172.70 per unit).

Even before Form 12 is served, entry for prospective buyer inspections requires a Form 9 Entry Notice with at least 48 hours' notice.

If the tenancy ends because of a Form 12 for sale, section 365B of the RTRA Act prohibits offering another residential tenancy for the premises for six months after the handover day. A statutory defence applies if genuine sale efforts produce no acceptable offer or a sale contract ends without a sale.

Fixed-Term Tenancies and Sale

If the property is sold during a fixed term, the purchaser acquires the property subject to the existing tenancy agreement. The new owner steps into the landlord's obligations under the lease. They cannot terminate the tenancy using the sale ground until the fixed term expires and the agreement rolls over to periodic.

This has practical implications for sale price. A property sold with an existing tenant may attract a narrower buyer pool — owner-occupiers will not want to wait — and the agent should be transparent about the tenancy status.

What the Tenant Can Do

On receiving a Form 12, the tenant in a periodic tenancy can:

• Vacate by the handover date — rent liability ends on the handover date
• Vacate earlier by serving a Form 13 Notice of Intention to Leave with at least 14 days' notice, ending rent liability on the earlier date
• Challenge the Form 12 at QCAT if they believe it was retaliatory (served in response to a repair request or rights assertion) or the prerequisites were not met

Common Mistakes

• Issuing Form 12 for sale without first serving Form 10
• Using the sale ground during a fixed-term tenancy (invalid — QCAT must dismiss)
• Issuing Form 12 before the contract of sale is signed ("intending to sell" is not enough)
• Exceeding the post-notice entry cap during open homes

The Ending a Tenancy in Queensland guide covers the sale ground process step by step, including the Form 10 and Form 12 sequence, timeline calculations, and entry cap tracking.

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