Buying a rented flat has its own rules: the tenant stays, with their rights. Here is what you need to know.
Buying & Selling · Updated October 2026 · 5 min read
Buying a property with a tenant under contract (not to be confused with an occupied flat) is legal and common in investment, but the lease continues.
As the new owner, you step into the landlord's position: you must respect the current contract, the rent and the agreed term under the Urban Leases Act (LAU).
The tenant may hold a pre-emptive acquisition right (tanteo y retracto): the option to buy the property on the same terms before a third party, unless they have validly waived it.
Not straightforwardly: you step into the contract and must respect its term and conditions under the LAU. You can only recover the property in the cases provided for by law.
They may hold a right of first refusal (pre-emptive acquisition) on the same terms, unless they have validly waived it in the contract. We check this before buying.
Not immediately. The buyer takes over the contract and must honour it until it ends under the terms of the tenancy law. It can only be recovered in the legally permitted cases.
If the tenancy is not registered at the Land Registry, the tenant's protection against the new owner is weaker, but each case and the contract date must be analysed.
The contract, the rent, the deposit, the remaining term, whether the tenant waived pre-emption rights and whether they are up to date with payments. We review it before signing.
We review the lease and your rights as the new owner before you sign.
