The flat you rent is being sold: what happens to your contract

One day a message arrives from your landlord: they're selling the flat. Or a sign goes up in the building, or an estate agent asks to arrange viewings. The first reaction is usually to think it's time to start looking for a new home. In most cases, it isn't.

A sale doesn't end the contract

Landlords can sell their property whenever they like, including with a tenant living in it. What they can't do is use the sale to sweep the contract away. In a long-term residential tenancy signed under current Spanish law, the buyer steps into the previous owner's shoes and must honour the contract for at least the first five years (seven if the seller was a company), even if the contract isn't recorded in the Property Registry.

In other words: you change landlord, not home. The rent, the term, the extensions and every other condition stay the same.

What changes in practice

• Who you pay: the new owner must tell you in writing who they are and which account to pay the rent into. Until that's clear, don't stop paying; if in doubt, ask both of them in writing.
• The deposit: the new owner becomes responsible for it. Normally the seller hands it over as part of the sale, but that's between them; when the tenancy ends, whoever owns the flat at that point returns it to you.
• Notices and repairs: from the sale onwards, they go to the new owner.

Ask for the change to be put in writing: an email from both the old and the new owner confirming the date of sale and the payment details. It's the simplest way to prove you paid the right person.

The right of first refusal and the right of redemption

Spanish law gives residential tenants priority to buy the flat they live in. It works in two stages:

• First refusal (tanteo): before selling, the landlord must notify you in writing of their intention, the price and the essential terms. From that notice you have thirty calendar days to say you'll buy it yourself on the same terms.
• Redemption (retracto): if you weren't notified, or the sale went ahead at a different price or on different terms from those you were told, you can exercise the right to buy on the actual terms of the sale, also within thirty calendar days of being notified of the sale.

There are important caveats. You may have waived this right in the contract, so check whether there's a clause saying so. It doesn't apply when the flat is sold together with all the other homes and commercial units the landlord owns in the same building. And some regions have their own rules on preferential purchase of housing, which are worth checking.

Viewings by buyers

Selling an occupied flat usually means viewings. The law doesn't set specific rules: it depends on what the contract says and, above all, on what you agree. The sensible approach is to agree days and time slots with prior notice, and for nobody to go in without you or without your permission. Putting it in writing avoids a lot of tension.

If the new owner wants you out

They can suggest it and you can negotiate: some tenants agree to leave early in exchange for compensation or more time to move. But it's a negotiation, not an obligation. If you receive a notice to leave before the contract's terms are up, don't rush to sign anything and get advice from a housing advice service.

What to do today

• Find your contract and check the signing date, the term and whether you waived the right of first refusal.
• Keep proof of your rent and deposit payments.
• When the notice of sale arrives, keep the document and note the date you received it: that's when the deadlines start.