Landlord Selling the Building? Your Commercial Lease Rights

The “for sale” sign went up out the front. Your landlord has stopped returning calls. The selling agent is wandering through your premises with prospective buyers. Here is what most commercial tenants do not realise: the sale of the building does not terminate your lease, does not change your rent, and does not give the new owner a clean slate. But the next few months are when sloppy tenants get steamrolled — and a properly drafted Legal Response prevents that.

Your lease binds the new owner

A registered commercial lease runs with the land. Under the Real Property Act 1900 (New South Wales), Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Victoria), Land Title Act 1994 (Queensland), Transfer of Land Act 1893 (Western Australia), Real Property Act 1886 (South Australia) and equivalents, a registered lease is an interest in land that the new owner takes subject to. They step into the existing landlord’s shoes — same rent, same term, same options, same obligations. An unregistered lease is more vulnerable but is generally enforceable as a contract and through equitable principles (Walsh v Lonsdale (1882) 21 Ch D 9 applied across Australia).

Inspections, photographs and access

The selling agent does not have an automatic right to wander through your premises. Most commercial leases require reasonable notice (typically 24 to 48 hours), accompanied access during business hours, and respect for your business operations. Photographs of your fit-out, equipment, staff or confidential business information are not permitted without your consent. A written notice to the landlord and agent setting out the access conditions you require is enforceable.

The “vacant possession” trap

Sometimes a landlord tries to engineer vacant possession to maximise sale price — pressuring you to surrender, manufacturing breaches, calling the bank guarantee, or threatening non-renewal. Each of these is potentially unconscionable conduct under the Australian Consumer Law and the relevant state retail leases Act (New South Wales 1994, Victoria 2003, Queensland 1994, South Australia 1995, Australian Capital Territory 2001; in Western Australia, the Commercial Tenancy (Retail Shops) Agreements Act 1985). A formal Legal Response that names the conduct, cites the statute, and reserves your rights stops most of this immediately.

Renewal options survive

If your lease has an option to renew, that option binds the new owner just as it bound the old one. Make sure you exercise the option strictly in accordance with the lease — usually written notice within a defined window before expiry. Missing the window is fatal; new owners will not extend grace.

Outgoings and adjustments at settlement

Outgoings, rent in advance, and bond/guarantee arrangements are adjusted between vendor and purchaser at settlement — but you should receive written notice of the new owner’s bank account details and a clean handover statement. Do not pay rent to a new payee without that notice; an oral instruction is not enough.

What the document does

A formal Legal Response letter to the landlord, selling agent and (once known) the prospective purchaser confirms your lease, records the access conditions, reserves your rights against unconscionable conduct, and confirms your renewal intentions. It puts every party on notice that you are an informed tenant and not a soft target.

What Claim Done delivers

For a flat fee, Claim Done drafts your Legal Response as an Australian-law-compliant PDF — citing the relevant state Real Property/Land Title Act, the Retail Leases Act overlay, and the ACL unconscionable conduct provisions.

What happens after

Most landlords and agents recalibrate their behaviour the moment a properly drafted Legal Response lands — the cost of pushing a tenant who clearly knows the law is too high. The new owner inherits a clean tenancy and the sale proceeds without you being squeezed. If the conduct continues, you have the documentary record to escalate to NCAT, VCAT, QCAT or your state equivalent.