Reference only. This article sets out general information about the residential tenancy rules of Western Australia, drawn from the public sources listed at the end. It is not legal, financial, taxation or credit advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or structure a transaction in any particular way. Tenancy law changes often and individual circumstances differ. Readers must verify every point below directly with the relevant authority and obtain their own professional advice before relying on any of it.
The settlement date is the lever, not the notice
Western Australia's rule on this is short enough to quote: a fixed term agreement does not end because the home is sold. If the home is sold during the tenancy, the new owner takes on the landlord responsibilities. Consumer Protection is equally blunt about the other half: the landlord cannot force a tenant to leave early.
That means the tool you use to get an empty house in WA is not a notice. It is the settlement date. Get that wrong at contract stage and no amount of notice fixes it afterwards.
What this does to your finance
Purpose sets your rate. Settling with a tenant in place usually means the loan is written as an investment loan even where you intend to move in later, because the property produces income from day one. Investment rates sit above owner-occupier rates. Lenders assess the loan against the property's use at settlement, so the intended use and the lease end date both matter.
A signed lease can lift your borrowing capacity. Lenders can use documented rent as income, typically shading it to around 70 to 80 percent for vacancy and costs. Better than an assumption on an empty property. See our investment loan page, or model it with the borrowing power calculator.
In WA the settlement date carries the risk. Because vacant possession depends on settlement falling after the fixed term ends, WA purchases of tenanted homes tend to run long settlements, which means an approval that may need re-issuing and a rate lock that may expire. Lender approval and rate lock validity periods vary, and both matter where settlement is set a long way out.
Case 1: You want to keep the tenant
The agreement transfers to you as it stands.
What comes with the property:
- The rent, at the agreed amount. You cannot reset it at settlement.
- The bond, held by the Bond Administrator. It stays lodged and the record is updated to show you.
- The property condition report, the fixed term end date, and any arrangements already agreed.
Documents commonly requested during due diligence:
- The signed residential tenancy agreement, with the fixed term end date.
- The bond lodgement details and the amount held.
- The current rent, when it was last increased, and the payment history.
- The ingoing property condition report.
- Any open Magistrates Court matters or unresolved maintenance requests.
A dispute in progress does not settle when the property does. It becomes yours.
At settlement, rent is apportioned between you and the vendor like rates and water. The tenant has to be told in writing who the new landlord is and where to pay rent.
Case 2: You want vacant possession
Which route is available depends on the agreement type.
Periodic agreement: if the home is sold and the contract requires vacant premises, the landlord gives 30 days notice on a Notice of termination (Form 1C). Straightforward.
Fixed term agreement: the sale gives no right to end it early. There are exactly two legitimate paths:
- Get the tenant's written agreement to end the tenancy early, or
- Make the settlement date fall on or after the end of the fixed term, with 30 days or more notice using Form 1C.
That is the whole list. No amount of notice or motivation overrides the term.
On compensating a tenant to leave. Consumer Protection expressly contemplates it: if the tenant agrees to leave early, the landlord could offer compensation such as a rent free period or covering moving costs. That is a negotiation rather than a notice, and it depends entirely on the tenant agreeing. How a contract of sale deals with obtaining that agreement is a matter for a reader's settlement agent or solicitor.
One more point: the Act includes a penalty where a landlord falsely claims to be selling the premises in order to terminate a tenancy. That is the vendor's exposure rather than a buyer's, but it does mean the paperwork behind a notice has to be genuine.
And one thing that has not changed yet. Western Australia has not abolished no grounds terminations. Five jurisdictions have: the ACT (1 April 2023), Queensland (1 October 2022, for notices to leave without grounds on periodic agreements), South Australia (1 July 2024), New South Wales (19 May 2025) and Victoria (25 November 2025). Tasmania and the Northern Territory, like WA, still allow a termination without a specified ground.
Consumer Protection's guidance describes a WA reform package under which lessors would need a valid ground, but records it as proposed rather than enacted, with no implementation date specified. Until that changes, the no grounds notice periods above continue to apply. Readers should confirm the current position with Consumer Protection WA.
The stamp duty angle
WA's first home owner rate of duty carries a residence requirement: each applicant must occupy the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least 6 months, commencing within 12 months of completion of the transaction.
A tenant on a long fixed term can push your move-in date past that 12 month window. Miss it and you can lose the concessional duty rate and be up for repayment of the First Home Owner Grant with penalties.
The Commissioner can consider a written application to shorten the 6 months or extend the 12 months where the reason was unforeseen or beyond your control. An inherited lease you knew about when you bid is neither of those things.
Our stamp duty calculator can be used to see what duty applies at a given purchase price. Eligibility, current thresholds and the exact residence conditions must be confirmed with RevenueWA.
Case 3: The tenant wants out early
WA gives tenants fewer shortcut exits than the eastern states. There is no general right to hand back a short notice simply because a termination notice has arrived or because the property has changed hands. The main shortened notice on the tenant's side is where the home becomes unfit to live in, which requires two days written notice and is not about sales at all.
For an investor that means a WA fixed term is durable, and a rent forecast built on it is less exposed than in South Australia (where a tenant under notice may leave owing no more than 7 days rent) or New South Wales (where a tenant under notice can end a periodic agreement with no notice at all, or a fixed term on a 14 day early exit notice). WA has no equivalent shortcut tied to a sale.
The durability runs both ways: it protects your income and it blocks your move-in date.
Case 4: You keep the tenant but want to increase the rent
An inherited rent cannot be reset at settlement. Consumer Protection states that rent increases are allowed only once every 12 months, and that the lessor must give 60 days notice before the new rent takes effect.
The 12 month clock runs from the last increase, not from settlement, so a lessor who raised the rent shortly before listing has started a clock the buyer inherits.
Case 5: The lender is selling, not the owner
A sale by a lender exercising its security is a different transaction from a sale by the owner, and the Form 1C sale ground above is addressed to a lessor selling. This article does not attempt to state the Western Australian position on mortgagee sales.
Where a WA property is being sold by a mortgagee in possession, the position must be confirmed with Consumer Protection on 1300 304 054 or with a solicitor before assuming the tenancy behaves the way an ordinary sale does.
Case 6: Access, inspections and quiet enjoyment
WA's rule for showing a property to buyers is framed around reasonableness rather than fixed hours.
- Entry to show prospective buyers may be at any reasonable time, on a reasonable number of occasions, after giving the tenant reasonable notice in writing. A Form 19 Notice of proposed entry to premises is the prescribed notice.
- Routine inspections carry their own specific notice periods, which are separate from sale viewings.
- The tenant retains their right to quiet enjoyment throughout.
Because the test is reasonableness rather than a fixed number of hours, what is reasonable in a given case is something the tenant can dispute. That makes access less predictable than in Victoria or Queensland.
Inspections are harder on an occupied property. A tenant's furniture obscures parts of it, so building inspections and the ingoing condition report are the usual reference points for buyers assessing condition.
Case 7: Bond, arrears and disputes carried into settlement
None of this resets at settlement.
- The bond stays lodged with the Bond Administrator, with the record updated to show the new lessor.
- The ingoing property condition report remains the benchmark for assessing the property when the tenant leaves.
- Arrears and damage do not reset, and any claim is made against the same bond.
- Magistrates Court matters already on foot continue past settlement.
Where to check this yourself
Every figure above comes from one of these, all reachable at the time of writing.
Regulator
- Consumer Protection WA (1300 304 054), and specifically its pages on a landlord ending a tenancy, a tenant ending a tenancy, rent increases and rental forms and notices, where Form 1C and Form 19 are published
- No grounds terminations frequently asked questions, the source for the statement that this reform is proposed rather than enacted
Legislation
Duty
- RevenueWA: first home owner rate of duty fact sheet, which sets the residence requirement described above
Dates these rules took effect
Everything above is stated as at September 2026 and is drawn from Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA) and the public guidance of the authorities named below. Tenancy rules in Western Australia have changed more than once in recent years, and a figure quoted from an older article, an agent's recollection or another state will often be wrong.
WA rental reforms took effect during 2024. As at the date of this article, no grounds terminations have not been abolished in WA: Consumer Protection describes that change as proposed, with drafting and consultation still to run and no implementation date specified.
Readers checking a specific transaction should confirm the current position with Consumer Protection WA (1300 304 054) and RevenueWA, and should note the date on which any guidance page they rely on was last updated.
The short version
| Situation | The Western Australian rule |
|---|---|
| You keep the tenant | Agreement, rent, bond and condition report all transfer to you unchanged |
| Periodic, contract requires vacant premises | 30 days notice on Form 1C |
| Fixed term, you want to move in | Cannot be forced. Either the tenant agrees in writing, or settlement falls on or after the end of the fixed term with 30 days or more notice |
| Tenant wants to leave | No general short exit because of a sale. The fixed term binds them too |
| You want to raise the rent | 12 months since the last increase, 60 days notice |
| The lender is selling | Different rules may apply. Not answered by the Form 1C sale ground |
| Showing buyers through | Reasonable time, reasonable occasions, reasonable notice in writing (Form 19). No fixed hours |
| Bond, arrears, disputes | Nothing resets at settlement. Same bond with the Bond Administrator, same condition report |
The WA mistake is treating the 30 day notice as a universal tool. It is a periodic tenancy tool. On a fixed term, your only real lever is the settlement date, and you set that when you sign, not later.
If you would like to discuss the finance side of a purchase like this, you can contact us.
Buying in another state? The rules change completely at the border. See the same guide for Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT.
This article covers Western Australia only and was prepared in September 2026. Residential tenancy law, duty concessions and lender policy all change, and the position may have moved since publication. Nothing in this article is legal, financial, taxation or credit advice, it does not take account of any reader's objectives, financial situation or needs, and no reliance should be placed on it. Readers are responsible for confirming the current rules directly with Consumer Protection WA and RevenueWA, and for obtaining their own legal, conveyancing and financial advice before acting.
