Sell with tenants in situ, or with vacant possession?
Selling with tenants in situ means the buyer inherits an income-producing asset from day one — attractive to investors, and it avoids a void period and the upheaval of ending a tenancy. The trade-off is a smaller buyer pool (investors only, not owner-occupiers) which can soften the price, and the deal depends on the tenancy being well-documented and compliant.
Selling with vacant possession opens the property to owner-occupiers as well as investors, usually widening demand and supporting price — but it means properly ending the tenancy first, accepting a void, and presenting the property empty.
- In situ: faster for investors, no void, but a narrower (investor-only) market.
- Vacant possession: wider demand and often a stronger price, but you must end the tenancy and absorb a void.
Get the tenancy paperwork right
An investor buyer (and their solicitor and lender) will want to see a clean tenancy file: the tenancy agreement, deposit protection details, gas safety and electrical (EICR) certificates, the EPC, and a record of rent paid. Gaps here can collapse a sale or knock the price, so assemble this early.
If you are selling with vacant possession, follow the correct legal process to end the tenancy — get the notices and timing right and take advice, because mistakes are costly and slow.
Valuing a tenanted sale in Cambridge
A tenanted property is valued by investors partly on yield, so the rent it produces matters as much as the bricks. Benchmark the capital value against the live Cambridge sold prices below, then weigh the rental income on top — that combination is what an investor buyer is really pricing.
If you want to package the numbers professionally — comparables, costs, yield and charts in one shareable PDF to attract investor buyers — our Pack Maker is built for exactly that.