One of the smaller SA rental reforms that has caused the largest number of client questions is the 60-day sales-vacancy rule that took effect on 1 September 2025. It resolves what used to be a genuinely difficult transition: how to end a tenancy cleanly so a property could be sold vacant, without waiting for the natural expiry of a long fixed-term lease. Here is what the rule actually says, and where landlords still get it wrong.
What the rule permits
Under the Residential Tenancies Act as amended, a landlord may terminate a fixed-term tenancy at its expiry or end a periodic tenancy at any time, if they have entered into a written sales agency agreement with a registered real estate agent that requires the property to be delivered vacant. The landlord must give the tenant at least sixty days' written notice, and the notice must specify the reason (sale) and be accompanied by evidence of the sales agency agreement.
What the rule does not permit
The rule cannot be used speculatively. You cannot serve a sixty-day notice on the basis that you 'might' sell in six months — the sales agency agreement must be in place and must specify a vacant-possession requirement. The rule also cannot be used to end a fixed-term tenancy mid-term unless the tenancy is periodic; it applies at expiry or on periodic tenancies. And it does not override anti-eviction protections around retaliatory notice — a notice served in response to a tenant complaint about repairs may still be challenged in the SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Why the reform was needed
Prior to the reform, an owner ready to sell was often stuck. If the tenant was mid-lease, the sale had to proceed with the tenancy in place — which reduced the buyer pool, complicated inspections, and typically produced a lower price. The 60-day rule is a middle-ground between the tenant's right to reasonable notice and the owner's right to realise the value of their asset. Sixty days is long enough for a tenant to find alternative accommodation in a tight market, and short enough for a vendor to run a proper marketing campaign to auction or private treaty timeline.
The tenant relationship is still worth protecting
The rule is a tool, not an instruction. In our experience, tenants who are given honest early notice — well beyond the sixty-day minimum — often end up leaving on good terms, cooperating with pre-sale presentation, and sometimes even attending open inspections in a way that helps rather than hinders the campaign. A tenant who feels blindsided by a 60-day notice is more likely to leave the property in a state that requires expensive make-good work. That make-good cost often outweighs the extra rent from squeezing the notice to the minimum.
How to sequence a rental-to-sale transition
In practice, we recommend the following order: (1) engage a sales agent and agree the campaign timing before serving notice; (2) have an honest conversation with the tenant about the intention to sell and offer a reasonable move-out timeline; (3) serve the formal notice in writing with the required evidence attached; (4) run a coordinated make-ready program so the property is presentation-ready on the day the tenant vacates. Skipping the pre-notice conversation is usually the source of every avoidable friction that follows.
If you are considering this in the next twelve months
We are happy to help you think it through — including the timing question of whether it is worth selling with the tenant in place (rental yields hold up better than they used to on investment sales) versus selling vacant. Either way, a proper appraisal is the first step, and we are happy to prepare one without any obligation.
