Methven 
Yes, you can still sell a tenanted property, however, due to COVID-19 new regulations have come into effect under the Residential Tenancies Act. From 29th March until September 29th 2020 “Notices to Vacate” are now invalid and new processes have been put in place to end a tenancy agreement.
You need to be aware of some of the challenges you may face selling a home that is tenanted with the current regulations in place. Tenants have the right to say “No” to private inspections, which can make the selling process difficult. We highly recommend an owner who wants to sell in this situation offer the tenant some form of incentive to allow private viewings in line with the current health & safety guidelines.
If a tenanted property is sold with vacant possession, the property manager will need to apply to VCAT under the new section to have the tenancy terminated. Currently VCAT are not doing any face to face hearings, all cases are via telephone and some agents are waiting weeks to receive a hearing date. Therefore you need to keep this in mind when agreeing to a settlement date.
You may choose to have your agent apply for a VCAT hearing to end the tenancy based on the grounds that you have engaged an agent to sell your property and have signed an “Exclusive Sales Authority” with the intention to sell. If the VCAT member gives you possession based on this scenario then you may put the property on the market once the tenant has vacated to make it easier in getting prospective buyers through and giving you more flexibility in accepting terms of offers presented to you. If your tenant is on a fixed term tenancy then you do need to honour the term of the lease and possession would not be given to you until the expiry of the tenancy agreement.
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