The Important legal shifts reshaping the country house market which buyers and sellers need to be aware of from the experts at Farrer & Co

We have one of the largest teams of dedicated private property lawyers in the sector and we are recognised as leaders in both residential property matters and agricultural & rural affairs. 

We have experts in all of the legal issues which may arise in the course of the sale or purchase of a country house.  This means we are uniquely placed to offer the depth and range of expertise and resources to progress your transaction swiftly and provide you with the specialist advice you need.

We advise clients from all over the world: individuals, families, developers and private banks across every aspect of buying, financing, managing and selling country houses.

Lettings on the Estate: What the Renters Rights Act Means for Country House Owners

Patrick: The Renters Rights Act 2025 (RRA) is the biggest change to residential tenancy legislation for many years. Previously, outside any agreed fixed term, you could terminate most residential tenancies on two months’ notice (so called “no-fault” evictions). From 1 May 2026, in order to terminate almost all residential tenancies, you will have to rely on one of the grounds in s.8 of the Housing Act  – these include where you wish to sell the house or where an employee occupies the property and their employment has come to an end or if you want to occupy the property yourself/by family members. Significantly, the RRA also varies the notice periods that you will have to give to rely upon some of the grounds, most of which are increased to 4 months.

What hasn’t changed is that if the tenant doesn’t leave at the end of the notice period, you will still have to go to court to get an order for possession. However, it is expected that the pressure on courts will increase significantly and getting a court order will take longer than it does currently.

The new legislation has also introduced rent controls so that rent can only be increased once a year and payments in advance more limited and the tenant can apply to the Tribunal to challenge any rent which they deem to be unfair (including rents agreed at the beginning of the tenancy). This will make it much harder to increase rents.

There is still time to serve a s.21 no fault notice to quit under the old regime, but you would need to hurry as 1 May is fast approaching.

Often our clients will accommodate staff using service occupancies.  Are they caught by the RRA?

Jenna: Service occupancies are licences granted to employees who must live  on site in order to do their jobs. The employees are typically provided free accommodation and their right to occupy terminates automatically when their employment ends. Nannies, housekeepers and gamekeepers often occupy under service occupancies.  Genuine service occupancies are unaffected by the RRA but sometimes arrangements which are papered up as “service occupancies” are in fact leases or simple licences and that can make getting vacant possession harder if they are considered to fall within the RRA regime.

The statutory compliance burden on the property owner for  tenancies is much greater than for service occupancies too and you can unwittingly fall foul of this if your service occupancy is actually a tenancy and be subject to a financial penalty.

One of the contentious aspects of country house sales can be the treatment of domestic staff. What happens to employees on a country house sale?

Jenna: On the transfer of a business, employees transfer automatically to the new owner. The treatment of domestic staff is more of a grey area but country house lawyers generally treat domestic staff in the same way, as the relevant legislation (known as TUPE) is there to protect employees’ rights.

If you are planning to sell your house, an important part of the preparation should be to consider which of your members of staff might wish to move with you and those which the buyer may wish to employ. They may require you to make others redundant.

You’ll need specialist employment advice to assess which members of your staff are likely to fall within TUPE (be wary of “casual workers” ) to avoid potential claims by disgruntled employees.  You should have open conversations with your employees at an early stage so that you are not  starting this process once a buyer has been identified. Good agents like the TCHD really earn their money here as these conversations can be delicate and emotional.

Since the SDLT Multiple Dwellings Relief has been abolished, fewer buyers wish to buy multiple properties. Where a property has more than one house what advice would you give to sellers who might want to split the property up?

Patrick: Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) was a really valuable relief from SDLT allowing significant savings to purchasers of properties comprising 2 or more dwellings.  For example, a purchaser of a property comprising two or more dwellings could save up to £101,250 on their SDLT bill.

MDR therefore meant that properties comprising multiple dwellings became significantly more attractive to purchasers regardless of whether they had a desire to operate multiple dwellings in practice.

Post the abolition of MDR, owning a property comprising multiple dwellings is not such a draw for purchasers.  Certain buyers might be attracted to the existence of additional dwellings if this would facilitate their family or household arrangements (e.g. an additional dwelling for a nanny or a housekeeper).  Some buyers may also be attracted by a potential additional income stream from letting the additional dwellings but this needs to be set off against the obligations inherent from becoming a landlord, which are only set to become more onerous as further provisions of the RRA come into force.

TCHD is best placed to advise you whether selling ancillary dwellings separately from the main house may maximise values.   The position is likely to vary from property to property.

If the ancillary dwellings are going to be used or let separately from the main house, you will need to check they are not subject to a planning condition which prevents this separate use.  You should also ensure that the ancillary dwellings are capable of separate use or occupation in practical terms – e.g. separate rights of access and separate services.

Patrick Hammond
Partner, Rural Property
020 3375 7125
patrick.hammond@farrer.co.uk

Jenna Whistler
Senior Associate, Residential
020 3375 7470
Jenna.whistler@farrer.co.uk