Vacant possession clause: sample for sales and leases

Sample clause

Written for option to purchase a rural property in Queensland, with a farmhouse and sheds, granted by fictional owners to a fictional grazing business.

Vacant Possession. (a) On completion, the Grantor must give the Grantee vacant possession of the Land, free of any lease, licence or agistment and of any person in occupation. (b) Vacant possession means that the farmhouse, sheds and paddocks are empty of all occupants and of all goods, vehicles, machinery, rubbish and livestock, other than the fixtures and the chattels listed in Schedule 3. (c) The Grantee may inspect the Land within 2 business days before completion to confirm vacant possession. (d) If vacant possession is not given on completion, the Grantee may delay completion until it is, and the Grantor must pay the Grantee's reasonable costs caused by the delay, including agistment for the Grantee's stock. (e) The Grantor is responsible for ending any existing occupancy in accordance with the law.

Sample wording, not legal advice.

Variants

What to negotiate

• Define what must be removed

  Vacant possession is about people and things that stop the buyer using the property. Courts have held that substantial rubbish or goods can breach it, but small items may not. A list of what stays, such as fixtures and named chattels, and a general duty to remove everything else, avoids argument at the inspection.

• Tenants must leave lawfully

  If a tenant is in the property, the seller must end the tenancy under the state's tenancy law, with the right ground and notice, before vacant possession can be given. Sale of the property is a ground in some states and limited in others. Sellers should check the notice periods before agreeing a settlement date.

• Remedies if it is not vacant

  A buyer usually has the right to refuse to complete until vacant possession is given, and to claim costs caused by the delay. The clause can add a pre settlement inspection and specific costs, such as agistment or storage, so the buyer does not have to prove them from scratch.

The risk of leaving it out

A sale contract silent on vacant possession may leave a buyer completing with a tenant still in place, or with sheds full of the seller's machinery, and the cost of removing them. A seller that promises vacant possession without checking the tenancy notice rules may be unable to deliver it on time and face a delay claim.

What vacant possession means

Vacant possession is generally understood to mean the property is free of people in occupation and of any legal right of occupation, and of goods or rubbish that substantially prevent or interfere with the buyer's use of it. It does not mean the property must be perfectly clean. Standard form contracts in each state deal with it, and many make it a term unless the contract says the property is sold subject to a tenancy. Law checked on 21 October 2026. This page explains how the law works and is not legal advice.

Ending a residential tenancy first

A seller who has a tenant must give notice to vacate on a ground the state's law allows, with the right notice period and form. In Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria sets out the notices rental providers may give and their periods, and other states have their own rules. The notice to vacate example shows a landlord ending a periodic tenancy because the sale requires vacant possession, with the ground and dates stated.

Rural property

On farms, vacant possession usually covers stock, agistment arrangements, machinery and hay as well as houses. The option example requires the farmhouse and sheds standing, the bore working and vacant possession given, and stops the grantor removing fixtures or felling mature trees without consent, because those items are part of what the buyer is paying for.

Where the clause sits in a generated document

Contracts of sale, options to purchase, leases and notices to vacate carry this clause or refer to it. When asking the AI document generator for one, say whether vacant possession is given, list the inclusions that stay, set the inspection right and the costs the seller pays if it is late.

Documents that carry this clause

Option to purchase agreement with a fee, a window and a caveatAn option to purchase buys time rather than land. The grantee pays a fee for the exclusive right to buy at a fixed price within a set window, and can walk away without buying anything. This one gives a developer 18 months over a 3.4 hectare block at Woodford for $25,000, at a fixed price of $1,400,000.Landlord notice to vacate template for the sale of the propertyA landlord notice to vacate template ends a tenancy in writing, giving the ground, the notice period and the date the tenants must leave. Since May 2025 a New South Wales landlord can only end a tenancy on a listed ground, so the notice has to name it, give the right period for the type of agreement and attach the evidence the ground requires.

Questions people ask