Do all parties have to be present to sign rental lease?

[cupcake75]

Hi,
Have a question and was wondering if anyone knew the answer. DH and I are due to sign a lease on a new flat. We currently live in a different city to the flat we're moving to. The agents are insisting that we must both travel to their office to sign the lease.

This is going to cost us a far amount in train fares and we also can't bring our DD with us (10 months and doesn't travel well). We have a babysitter but it will be very inconvenient for us.

Is there any reason why we both have to sign the lease in person? I've offered to sign the lease in front of witnesses here and send a scanned copy to them or send it down with my husband along with relevant ID, bank statements, etc.

Is there any way around this? Thanks

[nubbins]

I have signed lease's and returned by post before. So you don't need to be there in person. They might have a policy though, so they might not be keen to do it any other way.

What about signing the lease when you pick up the keys?

[cupcake75]

I was planning to wait a couple of days before coming down to let DH put the beds & crib together, unpack some boxes without a baby rampaging around, etc. And they won't give us the keys unless we've both signed the lease.

I'm guessing it is not a legal requirement but they can't give us a reason other than it is company policy. The lettings admin person has helpfully suggested bringing the baby down on the day (will be nearly 7 hours worth of travel time adding up various journeys, etc). I am guessing she doesn't have kids.