Accommodation for 3 months

[WhisperingStars]

Name changed for this. We have recently sold our house in England. Unfortunately whilst house hunting in Scotland in the autumn we both caught covid so we don't have a property to go to. We've been staying in a holiday cottage in northern England as we didn't want to let our buyers down, but need to be out in a few days from now. We were due to travel to mainland Europe to stay, but can't now, certainly in the short term anyway.

We are exempt from the travel ban as we are travelling in connection with a move/rental and fortunately we're full of antibodies

It's proving a nightmare to find a holiday let for 3 months or so, that will take us, our elderly Lab and 2 cats. All we're after is rural, decent quality, a bit of garden and a bath. Ideally in reach of the west coast as that's where will be house hunting after Christmas. We've only got a few days left and it's really stressful.

Has anyone got any ideas? We've contacted holiday companies, put messages on FB communities, and even looked at longer term rental via estate agents. Nothing suitable at all so far. If anyone has a brainwave (or a holiday let that's currently empty!) we'd be so grateful.

Caravan? I helped someone looking for accommodation in similar circumstances West Coast pre covid. Pets were a major stumbling block. They finally got something via a friend for whom they could provide a favour (tradesman). The whole of Scotland goes into Scottish Tier 4 lockdown on Boxing day. That could make viewings difficult as you are not allowed to travel out of your local area.

Thanks. I think we're ok on the travel front as travel relating to house moves or home rental are ok. It's not looking optimistic really, we'll be in sleeping bags at this rate!

Have you tried a normal furnished let ? Most rentals in Scotland don’t seem to have a minimum term. We recently moved from England and are spending a few months in a furnished flat while trying to find somewhere else.

www.cottages.com/cottages/garden-cottage-29839

Look for a normal rental in Scotland in your intended area. We rented ours sight unseen in March to move in in April and we're still here as there's nothing come up we want to buy... Could have moved out with 1 month notice though as no minimum period from the tenant side.

Is it the pets? I had to ignore what was on the websites and ring the letting agencies (3 pets here) - I found rettie would let to use with pets if you agree to pay extra cleaning, but the short term commitment is an extra issue.

From Boxing Day holiday rentals aren't allowed to operate so even if you were doing it as a "house move" it's a sticky situation and they probably aren't allowed to take bookings.
I would look for local facebook groups. There's an EGG (Edinburgh Gossip Girls) one for example where I've seen a number of people offering what were AirBnB flats for longer lets because they aren't getting the tourist bookings at the moment. There's also a Isle of Harris self catering group if you want to go really remote.

Thanks everyone, we're all sorted now. We can do a month to month let at a holiday cottage (with a night's break each month) as it actually is a house move (we'd be homeless otherwise), which is allowed. Didn't see the EGG post until it was too late, that's a shame!