Tenancy agreements in Scotland

[BIoodyStupidJohnson]

Hello all. I'm hoping to get some advice or a viewpoint from someone who has experience of renting properties in Scotland, or is involved in the lettings industry.

I'm experiencing some vagaries from a lettings agency around a forthcoming house move, and I wanted to sense-check if this is normal or not. (I've never lived in or rented a property in Scotland before.)

DH and I are moving from London to Edinburgh next month. (Which we are very excited about!) We found a flat to rent, did a couple of virtual viewings, and made an offer which was accepted by the landlord.

We transferred the lettings agency a deposit to reserve the flat. They have confirmed receipt of this, and that the flat is reserved. They have also carried out their usual credit and tenant checks and confirmed that we have passed/satisfied those.

The flat is now showing as 'reserved' on online searches, and has disappeared entirely from Rightmove.

However, the lettings agency is yet to supply a tenancy agreement to us. The admin person I spoke to said it is normal in Scotland for tenancy agreements to be supplied only a week or two before moving in, and they don't seem to want to do it any sooner.

In practical terms, this is a bit close to the wire for us -- we have big and non-refundable moving costs that we have to commit to now. We also have to confirm with our current landlord when we'll be moving out. And without an agreement I can't sort anything like utilities or a parking permit.

I'm starting to feel a bit anxious about having to commit to winding things up here, not to mention several thousand pounds of moving costs, without anything binding regarding the tenancy.

Or am I wrong on this? Is the tenancy effectively bound already, either by verbal agreement or by the transferring of the deposit monies?

So my question is -- is this how it works normally? Is it standard practice in Scotland to supply tenancy agreements so near to the moving-in date? Can we be confident that the flat is ours in advance of a tenancy agreement?

TIA.

I've lived in a few rented flats/houses here. In my experience, the tenancy agreement was always signed/given the same day that I received the keys. However, I also never paid a deposit until that day. I've always paid deposit and first months rent at the same time I've collected my keys and signed the tenancy agreement

Have rented a few private flats around Glasgow in my time. I've typically signed tenancy agreement, paid deposit / first months rent at the same time as collecting keys or a few days before.

I'm a landlord. The guidance says that you don't actually have to provide the tenancy agreement until the day that a tenant moves in.

That being said, I can see the issues that you have and as such I think you are well within your rights to chase for the agreement to be issued sooner rather than later.

Have you had the confirmation that the deposit funds have been lodged with a third party intermediary?

This is really interesting and helpful, thanks ever so much everyone.

Yes and no flora -- the agency has our deposit in a holding account, which is separate to the account we'd pay our rent into. They have told us that the deposit is transferred into the intermediary account upon commencement of the tenancy.

I carried out a credit check on the lettings agent before we sent them any money and they are legit and credible, as well as longstanding and well-known (it's one of the big Edinburgh ones) so I'm not worried on that front. I also did a payee check on both accounts they supplied us with and they check out as well.

I suppose what I'm trying to establish at the moment is whether anyone is legally bound to anything at present. We are 100% committed to this flat but I don't want to be in a situation where we're a fortnight away from a 400-mile move during a pandemic and the agent turns around and tells us that we don't have a home...!

Your deposit has to be lodged with one of the tenancy deposit schemes by law, but the LL has up to 30 days after the start of your tenancy to do that (and supply you with full details).
Might be worth contacting Shelter Scotland with your queries. They're very good.

Brilliant thanks @ICouldHaveCheckedFirst I’ll give them a shout tomorrow

Neither party is legally obliged until the lease is signed

Landlord in Scotland.
Typically lease signed when keys collected. You should have a receipt for your deposit.
Traditionally Scottish Law accepts verbal contracts and although this may not be up to date, I think agents are used to this way of working. Hence the usual way of conducting business.

I rented a lot in Glasgow and my tenancy was always signed on the day it started and I got the keys.

I would not worry about it. Good luck with your move

Thanks user, 7to25 and azizam

You're all right. I am overworrying certain aspects of this I think! And I did read something on Citizens' Advice about verbal contracts.

I'm just going to put on my 'it'll all be fine' face and crack on I think. And look forward to my exciting new Edinburgh life. (BTW I can't believe I finally get to live there and they've gone and shut Jenners.)

I've always signed the lease and got the keys on the move in day. I've rented 3 different flats and I've never been let down.