Moving Away From Edinburgh? How To Rent Out Your Property

Are you considering moving away fron Edinburgh? Perhaps you have you secured your dream job elsewhere? Or you are pursuing new career opportunities? Looking to experience the sights and cultures of a different city? Or maybe you are looking to make the jump and move in with a partner?

Do you also own a property in Edinburgh and you're not sure what to do with it?

Any of this sound familiar?

We frequently have discussions with property owners currently residing in Edinburgh who have the opportunity to move away but are unsure what to do with their property asset.

What Are My Options?

The main two options we see for property owners in this position are:

1. Bring your property to the long-term rental market. This enables you to receive an ongoing income from the property while keeping it, either as an investment or with the option of moving back at a later date.

2. Sell your property. You may choose this option if you need the proceeds of the sale to buy a new property elsewhere.

I’m Interested In Renting My Property. What Steps Should I Take?

Speak to an Edinburgh letting agent! If you take professional advice early in the process you can be sure that you are making the right choices.

The first step would be to use our free online valuation tool to determine an initial rental valuation of your property. This initial valuation is calculated from taking data of similar properties that have let within your property’s immediate postcode, with the same number of bedrooms, to give you a ballpark figure of what to expect.

Of course, every property is different and, for that reason, one of our expert team will contact you to arrange a property visit, with the view of providing you a full property, market and rental appraisal. This will allow for an accurate rental valuation and appraisal to be produced for you, taking into account the current market trends and conditions.

Stress Free Ownership

The next step, if you decide to go ahead is to appoint a letting agent to manage your property. They will take care of everything else including helping you to comply with landlord regulations, finding tenants, drawing up a lease, and looking after maintanance and repairs. At Cullen Property, we oversee the property management on behalf of our landlord clients regardless of their location. Some live around the corner from our office, whilst others live on the other side of the globe. Our management service ensures that regardless of your location, you have complete peace of mind that your property is compliant and being looked after with your best interests at the very forefront of our minds.

What Happens If I Want To Move Back To The Property?

According to Scottish Law, the lease form for all residential long-term rental properties in Scotland is called a “Private Residential Tenancy” (or, PRT for short). Introduced in 2017, this replaced the old form lease (the short-assured lease) and one of the main changes that came along with the lease change was the notice period required for bringing a tenancy to an end.

Understanding the process and your rights for bringing a tenancy to an end may be crucial for you in making a decision on what to do with your property.

With the PRT, there are 18 different “grounds for eviction”. One of these grounds is if the landlord intends to move in to the let property.

The notice period required to give for this eviction ground depends on how long the tenancy has been ongoing for.

The notice periods are:

28 days if the tenancy is less than 6 months old.

84 days if the tenancy is 6 months or older.

Should the tenants dispute the eviction ground, evidence may be required to be provided that verifies your intentions, as the landlord, to move back into the property.

At Cullen Property we would oversee this action for you as part of our managed service. This would include issuing the correct notice in writing to the Tenants, and ensuring this was issued with sufficient timing. We would then oversee and conduct the check-out report the day following the end of the tenancy, closely referencing the photographic inventory and any inspection reports carried out during the tenancy. From there, the deposit associated with the tenancy would be handled and settled accordingly.

Because of the strict laws surrounding evictions, we would always recommend speaking to an expert to make sure the process goes as smoothy as it can.

If you are moving away from Edinburgh, and renting out your home is one of your options, please get in touch. Our team will be delighted to talk to you and help you decide if it is right for you.