Looking to get onto the Edinburgh rental market for the first time? Looking to upsize to a bigger place? Or looking to try out a new part of our beautiful city? Not sure when to start looking for your new home? We’ve put together a wee guide on approaching the new move.
Too much too soon?
There is wisdom in the phrase ‘too much too soon’. Don’t start looking too early. The market shifts quickly and often people get hooked on a flat that’s available before they are ready to move. Move in dates are important to Landlords and any lease start date which is later than the advertised available date is a loss in rent for the landlord. Applications which can move in on, or as close to, the move in date are popular amongst landlords.
When should I start looking?
We would recommend tenants start to search the market around 6 weeks max before needing to move. By all means, search in advance to understand the market and what is available in each area of Edinburgh, just don’t get set on a flat too early on. At Umega we have 2 sources of flats for the market. Managed properties where our current tenants are moving out of, so will be available around 3-4 weeks later (tenants need to give us 28 days notice to move out and we bang them back online right away once we know the tenants are moving out). Then there’s new properties which come to us from landlords we haven’t worked with yet and therefore these flats can be available anytime from 2 weeks to 2 months away (depending on whether the landlord comes to us with a property ready to go or perhaps if they’re moving out of the property themselves in a couple of month’s time). This winning combination means we always have a range of flats with a range of move in dates available.
How long does the application process take?
We have a slick process for tenants when securing a property. From the date of the viewing we work to a time-line of 7-10 days to help guide our prospective tenants through the application, deposit and reference steps. So, even if a prospective tenant views a property immediately, they should build in this time period before they get to move into their happy new home! One way to help this process run smoothly is to start gathering references whilst viewing properties.
Anything else to arrange?
This pre-tenancy phase (as we like to call it!) is a great time for prospective tenants to sort out a removal company or enlist some pals to help on move-in day. It’s also a great time to get signed up for TV/telephone/broadband – we can help with this and have some discounted deals agreed with Virgin Media so prospective tenants should give us a shout and we’ll connect them up.
What if I’m not based here before I move to Edinburgh?
Securing a flat whilst not currently living in Edinburgh can be a little trickier so we’ve written a helpful guide on relocating to Edinburgh here. We work with a large number of international tenants, so it’s pretty plain sailing for us, and we’re here every step of the way to help!