Rental Deposits in Scotland

Hi All,

Just wanted to reiterate my thanks for the welcome from the welcome board.  I'm moving my questions over here under housing since they're mostly housing related.  As I've said, I've been lurking here for quite a while and I have searched the forum quite a bit before posting - so if this is answered elsewhere I apologize upfront.  I simply haven't been able to find the answer on any thread or through the search function.

My sister and I are dual nationals who live in Baltimore and are in the process of relocating to Scotland where our family is.  I have a letting agency we've been in touch with in Edinburgh - but we're not yet certain we'd like to live in Edinburgh.  We've spoken to other expats on other forums and we've gotten some pretty - well shocking responses to this particular question.

I'm specifically trying to find out what folks have paid (not in terms of specific money) but in terms of months or weeks - what rental deposits you've had to put down.  I've had people tell me that they had to put down 6 months or even up to one year - especially because they have pets and have had difficulty finding places that take pets.

My sister and are taking our 3 cats with us (have already finished our PETs scheme paperwork are in the final waiting stages so that's all taken care of)

I wonder if the expats are being taken advantage of by paying 6 months rent in advance or if that's normal?

I thought that 4-6 weeks rent plus 200 pounds deposit was normal.  If there are folks on the forum who live in Scotland who might be able to help with these sorts of questions, I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks much!   
Heather

I thought that 4-6 weeks rent plus 200 pounds deposit was normal. If there are folks on the forum who live in Scotland who might be able to help with these sorts of questions, I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks much!
Heather

Heather as I said in a previous post I am not in Scotland but just saw this posting and thought I would look up some rentals in Edinburgh. It appears that the security deposit (let bond) is the same as in England. Ex - £850 rent/£1275 let bond.  Not sure where you heard £200 but that seems really low.

Go onto http://www.rightmove.co.uk/home.rsp  and have a look at some properties. Not all of them show the let bond but it will give you and idea and you can also see the Estate Agents contact details so maybe you can call a few and ask them what the standard security deposit/let bond is. If you do call them also ask about their fees such as application fees, security check fees and inventory check in/check out. Yes some of them will charge you to review a list of what the flat/house has prior to you moving in and/or moving out. Also, not sure if you are aware but over here if you go through an estate agent to rent a place some have a quarterly or a semi annual inspection on the property. Basically they come in and take a look at the place to make sure you are keeping it up as expected. I can't talk to that too much because we have never had that but I do know its done. Ask them about that as well.

Hope this helps.

i can only speak from my experience- south of the border.  i paid 6 weeks deposit, £300 to the letting agency as misc fees (rip off if you ask me).  The term was 6 months, after that it was month-by-month (ended up staying 26 months).  If the landlord wanted she could have inspected the property every 6 months. 

i have heard that where you do not have a job, the letting agency/landlord asks for 6 months upfront. 

the biggest rip off i found was 1- getting your deposit back at the end, 2- having to pay for professional cleaning of carpet, curtains, house, windows (when i did a damn good job myself).

good luck!

I only ever had to pay six weeks deposit+ the first months rent.

oh i forgot first months rent as well.

for example- my month's rent was £650.

Upfront I had to pay (£650 x 1.5 for deposit) + (£650 for 1st month's rent) + (£300) agency fees = £1925

Thanks everyone - and especially thanks Jules. 
I have a letting agency in Edinburgh already - Albany Lettings.  And just for those of you who are still in the US and who are considering a move to Edinburgh - Albany will work with you while you're still in the US and will help you secure housing in Edinburgh while you're still in the US - they are the folks who gave me the 200 GBP plus first months rent deposit quote (let bond as its called - thanks for that - I had no idea that's what it was called!). 

So again, I've been very blessed to find loads of information for Edinburgh - citylets and rightmove and lettings and all those sites - I've been researching this for over a year.  What I haven't been able to get a finger on is information outside of Edinburgh - specifically Glasgow - and I KNOW there are expats who live in Scotland outside of Edinburgh but it's been like pulling teeth to get 'em to talk about this issue:)

It's also been difficult to get this same sort of information out of my family - but they're all home owners so they have no idea about how to find rental housing at this point, nor are they inclined to help us find out

So I really appreciate this.  Jules, again, thanks - a lot of that information I didn't know.   You all have given me a great idea of what amount of money I really need to save.

 

Well I'm out in Fife.. Dunfermline area just the other side of the Forth Road Bridge.
When i rented this place i rented via a private let and only had to put down first and last months rent..
When i was living up in Aberdeen .. July 99 to Oct 02 all i put down was first and last months rents as well.. I don't know if this is typical or just the way its has happened for me..
Kaylesh

Hi,
Thanks for that - that's a relief to know - and I appreciate the response of someone outwith Edinburgh.  In addition, I understand now that there are pet-friendly accomodation sites for short-term lets that will help me find accomodation that I can stay in upon arrival until I find housing that's suitable.

I'm outside Edinburgh in West Lothian and we moved here in May this year and rented for six months.  We had to pay an application fee (which was £150 or so if I can remember), a security deposit of one month's rent, and the first months rent.  Our place didn't allow pets though, and with three of them, I imagine it may be somewhat difficult and more expensive. 

The six months in advance isn't normal for anyone living in the UK.  But if you have just moved here, don't have a credit history here (remember, your US credit means NOTHING in the UK), and don't have several months bank statements, references, etc., renters are more likely to ask for this assurance of six months rent from you. 

Any chance you can leave your kitties behind for a few months, move here and get jobs and get established from a B&B or something and them bring them over?  Might be one option for you!

Hi!  I'm in Edinburgh proper!  We rented through Hadden Rankin (I recommend them if you are looking for more property managers to check out; they were the only company that would respond to my emails and work with me while still in the US).  We had to pay our first month's rent + double our first month's rent + 100 pounds) to secure the property.  Their deposit is normally one month's rent + 100 pounds, but since we didn't have any credit in the UK, they had to add the amount of one more month's rent to the deposit. 

We did not bring any pets, so I'm not sure how that would be change deposits!  We also rented unfurnished, so I don't know if the deposit would be different for furnished flats.

we paid a deposit and first months' rent at the once.  i'm also in edinburgh - very near town centre, leith.  but my husband is a scotsman and i've been here for years so we had credit built up. 

Hi

Sorry for such a slow reply on my part - been out of town.  Thanks again everyone for great responses.  I feel confident that if we decide on Edinburgh we'll be set - again, I've got a letting agent for Edinburgh who'll work with us while we're still here in the US and work with our pets (she's been working with us now for over a year) and it may be that we go there since I've already got an agent there.  My sister really wants to go to Glasgow though since it's closer to most of our family, so I think we'lll just need to start making some long distance calls and see if we luck up finding any agencies who'll be as good as those who are in Edinburgh.  If not, Edinburgh it is for a short while until we find a place in Glasgow.  Who know - she might find she likes Edinburgh better!

I really appreciate you all being so willing to share so that we could know how much to put by for deposits ahead of time.

I wanted to follow up on my own post here.  I finally found a letting agent in Glasgow who did cited their additional fee for having pets as a one time fee of 155 GBP up front plus a clause written into the contract regarding the cleaning of carpets, etc - not bad, I figure since right now I pay an additional fee every month on top of my rent here in the US for my cats

Hi,
I understand now that there are pet-friendly accomodation sites for short-term lets that will help me find accomodation that I can stay in upon arrival until I find housing that's suitable.

Is there a website for that info?  Theere are two cats sittig next to me that are very concerned.....