Moving abroad
Moving abroad and selling your Scottish home
Understand what changes once you are no longer resident here.
The short answer
You can sell a Scottish property while living overseas. The practical differences are identification and anti-money-laundering checks, signing documents at distance, arranging access for viewings and the surveyor, and your tax position once you are non-resident. Many sellers grant a power of attorney to a trusted person or their solicitor to keep the transaction moving.
What this means
Solicitors and agents must verify identity and source of funds. Doing this from abroad takes longer, so start it early rather than at the point of concluding missives.
Tax is the item most often overlooked. Residence status can change how a disposal is treated, and it is specific enough that only a tax adviser should answer it.
Practicalities matter: someone needs to let the surveyor in, keep the property presentable and deal with post and utilities.
Your possible options
These are possibilities to consider, not recommendations. Which of them fits depends on your own circumstances.
Sell before you leave
Simplest option where the timing works, and avoids managing a sale across time zones.
Sell after you go, with a local contact
Workable where a family member or agent can provide access and oversight.
Grant a power of attorney
Allows a trusted person or your solicitor to sign on your behalf.
Specialist advice: Drafted and executed through a solicitor.
Let the property instead
Keeps the asset but brings landlord obligations here while you are elsewhere, and a different tax treatment.
Specialist advice: Letting professional and tax adviser.
What should I do first?
- Decide whether you are selling before or after the move.
- Appoint a Scottish solicitor early and start identity checks.
- Arrange the Home Report while you still have easy access.
- Nominate someone locally for keys, access and post.
- Take tax advice on your residence position.
- Consider whether a power of attorney is needed.
- Agree how sale proceeds will be transferred to you.
You may need specialist advice
Lothian Property publishes property information. It is not a law firm, lender, financial adviser or estate agent, and the professionals below are independent of us.
- Conveyancing solicitor
- In Scotland a solicitor normally handles missives, title and settlement, and often the marketing too.
- Tax adviser or accountant
- Capital gains, inheritance tax and Additional Dwelling Supplement depend on your own circumstances.
- Estate agent or selling solicitor
- Marketing and selling the property is carried out by the agent or solicitor you appoint, not by Lothian Property.
- Letting professional
- Tenancy law in Scotland is specific. A registered letting agent can explain obligations to tenants.
What to do next
Understand your property position first
Tell us about the property and what has changed. We will set out what the information says, with no obligation to sell and no pressure to decide anything today.
Common questions
- Can I sell a Scottish house while living abroad?
- Yes. Expect identity and anti-money-laundering checks to take longer, and plan how documents will be signed and access provided.
- Will I pay tax on the sale?
- That depends on your residence status and the history of the property. Take advice from a tax adviser before you conclude anything.
- Do I need a power of attorney to sell from overseas?
- Not always, but many sellers grant one to a trusted person or their solicitor so documents can be signed here without waiting on international post.
Sources
- Law Society of Scotland — find a solicitor — professional body
- Registers of Scotland — government
- GOV.UK — tax on property — government
Related situations and guides
About Lothian Property
An independent starting point, not an estate agency
Lothian Property is an independent property information and introduction service. We are not an estate agency. We help homeowners understand their property, their options and their local market, and — where appropriate and only with your permission — introduce them to independent estate agents and other property professionals who can assist.
How Lothian Property worksPrepared by Lothian Property. Information last reviewed 2026-08-18; next review due 2027-02-18. General property information for Scotland, not legal, tax or financial advice. Editorial policy.