Relocation
Relocating for work and selling your home
Understand the timescales before you commit to a start date.
The short answer
A Scottish sale typically runs from instructing the Home Report to settlement over a period of weeks to a few months, depending on the property, the price and the time of year. Where a start date arrives first, common answers are a short rental at the new location, an extended settlement date in the missives, or letting the property temporarily. Employer relocation packages sometimes cover part of the cost.
What this means
The Home Report has to exist before marketing begins, so allow time for the surveyor at the start rather than assuming the clock starts when the property goes live.
Settlement dates in Scotland are negotiated in the missives. A longer date can be agreed if a buyer is willing, which is often easier than trying to compress everything.
Letting instead of selling looks attractive during a relocation, but it changes your tax position, needs lender consent and landlord registration, and is not a short-term decision to take casually.
Your possible options
These are possibilities to consider, not recommendations. Which of them fits depends on your own circumstances.
Sell before you move
The cleanest outcome where the timing allows, and the strongest position when you come to buy.
Market now, negotiate a later settlement
Missives can set a settlement date that suits both sides, giving you breathing room.
Specialist advice: Your solicitor negotiates the date within the missives.
Rent at the new location first
Removes the pressure to accept the first offer and lets you learn the new area before buying.
Let the property out
Keeps the asset, but brings landlord registration, tenancy rules, lender consent and tax into play.
Specialist advice: Letting professional and tax adviser.
Consider a faster sale if the date is fixed
Faster routes give certainty at a lower price. Worth comparing only when the deadline is genuinely immovable.
What should I do first?
- Fix your actual start date and the earliest date you must be there.
- Instruct the Home Report early — it gates everything else.
- Get a realistic view of value and likely time on market for your property type.
- Ask your employer what relocation support exists.
- Decide whether you will rent or buy at the other end.
- Discuss settlement-date flexibility with your solicitor.
- Market the property with the date requirement made clear.
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.
- Estate agent or selling solicitor
- Marketing and selling the property is carried out by the agent or solicitor you appoint, not by Lothian Property.
- Mortgage adviser
- Borrowing, porting and affordability are regulated advice. An FCA-authorised adviser can review your options.
- 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
- Should I let the property instead?
- Only as a considered decision. Letting requires landlord registration, lender consent and compliance with Scottish tenancy law, and it changes your tax position.
- What if I have to start work before the sale completes?
- Many sellers use a short rental at the new location, or agree a later settlement date in the missives. Tell your solicitor about the date requirement at the outset.
Sources
- Scottish Government — buying and selling a home — government
- mygov.scot — home and community — 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 2027-08-18. General property information for Scotland, not legal, tax or financial advice. Editorial policy.