How long to arrange a rental?

Wenlock

Hi

I am selling my house and plan to move 200 miles away. I want to rent a property in the new town before buying in 6 or 12 months.

I have never rented before and have a bit of a "chicken and egg" issue. I want to have the rental property before completion on my sale so I can move in gradually and get the old place properly emptied and cleaned etc.

However; I am wary of arranging a rental right now in case the sale falls through and I am left with a rental I don't need. My buyer's surveyor can't do the survey for another 3 weeks and searches are not back yet either - obviously I have no certainty on the sale until we exchange contracts.

I have told the solicitor that I will need a gap between exchange and completion so I can finalise a rental. But realistically how long on average does it take to arrange a rental and at what stage in the process would I be committed to pay the rent for the first 6 months?

agrinnall

Depends really how fussy you are. I arranged a rental (in Scotland, so a different system to England) in 3 working days to do the same thing as you, but I had a viewing blitz on properties in the area to try to find one that would work for me. I reckon 2 - 3 weeks ought to be enough as long as you are willing to accept a property in the first day or two of searching.

Guest101

It takes 3-4 days, which is B&B territory for the interim time