My husband and I are both French and living in Paris. We just got 2 job offers to come and work in Edinburgh and we will move in July (starting date 29th if July).
We are now looking for a flat/house to rent (unfurnished and accepting a cat) but it seems very difficult:
We are not physically in Edinburgh at the moment because we are still working in Paris (and therefore we are not available to come and visit flats every day)
We don’t have references because we don’t know anyone at the moment
We have a cat (and pets are not accepted in 90% of the lettings even with a higher deposit)
We need to find an unfurnished property because we are moving with all the goods we had in France
Ideally ground floor (again for the cat)
Do you have any advice for us to find a property to rent?
We posted some guidance on how to find pet-friendly properties on OpenRent here:
Beyond that I can see there are some aspects of your search that are different - for example the fact that you’re currently overseas.
I would advise that when you contact landlords through OpenRent you simply make them aware of your situation, and they may be able to arrange a viewing via video call initially. We do strongly advise though that you view the property in person before agreeing to rent it.
Perhaps some other tenants will share their experience of this also.