Missives in Scotland, explained

When you buy or sell a home in Scotland, the contract is made up of letters between the buyer’s solicitor and the seller’s solicitor. These letters are the missives. Once the last one has been sent and accepted, the missives are concluded and the sale is legally binding.

Reviewed by Gavin Pearson, Senior Legal Director

What are missives?

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“Missives” is an old word for letters. In Scotland there is no single contract that the buyer and seller both sign. Instead, the two solicitors write to each other until every term is agreed. The first letter is the buyer’s formal offer, and the letters that follow work through the details.

You do not usually sign the missives yourself. Your solicitor writes, negotiates and signs them on your behalf, and keeps you updated on any terms that need your decision. The main exception is a new-build purchase, where the developer may ask you to sign. The Scottish Government’s guide to missives sets out the same process.

How missives work, step by step

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1. Note interest
   Your solicitor tells the seller’s side you may offer.
2. Offer
   A formal letter with the price, date of entry and conditions.
3. Qualified acceptances
   Letters go back and forth until every term is agreed.
4. Conclusion
   The last letter accepts everything. The deal is now binding.
5. Ready to settle
   Funds, title checks and any tax are sorted.
6. Date of entry
   The price is paid and you get the keys.

The yellow step is when the deal becomes legally binding. Before it, either side can still walk away.

1. Noting interest and a closing date

Once you’ve found a home you’d like to buy, your solicitor notes your interest with the seller’s solicitor. If several buyers note interest, the seller can set a closing date, which is the deadline for all offers to arrive. The seller doesn’t have to accept the highest offer. Closing dates are common in Edinburgh, especially for popular homes.

2. The formal offer

Your solicitor sends a formal offer letter setting out the price, the proposed date of entry and the conditions of the purchase. Most residential offers in Scotland are based on the Scottish Standard Clauses, so many of the terms are the same from one sale to the next. The offer also names a deadline for acceptance, and if it isn’t accepted by then, it falls.

3. Qualified acceptances

Normally the seller’s solicitor replies with a qualified acceptance, which accepts the offer with some changes. More qualified acceptances can pass back and forth until every point is settled. Those points might cover the date of entry, what’s included in the sale, or how an alteration with no paperwork gets handled.

4. Conclusion of missives

The missives are concluded once one side sends a final letter accepting every term. Your solicitor will let you know as soon as that happens, since the deal is legally binding from that moment.

In theory, missives could be concluded with just two letters, if the seller accepted the buyer’s offer exactly as it stands. That’s rare in practice, and there’s usually at least one qualified acceptance.

When do missives become binding?

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Missives become a binding contract when they are concluded, not when the offer is first accepted. Until then, either the buyer or the seller can withdraw from the negotiations. After conclusion, both sides are committed to the price, the date of entry and every condition in the letters.

	Before conclusion	After conclusion
Is there a contract?	No, terms are still being agreed	Yes, a binding contract
Can the buyer or seller back out?	Yes, without penalty	Only by breaking the contract
Date of entry	Proposed	Fixed, unless both sides agree to change it
Buildings insurance (buyer)	Check with your solicitor/lender when cover needs to start.	Check with your solicitor/lender when cover needs to start.

Can you pull out after missives are concluded?

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Once missives are concluded, both sides are normally legally committed. A party cannot simply change their mind without risking breach of contract, although the missives themselves may contain specific circumstances in which a party is entitled to withdraw. Where a buyer or seller is in breach of contract they can be liable for the other side’s losses, which the Scottish Government warns can run to thousands of pounds. Under the Standard Clauses, a buyer who cannot pay on the date of entry can be charged interest on the price, and if payment is still not made the seller can cancel the contract and claim their losses.

Before the final letter, either side can walk away without penalty, even if they’ve agreed the price and the date of entry verbally. That’s why buyers and sellers often want missives concluded as soon as everything is ready. It’s also the stage when gazumping can happen.

What if the other side pulls out after conclusion?

If the other side breaks a concluded contract, you can claim your losses from them. These could include a lower resale price, extra removal or bridging costs, or interest. If the buyer doesn’t pay, the seller can also cancel the contract and put the home back on the market. Your solicitor will advise on what can be claimed in your case.

Common conditions in missives

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You can make an offer subject to conditions that have to be met before the sale goes ahead. The Standard Clauses include optional conditions that buyers often use:

• Subject to the sale of your own home. The purchase only goes ahead once you have sold your current property.
• Subject to a mortgage offer. The purchase depends on you receiving a satisfactory offer of loan.
• Subject to survey or valuation. This is used less often in Scotland, because the Home Report already includes a survey and valuation, but it still comes up in some cases.

Every condition comes with a date by which it has to be met. Your solicitor will tell you which conditions protect you and what they mean for the timetable.

The Scottish Standard Clauses

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The Scottish Standard Clauses are a set of agreed terms used for most residential sales in Scotland. They cover the usual points, such as the condition of the property, planning and building warrants, and what happens if payment is late, so the letters only need to deal with what is different about each sale.

The current version is Edition 6, produced by the Scottish Conveyancers Forum, which came into effect on 1 January 2025. The Law Society of Scotland publishes the clauses and a guide for clients. Under them, the missives generally stop being enforceable two years after the date of settlement, with a few exceptions.

How long do missives take?

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It depends on the sale. Missives can be concluded in a few days, or they can take several weeks, depending on how much needs to be agreed. It’s not unusual for missives to be concluded close to the date of entry, sometimes only a day or two before. Solicitors in Scotland have a professional duty to conclude missives without undue delay. If things seem to have gone quiet, ask your solicitor what’s holding them up. For the whole timeline from offer to keys, see how long it takes to buy a home in Scotland.

What can hold missives up

Most delays come from paperwork, and some issues only come out of the woodwork once the solicitors start looking at the title and the property. The common ones are:

• The buyer’s mortgage offer. A full mortgage application can only go in once an offer has been accepted, and most solicitors acting for buyers won’t conclude until the formal offer of loan comes through. Some lenders won’t lend on certain properties either, such as a flat above a takeaway.
• ID and source of funds checks. Solicitors have to finish their anti-money laundering checks first. These take longer if some of the deposit is a gift from a relative, who’ll need checks too, or if the buyer or seller is abroad.
• Alterations without paperwork. If an old extension or alteration doesn’t have a building warrant or completion certificate, the paperwork has to be found or sorted before the buyer’s solicitor will conclude.
• Title issues. Sometimes the title deeds show the seller owns less than they thought, such as part of the garden, or that someone else is also named as an owner.
• Statutory repair notices in Edinburgh. Older council notices for shared repairs on tenement buildings can need extra negotiation so that both sides know who would pay if the notice were ever enforced.
• Council and lender response times. Councils often take around 10 working days to answer queries, and lenders vary a lot in how quickly they issue papers.

If you are in a chain

If you’re selling one home and buying another, your solicitor usually won’t conclude the missives on your purchase until the missives on your sale are concluded. That way you’re never committed to buying without a binding sale. This can be a stressful time, especially when the people above you in the chain are keen to conclude. If the dates don’t line up, a short stay in temporary accommodation or with family can stop a chain from breaking.

How to help your missives conclude quickly

• Gather any paperwork for alterations you have made, such as building warrants and completion certificates, before your home goes on the market.
• Send your ID as soon as your solicitor asks for it. If your passport is in a different name, have your marriage certificate ready.
• Speak to a mortgage adviser early, so you know which lenders will lend on the kind of property you want to buy.
• Reply quickly to questions from your solicitor and your lender, and stay in touch so nothing sits waiting.

What to wait for until missives are concluded

Until missives are concluded, the date of entry isn’t certain. Hold off booking a removal van, ordering new furniture or booking tradespeople until then. If you do book something early, check that any deposit can be refunded.

After conclusion: date of entry and settlement

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The date of entry is fixed as soon as missives are concluded. Your solicitor then gets ready for settlement. They ask your lender for the mortgage funds, check the title deeds and work out any Land and Buildings Transaction Tax you need to pay.

• Aim to have your funds in your solicitor’s account at least two working days before the date of entry. Keys are only handed over once the money has arrived, so if any of it is in an account with a notice period, give notice in good time.
• Tell your solicitor if you plan to move your existing mortgage to your new home, known as porting, so they can check the details before the date of entry.
• Settlement can happen at any time between 9am and 5pm on the date of entry. Sellers aim to have the property clear by midday, but the exact time cannot be guaranteed, so check what your removal company charges if the keys are late.

On the date of entry, your solicitor pays the price to the seller’s solicitor and the keys are released. Afterwards, your solicitor registers you as the new owner with the Registers of Scotland.

Missives glossary

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Term	What it means
Noting interest	Your solicitor telling the seller’s solicitor that you may want to make an offer.
Closing date	The deadline a seller sets for offers when more than one buyer is interested.
Offer	The formal letter from the buyer’s solicitor setting out the price, the date of entry and the conditions.
Qualified acceptance	A reply that accepts an offer subject to changes.
Conclusion of missives	The point when a final letter accepts every term and the contract becomes binding.
Suspensive condition	A condition that has to be met before the contract takes effect, such as getting a mortgage offer or selling your own home.
Scottish Standard Clauses	The agreed terms used in most residential offers in Scotland. Edition 6 has applied since 1 January 2025.
Date of entry	The agreed day the price is paid and the buyer gets the keys, often called the settlement date.
Settlement	The exchange on the date of entry: the price is paid, and the seller’s solicitor hands over the papers that transfer ownership.
Home Report	The survey, energy report and property questionnaire that most sellers in Scotland must provide to buyers.
LBTT	Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, the Scottish tax a buyer may have to pay on a property purchase.
Title deeds	The documents that show who owns the property and the rights and burdens that come with it.
Registers of Scotland	The public body that records who owns land and property in Scotland.

How MOV8 handles your missives

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MOV8’s conveyancing solicitors work in the same team as our estate agents in Edinburgh and Glasgow, so the people agreeing your sale and the people writing your missives work together every day. In 2025 MOV8 did the legal work for 2,335 home movers across Scotland.

MOV8 is a firm of solicitors and estate agents, regulated by the Law Society of Scotland. Your missives are handled in-house by our legal team, led by Gavin Pearson, Senior Legal Director, with solicitor Maeve McDade.

Your fees are agreed in writing before you instruct us, and you can see them on our fees page.