Glasgow Portfolio Management

My wife and I had a viewing of a flat which we really liked and decided to make an offer for it.The company’s bank details along with the instructions of how to make a down payment so the flat can be taken of the market were sent out within a couple of hours of the viewing - great, things are moving rather quickly.I made the deposit at 08:00 on the very next morning, a confirmation of receipt was sent and the following day we received the application documents. These were submitted right away and the waiting games began.After a number of enquiries and messages, all of which were not responded to, three weeks from the day that the application was submitted, I finally managed to speak to the property manager of the flat.In the legal world, verbal agreements mean absolutely nothing. Contracts and their terms are described and defined on paper, these are the things that legally bind the interested parties only after the signatures have been put down on that very same paper.The property manager has no proof of the conversation that we had during the viewing of, neither do I. Anything that has been discussed there is just a conversation, no terms have been agreed to. This is why there is a contract which follows such a conversation. It turns out that verbal agreements are a law in Scotland, or at least this is what I was told during my long overdue phone conversation when we finally managed to speak. This is, however, something quite strange, at least to me but since my arrival three years ago I have been working with an outstanding and very professional agency so i wouldn't know.While I am waiting for a reply from either - the reference checking agency or the property manager, the property has been prepared for us to move in ... How am I going to move in when no one bothers to contact me to tell me that I have been approved to rent the property?''Good faith'' and ''Verbal agreement'' are all great things but only when they are followed by action and concrete statements, one and the most important of which is a written contract.How am I supposed to give my current letting agency a notice when I do not have a confirmation of the new property being secured? Am I supposed to make my family live on the streets based on someone's verbal confirmation and good faith?The property manager might have agreed but at the same time he does not own the flat, someone else does. And all these checks are carried out on their behalf. So until they are happy with us as potential tenants, nothing else matters, not a single word. Therefore, I consider this situation to be very shady, at least.I understand busy and I understand priorities but ignoring your clients, especially potential new ones cannot be very good for business. If a property manager cannot handle the number of properties he / she manages then the two most likely reasons are: either the number is too great for one person or that person is not very good at their job.After all this, I can honestly say that I have done everything within my capabilities to make sure that we secure this flat. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the opposite parties and I really do not believe that I have done anything wrong in order to lose my security deposit. £250 might not mean anything for the company but they are a lot of money for my family. As my wife half – jokingly, half – serious said: ‘’Imagine a couple of these situations each month. Pocket £500, don’t return any calls and keep your property’’. Perhaps not likely but I will not be surprised especially after I discovered that their main address is a PO Box and the Head Office is located at the exact same address as the flat we were looking forward to rent.The total lack of communication before even beginning any kind of tenant - landlord relationship is very concerning and I just want to make other potential candidates aware. I could be very wrong but this looks and feels like a scam to me.