Your tenant's moving in on Monday. The lease is ready, the deposit's lodged, but the landlord's on holiday in Portugal until Tuesday. The old way meant a wet courier and a missed move-in date.
For most residential leases, electronic signing is universally valid. For commercial leases of three years or more, it gets nuanced.
Residential: green light
Assured shorthold tenancies (UK) and standard residential leases (US) are commercial contracts. They can be e-signed without ceremony. Use sign PDF, capture signatures from both parties, save the audit trail. No witnessing required for ASTs. Move-in proceeds on schedule.
Commercial leases: it depends
Short commercial leases (under three years in the UK) can be e-signed as simple contracts. Longer commercial leases that take effect as deeds need witnessing. Witnessing can be done with the witness physically present even while the signer is remote — but pure asynchronous witnessing from a video recording is still risky territory. For long commercial leases, talk to the solicitors.
Capturing intent properly
Whatever the lease, the audit trail matters. Sign PDF records who signed, when, from what IP, and which fields they completed. Save the audit certificate with the signed lease. For commercial leases especially, this evidence trail can be decisive in any future dispute about lease terms or execution.
Land Registry and stamp duty
For UK leases over seven years, registration at the Land Registry is required. The Land Registry accepts e-signed documents for most submissions, though specific rules apply. Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is filed separately and accepts electronic execution evidence. For both, keep the audit certificate as part of the record.
FAQ
Can a commercial lease for ten years be e-signed?
It can be electronically signed, but it must be executed as a deed which requires witnessing. Don't skip the witness even if the rest is electronic.
Does HMRC accept e-signed leases for SDLT?
Yes — SDLT filings don't require wet ink leases. Keep the signed PDF and audit certificate as part of your records.
Is an AST execution date the date of signing or move-in?
Date of signing. The audit trail captures this precisely, which removes any ambiguity if the tenancy start date is later than the signing date.
Can the landlord and tenant sign at different times?
Yes — most signing platforms support sequential signing. Order doesn't usually matter for the lease's validity.
For residential and most short commercial leases, electronic signing is the default in 2026. Send your lease via Flint and move-in goes ahead with the landlord still in Portugal.