Average rents north of the border suffer unexpected dip

Average private rents in Scotland at the national level recorded an uncharacteristic dip in the final quarter of 2016, down 0.9 per cent on the year to stand at £739 per month.

Downward pressure from the specifically-poor performance of Aberdeen’s rental sector over the last two years has usually been countered by around 6.0 per cent growth in Edinburgh and, more recently, the central belt including West Lothian and Glasgow resulting in overall positive growth.

However, Citylets reports that a slight cooling in the rate of growth in some markets of the central belt pushed annual national growth into the red in Q4 2016. 

The pace of the national market remains virtually unchanged over the last year with 61 per cent of all properties let within a month, and with an average time to let of 31 days.

“In 2017 the private rented sector is now of unprecedented importance in Scotland’s housing mix and, overall, we see continued positive growth in major urban areas with the exception of Aberdeen” says Citylets founder and managing director Thomas Ashdown.

“However, the figures suggest that the rate of decline for Aberdeen has stabilised at the reduced level of around -15 per cent and indeed Time To Lets have also levelled out. This all indicates that rents in the city could start to level off and the worst of the boom/bust cycle is coming to an end” he claims.