Rental market strong as new Scottish tenancy rules set to start

The Scottish rental market continued to perform strongly in the year to the end of October with the average property let for £572 on a seasonally adjusted basis. 

This is 2.5 per cent higher than the same point in 2016 and represents no change on last month according to Your Move Scotland.

The Highlands & Islands region continues to grow faster than any other in this survey: prices here have increased by 6.4 per cent in the last year, with the average property now being let for £613 pcm. 

In total, four of the five Scottish regions saw rents increase in the last year. Only the Glasgow & Clyde region saw prices drop back - falling 5.3 per cent annually. 

The Edinburgh & Lothians regions remain the most expensive in Scotland, with the average price standing at £669 per month. 

Meanwhile Your Move reports that it’s now under a year until agencies across Scotland have to join a Register of Letting.

Letting agencies must have submitted an application to join the code of practice by September 30 2018. From that point on, it will be a criminal offence to conduct letting agency work if you aren’t on the register. Those breaking the rules could face a fine of up to £50,000 and up to six months imprisonment.

The Scottish Government says the new rules are intended to increase professionalism in the sector and make sure that agents are properly able to handle money received from both tenants and landlords.

Ahead of the code of practice being introduced there will also be changes to new tenancies beginning from next month. All tenancies which commence from December 1 will be open-ended, meaning landlords will not be able to ask a tenant to leave after a fixed period.

This is intended to provide a more stable environment for tenants, but also sets out specific circumstances in which landlords can remove problem tenants from their properties.