Scots private sector rents up 9 per cent

The average rent in Scotland for new tenancies in the three months to May 2015 was £652 per month, according to the Index, up 2.7 per cent from the three months to April 2015 (£635) and 9.2 per cent from the same period in 2014 (£595).

Scotland saw the second highest annual average rent increase in the UK, after South West England, which recorded a staggering 13.6 per cent increase to £878.

Scotland is followed by South East England, which saw a slightly lower 9.4 per cent annual increase to £940, and then by Greater London, which saw a 9.2 per cent annual increase to the UK’s highest average rent price of £1,472.

The lowest increase was in Wales, where the average rent for new tenancies only increased by 0.4 per cent over the year, reaching £582. Northern Ireland recorded an annual increase of 6.1 per cent to reach £598.

Commenting on the report, Martin Totty, chief executive officer of Barbon Insurance Group, HomeLet’s parent company, said: “Rental values are now increasing year on year across the country, with no exception.”

He added: “With the whole of the UK experiencing increases in rent prices agreed on new tenancies, it is possible this is an early indicator of a post-election private rental market where both landlords and tenants might expect rent prices to keep rising as demand continues to grow.”