Scottish rents rising faster than the rest of the UK

New tenancies in the UK soaring

Annual rents in Scotland are increasing more rapidly than in England and Wales, according to lettings agent network Your Move.

Scottish rents went up 2.2 per cent in the past year to an average of £537 a month, compared to 1.5 per cent across England and Wales

Rents in Edinburgh hit a new record high of £615 in October. The only region to see a price fall month-on-month was Glasgow & Clyde where the average monthly rent dropped £5 to £565.

However, the proportion of rent in arrears in Scotland also went up from 6.4 per cent in September to 6.5 per cent in October.

"While we’re seeing fewer and fewer incidents of serious arrears and households risking eviction, unfortunately many are still sweating to pay rents on time at the end of the month, and smaller lapses are still more common than they should be," said Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move.

"Scotland may be outperforming the rest of the UK with higher employment rates and rising wages, but when the rate of inflation is taken into account, in real terms earnings aren’t helping people climb out of the red.

A separate report from Sequence shows that new tenancies leapt by 20 per cent year-on-year. Its figures suggest that six tenants are chasing every property in the UK (nearly double that in London), up from below five 12 months ago. Excluding London, Sequence puts the average UK rent at £713

Stephen Nation, Head of Lettings for Sequence, which includes Barnard Marcus and William H Brown, said: "Demand for rental properties has increased dramatically, up 14 per cent annually due to many would-be buyers being priced out of the property market. This is resulting in a soaring number of new tenancies.