Scottish buy to let rents rise 5.4 per cent in a year

The latest 2016 buy-to-let index from Your Move found that typical rental prices remained increased slightly from £574 in July to August’s figure of £576.

The average rent growth across Scotland was 5.4 per cent in the year to August 2016, Your Move found, with four out of the five Scottish regions witnessing a rent increase in this period.

The highest rises came in the South of Scotland where average rents have grown from £511 to £590 since August 2015. Elsewhere the East of Scotland, Edinburgh & Lothians and Highlands & Islands regions all posted rent increases of above 4 per cent in the last 12 months.

Glasgow & Clyde was the only area of the country to post a fall in rents in the last year. Properties in this region now attract a typical rent of £536, 3.2 per cent lower than a year ago.

On a monthly basis, Highlands & Islands saw the biggest leap in prices. Rental properties in this area grew by 4.6 per cent between July and August to reach an average of £598.

The Edinburgh & Lothians region remains home to the highest average rents in Scotland.

Properties in the capital city and surrounding towns are now typically let for £643 per calendar month, 0.6 per cent higher than the previous month. It is the only region of Scotland to boast rents of more than £600 a month.

Across all areas of Scotland 12.1 per cent of tenancies had arrears of a day or more in August 2016. This figure has fallen month-on-month, down from the 12.5 per cent recorded during July. It is also lower than the same point a year ago, Your Move found.

The August 2015 survey found 12.2 per cent of Scottish tenancies were in arrears.

However, Scotland’s arrears rate for August is above the level found in England and Wales. Across these two nations the average rate of arrears was 9.8 per cent during the month.

On an absolute basis, the number of Scottish households in serious arrears – defined as two months or more – was 11,541 in July 2016.