Lettings market tipped for return to growth this year

Citylets boss Thomas Ashdown said the firm expects rental growth in all major urban areas 'with the exception of Aberdeen'. Picture: Contributed

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Residential rentals are forecast to rise this year in the wake of an 'uncharacteristic' dip at the end of 2016.

Property rental portal Citylets, publishing its latest quarterly report, said average monthly rents in Edinburgh fell below £1,000 in the final three months of last year, having hit £1,014 in the third quarter.

However, Scotland’s largest lettings website said the capital’s average fourth-quarter rent of £984 was still 3.6 per cent higher than a year earlier.

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For the country as a whole, average rents ended the year at £739 a month, down some 0.9 per cent on 2015, with Citylets attributing the “uncharacteristic” decline on a “significant drag” in Aberdeen and a cooling market in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Founder and managing director Thomas Ashdown said: “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.”

The firm predicted that the Aberdeen lettings market will continue to fall throughout 2017, while the rest of Scotland’s urban sector is expected to continue its “dynamic performance”.

It added: “Whether growth in Edinburgh and Glasgow, however, can return to their historically high levels of circa 7 per cent growth remains to be seen.”

Citylets’ report found that monthly rents in Glasgow ended 2016 at £728, up 3.9 per cent year-on-year, with Aberdeen down 15.4 per cent at £790. Dundee was the best-performing Scottish city, with rents rising 4.7 per cent year-on-year to £597 a month.

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