Scottish letting agents give us their views on their local market.
“It continues to be a good market for tenants in the North East with a wide variety of properties available at attractive rentals. For landlords, as long as the property is priced competitively and well-presented, tenant demand is still there and it will let. However, some HMO landlords have had to widen their search beyond their usual student market to secure tenancies. This is due in most part to the increased availability of new purpose built student accommodation in Aberdeen.”
“The quality of tenant-applicants just seems to get better and better. Our latest in-house survey showed that 35% of applicants for occupancy had average earnings of between £25,000 and £49,999 per annum while 6% earned above £50,000. Although 94% of applicants were aged between 20-40, 6% described themselves as managing directors and 23% as senior managers. 34% said they are employed in banking, insurance or other financial service while other prominent areas of employment are accommodation and food services; arts, entertainment and recreation; and health and education.”
“We have seen a significant change in who our new clients are since the introduction of the 3% Additional Home Supplement (AHS) for LBTT. We used to expect the majority of our new clients to be simply moving to a new home and retaining their flat to rent out. We have seen these enquiries drop off sharply as they would have to pay the new 3% tax on their new property. We have seen far more investors, however, primarily from England, and out total numbers of new properties are increasing but nowhere near enough to meet the increasing demand unfortunately.”
“Braemore has seen a huge increase in landlord numbers over the past 3 months suggesting that, whilst the country is gripped with the uncertainty after Brexit, the rental market, certainly here in Edinburgh, continues to grow. A major factor in the growth is down to the ever increasing demand from good quality tenants. This pushes rents up and also ensures that property lets quickly. We are seeing, on average, our team let property within 7 days. 1 & 2 bedroom properties are actually going a lot quicker than this so, from a landlord's perspective, void periods are down, rents are up and capital growth continues to remain very steady.”
“Fears that the Brexit vote would be a setback for the property market generally appear to have been unfounded - at least so far - and this has certainly been the case in the rental market for us in West Lothian. Our landlord and investor enquiries have remained stable in the period since 23 June, with an actual increase in sign-ups in the week following the Brexit vote - out of step with the apparent dip experienced in the economy generally during that week. Tenant demand continues unabated in West Lothian, with rental levels continuing to be firm. We see no evidence of landlords fleeing the market.”
“Another busy summer period has ended with our student tenancies settling in for the academic year and an average annual rent increase of over 6% on our student portfolio. We saw an influx of lettings in our Quartermile portfolio in August/September and our available stock is down to a record low for this time of the year, demonstrating the strong tenant demand. The Private Residential Tenancy is set to be installed from the end of 2017 so an interesting year ahead as private landlords and agents prepare themselves for this significant change.”
“Summer 2016 saw an exponential growth in the key letting markets of Glasgow, primarily the West End & City Centre, and to a point, the South Side of the city. Demand seemed to outstrip supply, with an average of 6 potential tenants for each listing. The HMO market has slowed somewhat, driven in part by the massive development of student specific halls throughout the West End. The knock on effect of this has seen long term landlords having to invest heavily in their licenced properties in terms of improvements and modernisation, however, this in turn has driven traditional HMO rents higher still.”
“During the last quarter we have continued to see an upsurge in demand for quality rented property in the most popular areas such as West End, City Centre and South Side locations. Student demand continues to drive up rentals for professional lets, with demand outstripping supply in these traditionally ever popular areas. The time to let (TTL) figures have also reduced which is all good for investor landlords and may go some way to offsetting the additional financial burdens currently facing this sector.”
“Over the summer our average time to let was 11 days with many properties being secured after only 1 viewing. Demand is strongest for 1 & 2 bedroom furnished properties. Clearly, there isn't enough rental properties on the market to satisfy the strong tenant demand. Therefore, we hope the UK government rethink their planned tax changes for the sector which is likely to reduce supply further. Airbnb is also having an impact with a number of properties being advertised for short-term lets instead of appearing in the private rental sector.”
“Quarter 3 has seen healthy demand for property return to the market. Whereas in previous years 1 bedroom flats in the City Centre were most sought after, we now see a shift towards 2 bedroom properties and family homes and this will be due in part to lower rents, meaning tenants can get much more for their money. With this in mind, it's crucial that landlords continue to offer their properties both well-presented and competitively priced in order to ensure minimum void periods.”
“Q3 of 2016 has been our strongest this year despite the political pantomime that continues to roll through every town and city in the UK. If it's not Indy 2, Brexit or a leadership contest its doctors striking, train fares going up or the price of milk hitting the headlines, all of which, are supposedly meant to trigger unrest with confidence and spending. However, Edinburgh in particular is like a heavy weight fighter that just doesn't know when it's beaten.”
“Residential rent over the last quarter has remained stable from its previous early year highs and shows no sign of deteriorating in the near future. This is in the backdrop of falling house prices in Edinburgh, whilst Glasgow prices have continued to grow, even if modestly. Interest in buy-to-let dipped after tax changes in April but investment buyers are back already and we expect this to continue into 2017, particularly as London is now considered the second most over-valued investment property market in the world.”
“The expected recession following Brexit has thus far not materialised and in fact interest rates are acting favourably on the PRS, with more new landlords getting into the market to take advantage of cheaper borrowing and rising returns. As ever, the law of supply and demand is key and in the Capital there is a long way to go before equilibrium is reached. Demand therefore remains strong for property to let at every level and whilst this continues, we will see average rents increasing, shorter TTLs and in some sectors tenants bidding above the asking rent to secure a property.”
“During the last quarter there was a very high demand for both professional and student tenancies. A shortage of 1 and 2 bedroom properties has resulted in record rents being achieved. The rents for our HMO properties increased for the tenth consecutive year and were all secured with a new let by spring 2016 for the next academic year.”
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