Scottish letting agents give us their views on their local market.
“Q4 in the Aberdeen rental market has been very busy with a large number of properties entering the market and the tenant demand across the board being high. The trend of this year has continued whereby newly refurbished properties have been achieving vastly above the average rentals in all property sizes. Aberdeen has seen a growth in the oil and gas industry alongside the blooming renewables industry – this has led to a surge of people relocating to the city with a requirement for 3 and 4 bedroom properties being top of their wish lists. 2022 is set to be a busy time for the market which will be greatly received by landlords and agents alike.”
“Quarter four of 2021 continues the trend of post Covid demand and lack of supply. Landlords are reluctant to come into the marketplace, feeling they are an easy target for the Scottish Government, and tenant demand continues to outstrip supply. Many tenants are showing frustration at losing out on property. Landlords need to be enticed back into the long term rental market as the continuing rise in rents shows no sign of easing.”
“The demand for good quality rental property in Edinburgh has remained as strong as it has ever been throughout Q4, with some properties generating hundreds of enquiries within 24 hrs of being marketed. A lack of student property supply in late summer drove demand into the one and two bedroom markets too, impacting professional tenant type properties, and this has continued. Rents have returned to pre-Covid levels, if not higher, and uncertainty re Covid is causing most tenants to just stay put, especially if working from home. We expect this trend to continue well into 2022, exacerbated further with a possible high retention rate in the student market in spring, with tenants reluctant to let good flats go.”
“With the resumption of ‘normal’ life, demand for rental property has rebounded strongly. This coincided with students looking for accommodation (resulting in high levels of demand), while at the same time there has been a constriction of supply. Historically, in the run up to the festive season, we would expect stock levels to increase while at the same time activity levels would drop off, but currently we see no sign of this. At the moment demand levels from tenants and activity in the market remain at very high levels. We expect this supply demand imbalance to continue into 2022 and as a result the upward pressure on rents in the capital is likely to continue.”
“Glasgow’s rental market has seen a huge demand for properties across the city. For every property advertised, we are seeing double the amount of enquiries we would usually receive. Properties are letting within a couple of days which is fantastic for landlords, but also putting more pressure on tenants, leaving some feeling frustrated as there are not enough properties to meet such high demand. On the upside, as we start to move towards the new year, we are seeing an increase of new landlords looking to let their properties for the first time. Hopefully this should help to balance the property shortfall soon and make a lot more happy tenants, as well as happy landlords.”
“The Q4 market was more settled with supply and demand across all sectors of the market levelling off – that was following a huge peak in demand across most sectors in Q3. A peak in tenants moving around after the summer saw the demand slow into Q4 and we witnessed a reduction in the number of tenants vacating, bringing along fewer properties to the market. However, the latter end of Q4 culminated in an unseasonal peak in properties turning over, along with a high number of tenants searching for a property, creating another upturn in demand and a faster paced market not normally seen into November and December. Although stock levels were peaking and troughing in Q4, tenant demand seems constant and healthy for good quality rental properties.”
“Tenant demand, while cooling noticeably in recent weeks, has remained unseasonably high during Q4. We continue to receive anxious enquiries from students who have not yet secured a property for the current academic year. HMOs are being snapped up. Rent levels and occupancy rates are at all-time highs. We are seeing an increase of new instructions from seasoned investor landlords who are keen to capitalise on the current market. The buoyant market is currently over-shadowed by the spectre of the Omicron variant, which may bring restrictions in the coming weeks.”
“Rents are now moving upward from a rather disappointing increase over the last year, giving some relief to landlords who have been facing disappearing tax breaks and mounting Covid induced rent arrears. At least if yields are recovering, that should slow the flow of sales on which the spotlight has been trained in recent times. Edinburgh property is always in demand with two beds being rented in a matter of days. We are finding that more tenants own pets and are seeking a property with an extra room to use as an office. The supply is stubbornly short but the hope is that 2022 will see a return to a better balance and a wider choice for tenants.”
“As 2021 draws to an end, the Edinburgh rental market is in a strong, stable state. Whilst competition for rental property is still robust, we are not seeing the desperation of tenants as we did in Q3. The market is beginning to stabilise with a more healthy supply/demand ratio. Two bedroom properties commanded the highest demand, with properties letting within a few days of marketing. We have also seen landlords looking to purchase new investment properties get frustrated by the lack of supply in the sales market, with many opting to bide their time until the market sees increased supply levels.”
“The PRS in Glasgow is suffering from an acute shortage of properties which is leading to hyper inflated rental values being achieved throughout the city. Post COP26 there is still exceptionally high demand across all sectors and lack of supply meaning that many prospective tenants are not going to be able to choose their locations and may be forced into accepting properties in areas out with their chosen criteria just to secure accommodation. We are also again finding that many students are being told to work from home and are giving up their tenancies pre-empting many landlords to veer away from the student market and concentrate on the professional sector which in turn may lead to a more stable and long term tenancy.”
“The demand for rental properties in Edinburgh has now outstripped supply for several months. Many of our landlords have been setting rent below what tenants are willing to offer, with a view to securing a long-term tenant at a reasonable rent rather than taking advantage of the shortage of properties and willingness of tenants to pay whatever it takes. It’s quite something that landlords are the ones supressing the rents, when the media and Scottish Government would have you thinking it was the other way around.”
“Q4 has seen good levels of enquiries and viewings despite typically being the time of year when things tail off as Christmas approaches. October was an exceptionally busy month for check ins. Larger properties are still in demand as seen through Q2 & Q3 and we are noticing a good number of first time landlords coming to the market too. Typically we see a large number of enquiries during the period between Christmas and New Year. We are optimistic that going into Q1 2022 we will continue to witness activity return to normal pre-pandemic levels along with opportunities for well-presented properties to see a better return than the past two years.”
“In Q4 2021 we’ve seen a continuation of the reduced stock levels noted in Q3, with our advertised stock sitting at 50% of 2020 levels for the same period. Lets agreed have continued to hold-up against 2020 numbers though, so there is still a good amount of movement in the market. With rising concerns about the Omicron variant towards the end of Q4, we’ll be keeping a close eye on how the market holds up as we enter 2022.”
“Echoing the comments in the previous quarter, the housing stock of available rental properties in Aberdeen is lower than it has been for a number of years and family homes are in short supply. Unfortunately, the end of 2021 is beginning to look similar to the end of 2020, but the outlook had been positive with full expectations of a busy year getting back to normal. Without enough new landlords to the market, tenants will face tougher times finding the right home and with inflation looming the last thing they need is pressure on rent levels.”
“The unprecedented levels of demand seen in Q3 tailed off into Q4 but there was still high demand creating pressure on limited stock. With students settled and a low level of stock on the market, Q4 felt like the most ‘normal’ period we have seen since the start of the pandemic. We experienced predictable market behaviour as we moved towards the festive period with less turnover of properties. It has been a volatile year, but we are starting 2022 in a good place.”
“Q4 has seen a boom in property enquiries and the PRS has seen the anticipated huge uptake of properties, an increase in rental values and reduction in the TTL. Coming into the festive period stock is low, but prospects are high with many new properties coming to the market in the coming months. We are still getting a lot of enquiries for the stock we have available and continue to have people desperately searching for homes. We expect Q1 2022 to be strong and are hoping, as everyone is, for Covid-19 to reduce its impact and allow normality to resume.”
“Q4 started extremely busy, however has begun to slow slightly in November and December – this tends to be a trend we see most years. There is a strong appetite for good quality or newly renovated properties (often these properties will let in hours, rather than weeks). The number of properties available for rent seems to be sticking at around 600, which is low supply wise. It will only take a small spike in demand early Q1 to see the stock levels dramatically reduce and prices rise. We are seeing more oil companies renting properties for staff.”
“We have seen the Q3 spike in demand for quality properties continue throughout Q4. As such, an uplift in rents has certainly been achievable for properties let in good condition. We have received a significant number of enquiries from landlords looking to switch to an agent which is better positioned to read the market demand and secure quality tenants who are prepared to pay more for exceptional properties. This surge in demand across Edinburgh has drawn keen interest from international and UK property investors looking for a strong, no-hassle return from buy-to-let property in one of the UK’s most popular cities to live in.”
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