Ten years ago, Citylets published its first Quarterly Report 'Trends In Residential Lettings', the culmination of over 6 months work refining all the data from previous years. We can safely say fewer initiatives required as much endeavor as getting our first edition out and confident it represented the market. Publish and be damned as they say.
Over the years it has given us great satisfaction to see our reports evolve and become accepted by the Lettings Industry as the de facto source of market trends in Scotland and at a time where the PRS has unprecedented significance in Scotland's housing mix. As we head into another year, we look forward with interest to see where the market in Aberdeen will settle and whether growth in the central belt will maintain its 6-7% annual momentum.
Indeed, rents in the Scottish PRS as a whole recorded an uncharacteristic dip in Q4 2016, down 0.9% on the year to stand at £739 per month on average. The national average has experienced significant drag from Aberdeen for 8 quarters however it is usually countered by circa 6% growth in Edinburgh and, more recently, in Glasgow too resulting in overall positive growth. However a slight, possibly seasonal, cooling in some markets of the central belt in Q4 saw annual growth slip into mild negative territory. It will be interesting to see whether this returns to positive next quarter or if growth in Edinburgh in particular has finally cooled.
“Q4 marks the end of a busy year for Scotland's property and letting market with legislative changes, the imposition of the 3% second property LBTT and of course Brexit all hitting the headlines. That being said, the general consensus across the board in Scotland is that the lettings market demonstrated continued strength and growth when compared to the same period in 2015 and we expect to see this growth continue in 2017. Positive trends include record low interest rates leading to further buy-to-let investment and as rental prices continue to rise with increasing tenant demand, fuelled in part by a housing shortage, we also see this shortage fuel strong capital growth, reaffirming property as a sound investment for the future.”
I am a Tenant Landlord
