News and Press releases

Selling lull sends rents higher for flats, lower for houses

17/07/2010

The average cost of renting one- and two-bedroom flats in the two cities rose in the three months to the end of June, according to the latest rental tracker from estate agent D J Alexander. The average Edinburgh flat now cosdts £802 a month to rent, compared with £776 in the first quarter, while Glasgow flat rentals average £783. However, the average cost of renting houses in Edinburgh has tumbled, with three-bed houses now going for £886 a month, down from £968 a month in the first three months of this year, and two-bed houses down £10 on average to £650.

The biggest demand in Glasgow has been for two-bedroom flats, with an average monthly cost of £776, down marginally from the first three months of the year. But the cost of the average one-bedroom flat in Glasgow leapt from £509 in the first quarter of the year to £613 in the three months to the end of June.

Demand in Edinburgh has been driven partly by affluent professionals happy to continue renting in the belief that house prices will remain subdued for some time to come, giving them more time to build up deposits with which to secure their first home, according to DJ Alexander.

David Alexander, owner of the estate agency, said the rental tracker focused on areas most popular with professionals of all ages looking for a quality flat or house to rent.

“As a result our figures are not skewed by input from the sub-prime sector of the market. Private houses for rent are rather different in location terms because, with the exception, perhaps, of Edinburgh’s New Town, there are no actual defined house rental locations,” he said.

“A lot of the houses currently on the rental market are only there because their owners are unable to find a buyer or have decided now is not the time to sell.”

Letting agents across the UK are reporting a lack of available rental properties, according to new research by the Association of Residential Lettings Agents. It said 70 per cent of its members believe tenant demand currently outstrips the number of rental properties available, up from 59 per cent in the first three months of the year and 24 per cent in September 2009, raising fears of a rental housing shortage.

THE SCOTSMAN, 17 July 2010

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