The average rent stood at £561 by the end of the month - little over a week before the country went to the polls. This is 2.3% down on April’s figure but is 2.2% higher than was found in May 2016.
Prices in major city centres continued to perform strongly, as have rural areas such as the Highlands and South of Scotland - which prove highly attractive to people relocating.
Four of the five regions surveyed saw rents increase in the last year, led by the South of Scotland where rents increased by 8.8% in the last 12 months. The other regions to post increases in the last 12 months were the East of Scotland (3.3% growth year-on-year), Highlands and Islands (3.2% up) and the Edinburgh and Lothians region (2.6%). The Glasgow and Clyde region was the only to post a fall in prices year-on-year, dropping back 0.3%
compared to May 2016.
Landlords have seen strong returns, despite the overall fall in rents, with the average yield this month at 4.9%. This is exactly the same rate as a year ago but fractionally down on the 5% recorded last month. Tenant finances were less rosy, however, as 12.3% of tenancies had arrears of one day or more during May, which is slightly higher than the 11.3% recorded in April.
Brian Moran, Lettings Director, Your Move Scotland comments:
“With the general election taking centre stage throughout May, it should come as no surprise that rents ticked down from their previous level.”
“Prices in most areas remain above where they were a year ago, with growth coming across a number of areas. Tenants are drifting towards city centre living or completely rural life as it was these areas which saw the most interest during May.”
