The average rent across Scotland has soared by more than 14% in a year, newly released figures have shown.
In some areas the price of a two-bedroom property has skyrocketed by more than 22%.
It comes despite the Scottish Government’s rent cap which limits rent increases within tenancies to 3% in most cases.
The official figures, based predominantly on advertised rents, put the average rent for a two-bedroom in Scotland at £841 – up £105 compared with the previous year.
iStockA strong increase was seen across all property types in Scotland, including one-bedrooms (11.7%), two-bedrooms (14.3%), three-bedrooms (13.3%), four-bedrooms (13.4%) and one-bedroom shared properties (15.1%).
Tenants’ union Living Rent said the Scottish Government must act urgently to prevent costs from rising any further.
Aditi Jehangir said: “Unless the Scottish government acts now, thousands of tenants will be faced with astronomical increases when the cap runs out in March.
“From March, tenants need to be able to properly challenge rent increases until the Scottish government introduces rent controls to cap rents between tenancies and bring rents down.”
Tenants rights’ minister Patrick Harvie said the Scottish Government will seek to introduce long-term rent controls before the end of the current parliament.
“There is no one solution to addressing rent affordability and our work to introduce long term rent controls as part of the next Housing Bill is one measure being taken forward,” he said.
“This is alongside increasing the supply of affordable housing and our successful action to press the UK Government to increase Local Housing Allowance rates announced last week.”
How has rent increased where I live?
Glasgow
Scotland’s biggest city has seen by far the biggest rent increase of any area – both over the past year and past 13 years.
The average rent for a two-bedroom property in Glasgow soared by 22.3% in the year up to September.
The average rent for such a house now costs £1,050 a month – up from £858 in 2022 and £564 in 2010.
That represents an 86.2% increase in 13 years.
Lothian
The Lothians had the second-highest increase in 2023 with the average rent standing at £1,192 – up 18.4% from 2022.
In 2010, the area’s average two-bedroom property cost £665 representing a rise of 79.3%.
West Lothian
West Lothian saw the second-lowest recorded rise in rents in Scotland over the past year.
The average rent payment increased by just 2.3% to £688 – up from £673 in 2022 and £527 in 2010.
East Dunbartonshire
Rents in East Dunbartonshire rose by 15% in 2023 with the average two-bedroom now costing £897 per month.
In 2022 the average rent cost £780 while in 2010 it was £581.
Forth Valley
Rents in the Forth Valley region increased by 7.3% in 2023 to reach £748 for an average two-bedroom.
That’s up from £697 a month in 2022 and £492 in 2010.
Fife
The average two-bedroom property in Fife now costs £700 – up from £648 last year.
That’s a rise of 7.8%
In 2010, the average rent stood at £464 per month.
Dundee and Angus
Rents have soared in Dundee and Angus by 15% over the last year to reach an average of £745 a month – up from £648 in 2022.
In 2010, the average two-bedroom in the region cost £497.
Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute saw the third-highest rise in rents of any Scottish region in the year up to September 2023.
Rents skyrocketed 18.2% to reach an average of £723 per month – up from £612 last year and £503 in 2010.
South Lanarkshire
The average rent of a two-bedroom property in South Lanarkshire rose 9.6% in 2023 – up from £613 in 2022 and £481 in 2010.
North Lanarkshire
Rents in North Lanarkshire have risen by 11% over the past year.
The average two-bedroom house in the area costs £621 a month. In 2022, that number was £560 and in 2010 it was £455.
West Dunbartonshire
Rents have surged in West Dunbartonshire over the past year. Figures show the average two-bedroom property is £682 a month – 17.2% higher than the £582 figure for 2022.
In 2010, the average rent in the area was £492 a month.
Renfrewshire and Inverclyde
Rents in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde saw a significant increase of 16.7% in the year up to September 2023.
The average two-bedroom now costs £638 per month – up from £547 in 2022 and £473 in 2010.
Scottish Borders
The average rent for a two-bedroom property in the Scottish Borders is now £586 a month – 11.5% higher than last year when it was £525.
In 2010, the average was £442.
Highlands & Islands
The Highlands and Islands saw among the lowest rises in rent in Scotland in 2023.
The average two-bedroom property increased by 3% to £662 a month. In 2022 it was £643 while in 2010 it was £503.
Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross bucked the trend seen across most of Scotland as the average rent only increased by 2.8%.
The monthly cost of a two-bedroom property is now £644 on average – up from £626 in 2022 and £506 in 2010.
Ayrshire
The average rent for a two-bedroom property in Ayrshire increased by 10.7% in the year up to September 2023.
It now stands at £546 per month. The figure for 2022 was £493 while in 2010 it was £464.
Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire
Scotland’s north east saw rents rise by 8.6% in 2023.
The average two-bedroom property in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire currently costs £720 a month.
This is up from £663 in 2022 and £643 in 2010.
The area has seen one of the slowest increases in rent costs in Scotland over the past 13 years.
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway saw by far the lowest rent increase over the past year of any region in Scotland.
The average two-bedroom property only rose by 1.5% to £487 in 2023. That’s up from £480 in 2022.
Over the past 13 years, rents have only gone up by 11.8% – making it the lowest rate of any region in the country.
It’s also the cheapest area to rent in Scotland.
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