Private sector rent statistics: 2010 - 2016

Scotland-level Average Rents

Table 11 and Chart 12 below provide a summary of Scotland level changes to average (mean) rental prices over the years 2010 to 2016. Further information on the suitability of carrying out analysis at a Scotland level given the sample proportions each year across broad rental market areas is included in Annex C.

CHART 12 - Average (mean) monthly rents, by Property Size: Scotland, 2010 to 2016

TABLE 11 - Summary of Average (mean) Private Rents (£ monthly): Scotland, 2010 to 2016 (years to end Sept)

Notes:
Figures exclude any studio properties, properties with 5 or more bedrooms, or room rents associated with bed and breakfast lodgings
Figures for rooms in shared properties represent "rent only", i.e. exclude any payments for shared services
Note that some caution is needed when interpreting Scotland level findings. This is because whilst the underlying data aims to be representative of rents within each broad rental market area, no attempt has been made to apply any formal weighting techniques to account for any specific area-level sample sizes or structures when aggregating up to a single Scotland level figure

From Table 11 it can be seen that average (mean) rents at a Scotland level have increased for all property sizes over the period from 2010 to 2016 (cumulative increases over 6 years).

The greatest cumulative increases over the 6 years from 2010 to 2016 have been for 2 bedroom properties (14.8% increase) and 4 bedroom properties (13.7% increase). 1 bedroom in a shared properties have seen a cumulative increase of 13.2% whilst 3 bedroom properties have increased by 10.9%. 1 bedroom properties have seen the lowest increase across all property sizes, with a cumulative increase of 10.5% over the 6 years.

For 1 bedroom properties, average (mean) rents have increased by 0.4% in the latest year. This increase is smaller than in previous years, which saw percentage increases ranging from 0.8% between 2010 and 2011 to 3.9% between 2013 and 2014.

For 2 bedroom properties, average (mean) rents have increased by 1.0% in the latest year, less than previous annual increases which have ranged from 1.2% between 2011 and 2012, and 4.2% between 2012 and 2013.

For 3 bedroom properties, average (mean) rents have increased by 1.2% in the latest year, a smaller percentage increase than in previous years, although there had been a decrease of 1.0% between 2010 and 2011.

For 4 bedroom properties, average (mean) rents have decreased by 0.7% in the latest year, which is the first annual decrease seen since 2010. Year-on-year increases in previous years have been between 1.2% (between 2011 and 2012) and 7.8% (between 2012 and 2013).

For 1 bedroom shared properties, average (mean) rents have increased by 4.0% in the latest year, the largest annual percentage increase seen since 2010. Year-on-year increases have been widening in recent years, from 2.6% between 2013 and 2014 and 3.0% between 2014 and 2015.

Note that some of the Scotland level trends may reflect in part any significant trends at a local area level, for example cumulative increases in average rents for particular property sizes in particular areas of the country, rather than being indicative of trends in rents across all areas of the country.