Private sector rent statistics: 2010 - 2021

Broad Rental Market Area Profile – Lothian

Note in the following text and charts that average rents that have changed within +/- 0.5% could be considered as being fairly similar to previous periods.

Average (mean) 2 bedroom rents in the Lothian area have been higher than the Scotland average in each year since 2010. This difference has grown since 2013, although has narrowed slightly in the latest year, with the average rent in 2021 being £942 per month, compared to the Scotland average of £693.

Between 2020 and 2021 average rents have decreased for 1 bedroom (-0.6%), 2 bedroom (-2.9%), 3 bedroom (-3.2%) and 4 bedroom (-4.5%) properties, whilst the average rent has increased for 1 bedroom shared properties (2.2%), which compares to CPI inflation of 1.5% across this time period.

Between 2010 and 2021 average rents have increased for all property sizes, ranging from 41.7% for 2 bedroom properties and 41.8% for 3 bedroom properties up to 47.0% for 1 bedroom shared properties, which compares to CPI inflation of 24.3%.

For all property sizes, since 2010 increases in the top end (upper quartile) of rents have generally been greater than increases in the bottom end (lower quartile), which has widened the gap in rents, although the gap has since narrowed in the most recent year for 2, 3, and 4 bedroom properties.