Private sector rent statistics: 2010 - 2021

4. Main Findings for 2 Bedroom Properties

In the year to end September 2021, average 2 bedroom rents increased above the average 12 month UK CPI inflation rate of 1.5% in 10 out of 18 areas, with the largest increases being in West Dunbartonshire (7.1%) and the Ayrshires (6.8%).

A further four areas saw increases in average rents but below CPI, including Highland and Islands (0.8%), Argyll and Bute (0.9%), West Lothian (0.9%), and Renfrewshire / Inverclyde (1.0%).

Three areas showed little change (within +/-0.5%) on the previous year, including Aberdeen and Shire, Dumfries and Galloway, and Greater Glasgow, whilst average rents decreased by more than 0.5% in the Lothian area (-2.9%).

Average rents for 2 bedroom properties at the Scotland level increased by an estimated 0.6% between 2020 and 2021, to reach £693 in 2021, which compares to an average increase in UK CPI of 1.5% across the year to September 2021.

Figures on longer term changes to rents for 2 bedroom properties over the period from 2010 to 2021 should be considered in the context of the cumulative increase in UK CPI of 24.3% from the year to end September 2010 to the year to end September 2021.

Over the 11 year period from 2010 to 2021, four areas (Lothian, Greater Glasgow, Fife and Forth Valley) have seen rent increases above the level of CPI inflation. Lothian has seen the highest increase in private rents for 2 bedroom properties, with average rents rising by 41.7% (cumulative increase over 11 years), although average rents have dropped in 2021 compared with 2020 (a decrease of 2.9%), and Glasgow has seen a cumulative increase of 41.4%.

These cumulative increases equate to annualised growth rates of 3.2% for both Lothian and Greater Glasgow, when calculated on a compound annual increase basis between 2010 and 2021.

For the remaining areas of Scotland, cumulative increases have been below CPI inflation and have ranged from 1.0% in Aberdeen and Shire to 24.0% in East Dunbartonshire.

These regional trends combine to show an estimated 25.1% cumulative increase for 2 bedroom properties between 2010 and 2021 (equating to an annualised growth rate of 2.1%), to reach £693 in 2021. See Table 2 and Chart 4 below.

See Reference Tables (Tables 7 to 17) for a more detailed breakdown of quartile and average rents for each year.

* Note that the Scotland figures have been calculated using a weighted stock approach. See Section 8 for further details.

*Note that the Scotland figures have been calculated using a weighted stock approach. See Section 8 for further details.

In the year to end September 2021, Lothian had the highest average monthly rents for 2 bedroom properties across Scotland (£942), with Greater Glasgow having an averge rent of £797 and East Dunbartonshire an average rent of £721. Areas with the lowest average rents for 2 bedroom properties included the Ayrshires (£500) and Dumfries and Galloway (£477). See Chart 5 below.

*Note that the Scotland figures have been calculated using a weighted stock approach. See Section 8 for further details.