The Edinburgh rental market saw continued high levels of activity from Q3 into Q4. High demand, including the end of a late student season, meant that rental property stock reached an all-time low. This was compounded by rising Covid levels and the emergence of the new Omicron Covid variant, which encouraged tenants to stay put.
Despite the low stock levels, we found Q4 to be the most ‘normal’ since the pandemic and we were pleased to be able to benchmark our experiences against those reported by industry-leaders Citylets. The quarterly reports include comment from select agents and we were delighted to see At Home In Edinburgh director Rick McCann quoted again, in Citylets’ Q4 2021 report.
The private rental market in Scotland
Citylets noted high demand for rental properties throughout Q4. This continuation of the unprecedented demand seen in Q3 led to historic stock lows across Scotland, accompanied by increased competition for properties. Many locations saw significantly higher rents and faster Time to Lets (TTLs).
The Edinburgh rental market in Q4
The Edinburgh rental market mirrored the wider Scottish private rental sector, with the positive annual growth seen in Q3 continued into Q4. Consequently, the city recorded a 9.8% year-on-year increase on average rents, to a new all-time high, and saw a significant drop in TTL. Citylets found that larger properties recorded the highest increase in average monthly rents.
Our experiences: At Home In Edinburgh
Rick McCann, At Home In Edinburgh’s Director, noted that the unprecedented levels of demand we experienced in Q3 tailed off into Q4. Demand remained high however, creating pressure on the limited number of properties available.
With student properties now occupied and a low level of stock on the market, Q4 felt like the most ‘normal’ period we have seen since the start of the pandemic. We experienced predictable market behaviour as we moved towards the festive period, with less turnover of properties. 2021 was a volatile year, but we have started 2022 in a good place.
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