Private rent rises across the board in Scotland, figures show

Rent has risen by at least 11.7% across the private rented sector in the past year, figures show.

The Scottish Government released its housing market review on Thursday, showing the level of rent increases across the country in the year up to September.

The highest increase was seen in shared, one-bed homes, where average rent increased by 15.1% to £490 per month.

Two-bed homes increased by 14.3% to £841 per month, while three and four-bed homes increased by 13.3% and 13.4% respectively.

The smallest increase was in non-shared, one-bed flats, which rose by 11.7% to £648.

Rent increases varied by geography, with Dumfries and Galloway seeing a jump of just 1.5%, compared to 22.3% in greater Glasgow.

The figures come as the provisions of the Scottish Government’s rent cap and eviction ban ended last month.

The release covers advertised rent prices, which the 33-page report said do not reflect the impact of the rent cap, given it only affected rent rises for current tenants, rather than between tenancies.

But the Scottish Tory housing spokesman, Miles Briggs, described the rent controls as “misguided”.

“These eye-watering rent rises are higher still in Glasgow, the back yard of Patrick Harvie, the architect and champion of this failed policy,” he said.

“Scotland is in the midst of a housing crisis and this policy, which has led to landlords removing properties from the rental market, has exacerbated it.

“And things are set to get worse still with the SNP-Greens’ brutal £200 million cut to the housing budget.

“Only the Scottish Conservatives are committed to tackling the housing crisis and putting an end to the SNP-Greens’ rash housing policies.”

Tenants’ rights minister Patrick Harvie said: “These statistics, first published in November 2023, are yet more evidence of the importance of action to make rents more affordable.

“There is no one solution to addressing rent affordability and our commitment to introducing a longer-term system of rent controls for Scotland is one measure being taken forward in the Housing Bill.

“Despite UK Government cuts to our capital budget, we continue to invest heavily to support housing supply – and the latest, full-year figures show Scotland is delivering far more good quality, secure and affordable homes per person than any other part of the UK.

“These statistics are based predominantly on newly advertised rents, and do not take into account the impact of our emergency legislation which kept in-tenancy rent increases at 3% in most cases during this period.

“While these measures came to an end on March 31, our temporary changes to the way rents are decided if a tenant seeks a review are helping to protect people from very steep, in-tenancy rises.”