Private Sector Rent Statistics, Scotland, 2010 to 2022

3. Main Findings for 1 Bedroom Properties

In the year to end September 2022, average 1 bedroom rents increased above the average 12 month UK CPI inflation rate of 7.6% in 5 out of 18 areas of Scotland, ranging from 8.4% in Renfewshire / Inverclyde up to 12.1% in North Lanarkshire. A further eleven areas saw an increase above 0.5% but below the level of CPI inflation.

One area (Ayrshires) saw little change (within +/-0.5%) in average rents compared with the previous year, whilst Dumfries and Galloway saw average rents decrease by 1.8%.

Average rents for 1 bedroom properties at the Scotland level increased by an estimated 6.3% between 2021 and 2022, to reach £580 in 2022, which compares to an average increase in UK CPI of 7.6% across the year to September 2022.

Figures on longer term changes to rents for 1 bedroom properties over the period from 2010 to 2022 should be considered in the context of the cumulative increase in UK CPI of 33.7% from the year to end September 2010 to the year to end September 2022.

Over the 12 year period from 2010 to 2022, two areas have seen cumulative rent increases above the level of CPI inflation. Lothian has seen the highest increase in private rents for 1 bedroom properties, with average rents rising by 55.1% and average rents in the Greater Glasgow area rising by 48.3% between 2010 and 2022.

These cumulative increases equate to annualised growth rates of 3.7% for Lothian and 3.3% for Greater Glasgow, when calculated on a compound annual increase basis between 2010 and 2022

For the remaining areas of Scotland, cumulative changes have been below CPI inflation. Aberdeen and Shire has seen a fall of 11.3% in average rents, which is likely to reflect decreased demand for rental properties in recent years following the downturn in the oil industry.

These regional trends combine to show an estimated 31.2% cumulative increase for 1 bedroom properties between 2010 and 2022 (equating to an annualised growth rate of 2.3%), to reach £580 in 2022. See Table 1 and Chart 2 below.

Note: See the Supporting Documents Excel Workbook Table 7 for a more detailed breakdown of quartile and average rents for each year. Also note that the Scotland figures have been calculated using a weighted stock approach, with further information on this available in Section 8 and Annex C.