By Lauren Witherspoon

Rent levels in Edinburgh may have bottomed out providing confidence to landlords that Scotland’s recently volatile rental market is now on a path to stability, according to latest research by Scotland’s leading letting portal Citylets.
The latest Citylets quarterly report, which covers the period July to September 2009, shows that whilst some sectors in the capital recorded their biggest year-on-year decreases to date, the overall picture across Scotland has stabilised with average rents down 3.4% year-on-year.
Thomas Ashdown, the entrepreneur behind Citylets Network, which includes major partner brands such as s1homes and Primelocation, said the trend will be good news for landlords and letting agents who have been dealing with an unpredictable market for the past two years.
He said: “We’ve seen a lot of volatility in the rental market in the last two years.  First we had the credit crunch leading to a boom in rental demand as people couldn’t or wouldn’t buy.  That saw prices rise.  Then we had thousands of ‘reluctant landlords’ – those who couldn’t sell putting homes up for rent – redressing the balance before inducing elements of over-supply, so putting a squeeze on prices.

“The Citylets quarter three report, records some of the heaviest falls we have ever seen in rents year-on-year.  In particular the situation for two bed flats in Edinburgh has worsened slightly, down 7.7% year-on-year. However I think that we are now at the bottom of the curve and with demand remaining strong and the housing market seemingly on a more even keel, it is likely we should be moving to a more stable rental sector in 2010.”

“Across Scotland, rents are down but they are no worse than what they were in Quarter Two, providing yet more evidence of the stabilisation trend.”

The average rent for an Edinburgh property in 2009′s quarter three was £729, as opposed to £762 for quarter three in 2008. This represents a 4.3% reduction in the average property price year on year. Rents for one and two bed flats in the city fell on average by 4.6% and 7.7% respectively. Properties in Edinburgh also took longer to let compared with quarter three in 2008, with one bedroom flats taking fifteen days longer and two bedroom flats taking fourteen days longer to rent.

Thomas added: “A return to stability would be welcomed by landlords but at this time the average time to let at well over one month is still considerably longer than a year ago and as such they should continue to adjust to market conditions, have patience and accept the increased probability of voids.”

Steven Currie, director of Edinburgh-based, Murray & Currie Property Sales & Lettings, said: “We’ve definitely seen things stabilise over the past few months in Edinburgh. We’re still getting a lot of enquiries from people looking for flats to rent, so there hasn’t been any noticeable drop in the market.”