A Dundee landlord says demand for rental properties has gone “crazy” as people flock to the city.
Struan Baptie said his property management business experienced a surge in enquiries since summer 2020.
“The demand has gone crazy. We don’t know where people are coming from.
“It’s anything from a one-bedroom to five-bedroom properties.”
His firm, Struan Baptie Property Management, has been forced to increase rent by up to 10% in some cases.
“We have historically kept our rent low.
“With the demand, we have moved them a little bit but it’s a sensible amount, between 8 and 10%.
“We’re still in line with what other people are charging.”
Mr Baptie said the types of properties people are after has changed.
“We’re seeing a lot of people moving from the south of England. A lot of folk are coming to Dundee, which is great.
“We just can’t get enough stock to let. We look after 600 properties and I think we’ve only got five or six available at the moment.”
Rent increases in Dundee, study shows
It comes as a study from Citylets showed the average monthly rent in Dundee rose by more than 6% in the last year.
That is more than the Scotland-wide increase, with average rents up to £675 per month in the City of Discovery.
Research from Citylets shows 37% of properties were let within a week and 84% taking less than a month to be snapped up.
It also showed 40% of properties are being rented within one week and 83% secured within a month.
Citylets’ research says the average Time to Let (TTL) in Dundee has hit a “historic low” of just 15 days, down from 21 days the previous year.
By postcode, Dundee’s rental hotspot for one-bedroom properties was DD3 (Downfield, Strathmartine, Auchterhouse) where TTL was only 10 days and rentals averaged £427.
Two-bedroom properties in DD3 and DD4 (Craigie, Whitfield, Fintry, Claverhouse) averaged only six days TTL and rents of £556 and £631, respectively.
It comes as Lindsay Darroch, head of the Dundee office of estate agent Gilson Gray, said first-time buyers will struggle to get a foothold in the city.
Number of properties down across Scotland, research shows
Dundee appears to be bucking a national trend when it comes to the availability of properties.
Citylets managing director Thomas Ashdown said the number of properties being advertised across Scotland was down by two thirds on three years ago.
Over the last three years, average rents have increased by 16.8%. Two-bedroom rents have risen 18.2% in the same period.
Around 90% of one-bedroom properties in Dundee found new tenants within one month, with average rents reaching £440, up 2.6%.
Two bed properties achieved average rentals of £675, up 10.3%, with 87% rented within one month.
More rural properties wanted
A Bank of Scotland study showed house prices in Dundee and Perth rose £20,000 in the past year.
Eilidh Finlayson, who runs Finlayson Gore, said the final quarter of 2021 saw a “continued and consistent” demand.
She added: “We have also experienced a strong trend of tenants looking for more rural properties.”
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