Rents in Dundee are rising faster than any other Scottish city, a new report has revealed.
The city saw a 4.7% year-on-year rise in the cost of private renting in the last quarter of 2016 with the average monthly price now sitting at £597, according to a report by property advertising site, Citylets.
The rise in the cost of renting is bigger than traditionally stronger markets such as Edinburgh, which saw growth cool to 3.6% but with average monthly rents costing almost £300 more at £984.
Three bed properties in Dundee have seen the biggest increase since last year with a 12.3% jump to £793.
The average monthly cost to rent a four bedroom property is sitting at £1,091, with two beds going for £567, and one bedrooms costing £394.
Thomas Ashdown, managing director and founder of Citylets, said that, despite the growth, Dundee is still a good market for people looking to rent.
“Generally speaking, the market in Dundee isn’t doing anything different,” he said.
“In actual fact, it’s a really good market for renting because, despite it being the fastest riser, renting rates overall are still only just keeping up with inflation.
“It’s not like Edinburgh, where the situation is difficult for people renting.
“Across the country, the private rental sector is creaking at the seams just now and this is partly because more families are in the market taking three or four bedroom places.
“Dundee on the whole has been growing consistently, and slowly but surely, it is catching up with other areas with the same rises only just filtering through now.
“Long term for Dundee though, I think it’s a case of watching the space and seeing what happens.”
The report also reveals the average time taken to let out a property in Dundee fell by four days to 39 with half of all properties in the city now let out within a month.
Robert Murray, a partner at Dundee’s Lickley Proctor Lettings, added: “We have experienced a great deal of activity in the last quarter.
“There has been a fluctuation in viewings recently but this tends to be the case at the tail end of the year.
“Rental levels, however, are being maintained which is good news for prospective landlords looking to invest in Dundee.”
Scotland-wide, average rents ended 2016 at £739 a month, down 0.9% on 2015, with a 15% drop in crisis-hit Aberdeen contributing heavily to the slight downturn.
