Buy to let rent rises in Scotland are outstripping most of the rest of the country, says new data.
Tenants in Scotland are paying an extra 3.3% compared with a year ago, according to a study by buy to let referencing firm Homelet. The average tenant in Scotland pays £651 a month to rent a home - slightly down (-0.2%) from June but £22 more than the average monthly rent in July 2017. Rents in Scotland are matched only by London and beaten by Northern Ireland, which has seen a 4.5% year-on-year increase, says the firm.
In comparison, average UK monthly rents were up 1.4% between June and July 2018. Despite the rise, renting costs in Scotland remain among the lowest in the country. The income to rent ratio - a measure of how much of household income goes towards housing costs - is 27.3% in Scotland. The figure represents a 2.3% increase in the cost of rents from 25% a year ago.
Only North East England (23.6%) is less expensive. The ratio is the same as Scotland in Yorkshire & Humberside and more expensive everywhere else. The most expensive places to rent are in England - London (36.2%), the South West (33.8%) and Eastern England (33.1%). However, renting in London is 5.8% more expensive than 12 months ago, while tenants in the South West have seen housing costs rise 4.3%.
Rents in the UK rose by 1.3% in July compared to the same month a year ago; the average monthly rent now stands at £937 a month - £286 more than the average tenant in Scotland pays.