Rettie Property Research Services

It has not been a balmy summer, but neither has it been a wash-out. The same can be said for the recent performance of the housing market both in Scotland and in the wider UK, which can best be described as ‘a little tepid’.

Over the last 12 months, 13 of the top 20 settlements in Scotland (ranked in terms of average house price) were located by the coast. Elie and Earlsferry took the number one spot with an average house price of £869,459. Gullane in East Lothian was second, with an average house price of £504,139, while St Andrews came in third, with prices averaging £490,361.

This time last year, the housing market and wider economy had been thrown into turmoil by the UK Government’s Autumn Mini-Budget, with the mortgage payment on the average Scottish house purchase increasing by almost 60%.

Rettie's established research team were commissioned by the British Property Federation to undertake research on the Scottish Government's rent freeze and its impacts, particularly on the Build to Rent (BTR) sector.

Responding to a perception of an overheated rental sector partly contributing to a cost-of-living crisis, the Scottish Government has attempted to apply a 6 month freeze to the market. This rent freeze, for all private sector and social sector residential rents, will run until the end of March 2023, with the possibility of an extension beyond this date. A ban on evictions is also running alongside the rent freeze.

The past couple of years have been a sharp wake-up call for the rental sector, and more widely, the property sector in Scotland. Restrictions and changes to the way we live and work have impacted demand and supply across the market.

As Summer 2022 ends, analysis by Rettie has highlighted the significant impacts to the Scottish housing market of the Covid-19 pandemic and how the market has recovered after a collapse following lockdown in the Spring 2020.

Click here for detailed analysis of rental differences between Scotland's two largest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The 2020 figures from Citylets have reported the first annual fall in average advertised rents in Edinburgh since 2009, and this has raised concern among some of those involved in the market. However, this downturn is not unexpected and a rebalancing of the Edinburgh rental market will certainly be welcomed by tenants and politicians.

There was widespread uncertainty in the rental sector and among our clients as lockdown was introduced as fears over lease abandonment, the short-term rental market and the potential for extended voids all came in to sharp focus. By keeping in close communication with our both our landlords and tenants, we have been able to avoid unexpected outcomes and mitigate many of the potential downsides of lockdown across our portfolio.

While the sales market may be on hiatus for the moment, with Registers of Scotland largely closed to regular transactions, the lettings market is seeing rapid restructuring as landlords who had been active in the Short Term Let Sector have seen demand, and revenue, evaporate.

Scotland continues to enjoy growth in house prices and rental demand, but what are the causes behind this growth? Karen Turner, Director of Lettings, presents us with some insightful commentary on the property market.