Average Edinburgh area rent doubles since 2010, figures show

Rent for a private two-bed property in and around Scotland’s capital has more than doubled since 2010, new figures have shown.

Statistics released on Tuesday by the Scottish Government show the price for a two-room home – the most popular size – increased by 104% in the Lothian area, which includes Edinburgh.

The average rent in the area, the figures show, increased from £665 per month in 2010 to £1,358 this year, with a 14% rise in the past 12 months.

In the past 14 years, the increase in Lothian rent has been more than twice the cumulative inflation rate, which sits at about 50%.

The figures were reached through studying advertised rents in between tenancies or on properties new to the rental market.

Glasgow saw the next highest increase, rising from £564 in 2010 to £1,024 – a jump of 82% – although Scotland’s largest city and its surrounding area did see a small drop in average rents in the past year – the only of the 18 areas studied which did not see an above-inflation increase in the past year.

For Scotland as a whole, the jump was 61%, with a 6.2% increase between 2023 and 2024.

Sizable increases were registered in other property types since 2010, with one-bed homes increasing by 60.7%, three beds by 68.7% and four beds almost doubling at 91%.

The figures have sparked calls from the Scottish Government for “robust” rent controls to be included in legislation working its way through Holyrood.

“All over Scotland, households and families are being stretched to their limits by soaring rents and living costs,” said Maggie Chapman, social justice spokeswoman for the Scottish Greens, who until earlier this year were in Government.

“Everyone has the right to a warm, safe and affordable home, but far too many people are struggling with a broken and deeply unfair housing market.

“These rent hikes are hugely outstripping wages and inflation, and plunging tenants into totally avoidable poverty. What the numbers don’t tell us about is the huge levels of concern and anxiety these hikes are causing.

“By introducing robust rent controls that can actually bring rents down, not just keep them rising slowly, we can begin to tackle some of the exploitation that is central to the current market.

“We must build a system that works for tenants.”

Earlier this month, housing minister Paul McLennan announced that rent increases in designated control zones created by the Housing (Scotland) Bill will be capped at the rate of inflation plus 1% up to a total of 6% and will be applied in between tenancies as well as during them.

Ruth Gilbert, a spokeswoman for the campaign group Living Rent, said: “During a cost-of-living crisis, landlords have been increasing rents more than double the rate of inflation.

“This is draining tenants when they have nothing left to give. Despite landlords loudly protesting any form of rent controls which will hit their profits, this data clearly shows that they have been raking in the money for years.

“Very few tenants have had a wage increase above inflation. Yet in the last fourteen years, rents in Greater Glasgow have gone up over 30% above inflation, and 81% overall. In Lothian, rent increases are double inflation.

“Rent hikes are directly contributing to inflationary pressure – we simply cannot go on like this. It is clear landlords cannot be trusted to regulate themselves.

“Given rents have risen on average 61% in the last fourteen years in Scotland, we urgently need to see a system of rent controls that can bring rents down.

“Tenants are on their knees and this parliament needs to act and deliver rent controls that regulate the uncapped profits of landlords.”

Mr McLennan said: “The scale of private rent rises across Scotland demonstrates the need for continued action to tackle rising rent levels.

“The rent control measures in the Housing (Scotland) Bill aim to stabilise private sector rents by protecting tenants who rely on the private rented sector for a home.

“The differing rent levels across Scotland show that the approach to rent control in the Bill is the right way forward, allowing local circumstances to guide decisions on where rent control applies.

“The Scottish Government has a strong track record in housing having supported the delivery of more than 133,000 affordable homes since 2007, with more than 94,000 of those being for social rent, 45% more affordable homes per head of population than in England and 70% more than in Wales.

“We are investing nearly £600 million this year in affordable homes, including an additional £40 million to increase the availability of social and affordable homes through acquisitions and bringing long-term voids back into use.”