2012 will be a significant year for the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in Scotland as it experiences ongoing

expansion as well as an increase in regulation.

As far as the latest numbers are concerned the mix adjusted average for Scotland in Q1 2012 was £664,

2.6% up on the same period last year which suggests a reassuringly stable market for landlords and tenants

alike. Three bed flats which account for 10% of all properties let via Citylets saw a more substantial annual

rent increase of 5.8%. Two bed flats are still the most popular property type and account for 40% of all lets,

and in Q1 2012 rents for these were up 5.8%.

In Glasgow the mix adjusted average rent was up 2.8% on the year to £596, while in Edinburgh average rents

rose 2.9% and are now £788. Rents in Aberdeen experienced a much smaller annual rise of 0.7% to £913 in

Q1 2012, though it is worth mentioning that there has been rapid increase in rents of 5.9% since Q2 2012.

Aberdeen rents are currently 37.5% more expensive than the average in Scotland, 53% greater than Glasgow

and 15.9% more than Edinburgh. With international oil companies offering very generous accommodation

allowances it is not a surprise that prices are higher than anywhere else in the country.

Commenting on the win, Founder and MD of Citylets Thomas Ashdown said:

“We’re obviously delighted to win this award and from such a distinguished judging panel. The big 3 Portals, soon to be 2, dominate the headlines day after day but there are, and perhaps agents should be encouraged to know, credible Niche sites in the UK.  We are very grateful to Propertydrum for having the insight to recognise this and provide an award category.”

The win came on the same day that Experian Hitwise again confirmed Citylets.co.uk as the No 1 Lettings Site in the UK (April 2012) in a custom category of residential letting sites. We continue to invest in our brand and are, we believe, starting to see a clear gap opening up between us and competitors in terms of visitor numbers.

Citylets recently provided  bespoke analysis of the PRS in Glasgow for a major report in to MMR in Glasgow entitled “Research into the Potential Market for Mid Market Rent in Glasgow”.  A copy of the report can be found on the Glasgow Council site  http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Business/Housing/HousingStrategy/Latest_News/index.htm

Dundee council is teaming up with local developer Keiller Estates and the Scottish Government’s National Housing Trust (NHT) to transform the site of the former William Halley & Sons premises at Wallace Craigie Works on Broughty Ferry Road.

It will be interesting to see if  this development will have an impact on achieved rents in the area.  Citylets clients wanting to track the trends can do so yourself by simply searching the Optilet tool for postcode DD4 6DN or area Stobswell.

The full article can be seen on The Courier Web site:

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Dundee/article/22250/wallace-craigie-works-to-be-converted-into-flats-for-rent.html

Citylets continued its growth trend recording a 10% uplift in visitor traffic over Q1 2012 compared to 2011 (source: Google Analytics), growth which was reflected to agent enquiries which were up 9% (source: Citylets Internal Data).

Offices on site grew a substantial 9% over the quarter, an increase close to the total growth for 2011. Citylets MD Thomas Ashdown commented:

“It is re-assuring to see our continued investment being reflected to our figures for the quarter. Citylets has been diversifying its advertising channel base over recent months in response to the fast changing digital landscape. We look forward to launching new initiatives in q2 of 2012.”

Growth in leads to agents in Q1 2012 was most noticeable in Dundee where figures for the quarter were over 5 times what they were last year. Dundee has been a key target area for development for Citylets since mid 2010.

Aberdeen continued its impressive growth trajectory recording its 12th consecutive quarterly year on year increase, with leads 60% up on last year and 200% up on just 3 years ago.

Citylets.co.uk is, according to Experian Hitwise, the most visited residential lettings site in the UK (March 2012).

We are kicking the series off with a profile of the most expensive rental areas in Scotland as of Q4 2011.

Aberdeen’s West End is the most expensive area in the country to rent, with the average monthly rent for a 2-bed flat currently stands at £972, compared with the national average 2-bed rent of £626. Following closely behind is Edinburgh’s New Town (average monthly 2-bed rent £946) and the capital’s West End (average monthly 2-bed rent £889).

The map below is taken from our Optilet system which helps agents and landlords see in detail what is happening in their local letting market.  The colour coding gives agents an instant impression of where the premium priced properties as well as the more affordable flats can be found.

A very nice example of an Aberdeen town house upper conversion is this  3 bed flat in Hamilton Place, Rosemount which is currently being advertised by  Aberdein Considine (Aberdeen) for £1,800 per calendar month http://www.citylets.co.uk/property-rent/rosemount-hamilton-place-ab15-234417/

Citylets Map of West End Aberdeen

Citylets published strong results for 2011 with visitor traffic up 22% on 2010 (source: Google Analytics) representing a full 200% rise on 2007. Enquiries to agents also rose by 21% (source: Citylets internal data).

We’re delighted to have maintained our strong growth trajectory of recent years operating in broadly the same geographies as 2010 and we are confident these results reflect not just a growth in the rental market, but a growth in our market share. 

Traffic to Citylets is now 3 times what it was just 4 years ago (source: Google Analytics 2007-2011)

 According to Experian Hitwise, Citylets averaged rank 74 in the property category (based on UK visits) in 2011, higher than any other dedicated residential letting site. Citylets was also the only site in its genre to maintain a top 100 position throughout the year & was regularly the most visited lettings site in the UK.

 Agent offices on site (Scotland & N Ireland) grew 12.5% from the previous year.  Interestingly, just over half of all Citylets’ Scottish clients are not subscribed to Rightmove. Citylets MD, Thomas Ashdown, commented: 

“Rightmove may be the UK’s overall biggest site, however in Scotland Citylets is the clear market leader for letting agents with 54% of clients not subscribed to Rightmove. In major cities like Edinburgh and Dundee, that increases to 85% and in Aberdeen it’s currently 65%.

 “These figures suggest that in urban Scotland, Citylets attracts the larger audiences relevant to our local clients. Indeed the figures seem to underline the fact that property markets are predominantly local and it is local presence that counts, not over-arching UK visitor numbers.”

The overall average monthly rent in Scotland now stands at £656, a rise of 1.9 % on Q4 2010. Meanwhile, the average time to let (TTL) figures rose slightly from 35 days in Q4 2010 to 39 days in Q4 2011.  Scotland-wide, the average rent for a two-bedroom flat rose 1.5% from £617 to £626 between the final quarter of 2010 and the same period in 2011. For one bedroom flats, the average rent rose 3.6% year on year, from £473 to £490.

Citylets Rent trends Q4 2011

With all the evidence suggesting that renting is fast becoming a long term option for many in Scotland and the rest of the UK, taking a rented property is no longer assumed to be a stepping stone to home ownership. As such, we wanted to create an ad which presented the rental option as ‘home’ and covered the core rental demographics. Shot in various locations around Edinburgh and Glasgow, we hope this is effectively & energetically communicated.

The campaign is the largest by Citylets to date with expenditure in the region estimated to be equivalent to around £1m nationally. We have also refreshed our website to provide a cleaner look and feel to the search experience. There will be new functionality for viewers and agents coming online in Q1 and Q2 of this year.

The ad can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tduK9AD-Ev8

We will have a branded presence throughout Princes Street and at The Concert in the Gardens on the night and positioned in areas to be covered by the TV cameras. The BBC, SKY and STV will all be covering the event including the world famous midnight firework display above the castle.

This years’ Concert in the Gardens headlines with Primal Scream covering their 90s classic album, Screamadelica.

This is our most exciting event sponsorship to date which should deliver our brand to a wide audience.

We know what we’ll be doing on New Years’ eve, but whatever you’re up to…have a good one- Merry Xmas & Happy New Year from all here at Citylets!

Citylets has developed Market Analysis tool Optilet to assist agents set the optimal rent by applying sophisticated analysis to the most recent market data.

Agents can now search for comparable properties by street, area or postcode and match by property type, level of furnishing, number of bedrooms and other criteria. This, in conjunction with agent expertise, allows rents to be set with a clear insight of how long the property should take to let at the asking amount.

Results can be displayed in either list or map format. The map displays the relation of rents of similar properties to precise location and the list format allows results to be ordered by criteria such as ‘time to let’.

Additionally Optilet shows the average comparable rent for the property compared to other types of property in the same area and also compared to the city-wide and national average.

Optilet draws on our expertise built up over the years through analysis work on our quarterly market reports.

For more info, please visit www.citylets.co.uk/optilet