Edinburgh has been identified as having the UK’s fastest growing rents with the average annual sum rising by 4.63 per cent in 2018. 

The Scottish city narrowly beats Nottingham into second place, where rents have increased by 4.62 per cent over the past 12 months.

Overall, rents across the UK rose by 0.97% – this means that rents in Edinburgh and Nottingham are growing more than four times faster than the national average.

These are findings from the third edition of the National Rent Review by buy to let lender Landbay.

Some 13 different parts of the UK have seen rents rise faster than the CPI measure of inflation, which currently stands at 2.3 per cent.

Meanwhile rents have been falling in 20 different areas with Aberdeenshire recording the biggest decline, down 7.0 per cent. 

In fact, the bottom five areas are all in Scotland with Aberdeen, Angus, Moray and South Ayrshire completing the list.

Six London boroughs (Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea and Hillingdon) have also seen declining rents this year – although, overall, London saw a rise of 0.58 per cent.

John Goodall, CEO and co-founder of Landbay says: “There is no doubt that the private rental sector has seen a geographically varied performance throughout 2018. However, in the context of Brexit uncertainty and recent tax and regulatory changes for landlords, these figures show just how resilient the market continues to be.

“A number of factors are creating demand for smaller properties. A shortage of new smaller properties entering the wider market as well as higher tax burden on larger homes has put upwards pressure on rents for one and two bed properties as professional landlords seek sustainable yields.”