Rents in the private rented sector (PRS) have stabilised over the last year according to the largest lettings agency in Scotland.
DJ Alexander – part of Lomond – says the most recent monthly statistics show that average rents across Scotland rose by £10 to reach £1,009 per month .
This is an annual increase of 1.0% between June 2025 and May 2026 at a time when the wider inflation rate was 2.91%.
This was the lowest annual rise for a decade and more than 10% lower than the peak of 11.7% in August 2023 when rent controls were in place.
Since Scotland’s rent controls were ended in spring 2025 annual rent inflation in Scotland has fallen from 5.7% to 1.0%
Over the same period rents in Wales rose by £37 to reach £836 per month which was an increase of 4.7% while in England the increase was £48 to achieve £1,442 per month which was a rise of 3.4%.
There was considerable variation in increases across Scotland with fourteen of the 18 broader rental areas regions recording slowing annual rent inflation.
Lothian has the highest average rents at £1,425 although the annual increase was only 1.3%. Greater Glasgow has average rents of £1,272 which was an increase of 3.3%; East Dunbartonshire has average rents of £1,163 which was an increase of 4.6%.
Outside the central belt rents are considerably lower but annual inflation is high. Dumfries and Galloway has average rents of £551 which was an increase of 4.8% while the Ayrshires average £655 which was up 4.8%. In Dundee and Angus average rents were down 1.3% to £828 while Aberdeen and Shires were up 1.3% to £854.
Agency chief executive David Alexander says: “Without the distorting impact of rent controls, the market has sorted itself out and is producing rent increases in line with supply and demand.”
“Over the last year more homes have become available which has reduced rent inflation resulting in an annual rate more in line with the historic trend rather than the blip caused by the introduction of rent controls in September 2022.
“These figures are positive for both landlords and tenants as they show the market in equilibrium operating as it should with prices rising to meet demand and falling back when supply exceeds that. Interfering in the market always causes distortions as we can see from the introduction of the rent cap in September 2022.
“It is to everybody’s benefit that the Private Rental Ssector is left to meet its own level producing a more balanced, steady period of prolonged growth in the coming years. Any proposed re-introduction of rent controls utilising the Housing Act would be completely unjustified given this level of rent inflation.”
