David Alexander

The lettings firm said activity in the rental market has increased enormously in recent weeks and they have been experiencing record demand with volumes greater than pre-pandemic levels.

This week the firm took just one day to let a property for £7,000 a month in Edinburgh’s prestigious Ann Street whilst a recently listed HMO (Home of Multiple Occupation) had seventy-eight viewings.

David Alexander, joint chief executive officer of DJ Alexander, commented: “We are seeing unprecedented demand in the private rented sector. With the opening up of the economy over the last few months activity was already building steadily but in the last few weeks it has now increased substantially.

“Letting a £7,000 per month property in just one day is unusual at the best of times but this is not, by any means, an isolated incident at the moment. Properties are flying off the market in a matter of days following listing. We are finding enormous pent-up demand from tenants who are acting immediately a property is listed. That the HMO we had on our books had seventy-eight viewings is a further sign that the market has suddenly exploded into life.”

He added: “Just three months ago there were as many as 1900 properties available in Edinburgh alone and that figure has now dropped to just over 600 rentals at the moment. Edinburgh is undoubtedly the centre of extremely high levels of demand at present, but we are seeing increased activity in the private rental market across Scotland.

“The wider concern is that demand may now be outstripping supply. This is likely to lead to a shortage of available properties on the market and rising rental prices in the short to medium term.

“I believe that this situation will persist in the coming months particularly if we start to have an inflow of people back into cities and towns to work, and the potential return of EU citizens to work in the hospitality and retail sectors. However, this level of activity is a clear and welcome sign that the market and the wider economy are returning to normal.”