THE Scottish capital and surrounding areas saw rents rise faster than any other part of the country last year. Showing a 6.1 per cent leap in rents year on year.

Rents in Edinburgh and the Lothians leapt by 6.1 per cent in the last 12 months and were also up 0.9 per cent compared to September.

The average rent across the region now stands at £645 per month, according to Your Move Scotland's Buy to Let Index.

Landlords with properties in the Highlands and Islands continued to enjoy higher than average rents, even though prices have tumbled 8.1 per cent in the last year, and the typical property in this area now lets for £576 per month.

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Glasgow and Clyde had average rents of £573 a month and this figure was down 1 per cent year-on-year and 0.2 per cent versus September’s figure.

Overall rental properties in Scotland continued to outperform expectations in October and prices rose both month-on-month and compared to the same point last year, despite uncertainty in both the UK and the wider global economy.

The typical Scottish property now rents for £558 per calendar month and this is 0.3 per cent higher than the previous month and 0.4 per cent up on last October.

It was found that across all of Scotland 7.9 per cent of all tenancies had arrears of a day or more in October, compared to 12.5 per cent last month, and the same point in 2015 when arrears represented 13.8 per cent of all tenancies.

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Brian Moran, Your Move Scotland lettings director, said: "Landlords have been thrilled with the performance of Scottish rental properties in recent months, and October again showed how strong this

market is.”