THE Granite City's landlords are continuing to cash in on the oil industry with Aberdeen keeping its place as the most expensive city for renting properties this year, a study has found.

It costs an average of £849 a month for a two bedroom flat in the city, compared to the national average of £627 – a 1.35% rise on the first quarter of 2011.

The survey by letting group Citylets found the west end of Aberdeen was even higher, when districts are broken down, at £993 a month.

Hot on Aberdeen's heels was Edinburgh which also dominated the top of the list with an overall average rent of £712 for a two-bed property in the city.

The prime market areas of the New Town and west end came in as the most expensive areas with New Town having an average rent of £940, up 3.7% on quarter one of last year, and the west end, which stands at £939 – up 0.6% on the year.

Dan Cookson, senior analyst at Citylets said: "It is no surprise that Aberdeen continues to dominate the list for most expensive places to rent in Scotland.

"Aberdeen continues to thrive because of the continued success of the oil and gas industry.

"It is also the only major city in the UK to create more businesses than it lost when the country emerged from the recession in 2010."