The Herald:

A surge in demand for property to rent in Scotland has sent available stock levels down almost two thirds in just three months.

Citylets said many prospective tenants around the country have reported unusual difficulty finding a home to rent.

What began as a resurgence of tenant demand late in Q2 2021 quickly evolved into what many letting agents in Scotland have described as simply the strongest and most sustained period of lettings activity on record.

Stock levels in Scotland plummeted a full 65% over the quarter.

Gillian Semmler, of Citylets, said: "The ramifications of the health pandemic, amongst many other things, have now seen nothing short of a demandemic in the Scottish rental sector.

"Stock levels have declined dramatically in a very short space of time as stock levels struggle to keep up with unrelenting demand from tenants in all walks of life. Getting a residential property to rent in many areas of Scotland has pivoted abruptly from abundant choice to slim pickings.”

This Q3 will likely be remembered as a unique period where demand for property to rent was simultaneously high in all regions covered by the Citylets report, it said. Major cities, satellite towns and rural locations all posted positive annual growth of up to more than 10%.

Larger properties, in general, continued to fare best with 3 and 4 beds posting annual growth of 8.4% and 5.8% respectively driving the Scottish average up 4.7% Year on Year to a new all-time high of £906 per month.

Demand was rekindled across all property types and sizes with additional late demand from students returning to their university cities for in-person learning. The pace of the market accelerated dramatically, down 14 days on average for Scotland-wide average Time to Let  of just 27 days. Three and four bed properties in Glasgow and Aberdeen let three weeks faster than last year.

Adrian Sangster of Aberdein Considine, said: "When commenting on the market I feel like a broken record. High demand, low stock. Post-lockdown we experienced a 100% increase of enquiries from people looking for properties across Scotland, especially family sized homes.

“This demand has continued throughout quarter 3. With insufficient properties to meet demand it leaves many people feeling upset and frustrated because they can’t find a home. The PRS in Scotland is the most heavily regulated in the UK therefore is a matter of deep concern to hear increased anti-landlord rhetoric from the coalition. If this continues, I fear many landlords will leave the sector reducing further the choice of properties available."

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The Scottish licensed trade has called for Westminster to slash alcohol for pubs duty in tomorrow’s Budget.

Industry body the Scottish Licensed Trade Association has issued a plea for new measures to create a “differential” between the amount of duty paid in pubs versus the level applied in supermarkets.

Marc Crothall: Budget must back Scottish tourism

With the UK Government’s Autumn Budget just days away and details of the Scottish Government’s taxation and spending plans to follow in December, the Scottish Tourism Alliance is calling on both governments to back the recovery of our vitally important sector with financial measures to secure growth; these two budgets could be game-changers for the economy – for better or worse.

Put simply, our industry isn’t recovering at the pace needed to maintain tourism’s position as one of Scotland’s main economic drivers and contributors to the public purse.