Rent in Dundee has risen faster over the past decade than anywhere else in Scotland, according to new research.
Since 2008, the cost of renting a two-bedroom house in Dundee has increased by 40% to £568 a month according to estate agents Rightmove.
However, one Dundee property manager said average rents in Dundee have not risen so dramatically.
According to Rightmove, Hackney in London saw the biggest rise in rents, partly due to the London Olympics in 2012. Prices there rose by 63% to £1,755 a month.
Outside London the biggest rises were in Dartford, where rents rose by 41%, and Dundee.
Other Scottish cities to record significant increases in rent prices include Edinburgh, where the average cost of a two-bedroom home rose by 39% to an average of £969 a month.
Rightmove’s housing market analyst Miles Shipside said: “Although the growth in asking rents has slowed over the past few years, people new to the rental market or those looking for a bigger property could find that they need to look further out than their initial wish-list of places, especially in the bigger cities around the country.
“A look at the first few months of this year shows the usual seasonal trend of asking rents falling slightly compared to the last quarter of last year, but we’re likely see a rise again next quarter.
“London asking rents remain flat compared to this time last year, a sign that we are highly unlikely to see the same big increases over the next 10 years that we’ve seen in some areas in the capital over the previous 10 years.”
The cheapest average rent in Scotland was in Kilmarnock, where an average of just £472 is asked for a two-bedroom property.
However, Duncan Robertson, owner of Dundee-based Robertson Property Management. said he did not believe prices in the city have risen that dramatically.
He said: “I think there may have been a gradual increase but certainly not to that scale.”
Mr Robertson said Dundee is becoming a more attractive place for investors to buy property but the increase in the number of private lets available has meant more competition for tenants, which has limited rent increases.
He said: “It’s the law of economics – it’s supply and demand.”
