Lothian, Scotland -- (SBWire) -- 11/26/2012 --After the traditional summer rush for rentals from students and others, Autumn usually provides some respite for Scottish letting agents and landlords.

Inverness has always been one step away from that cycle, probably due to its smaller student community – but this year the time to let on rental property has plummeted in line with trends in Aberdeen, Dundee and across Scotland. Luckily for flat-hunters in Inverness, however, the increase in costs that has accompanied the rise in demand elsewhere has not yet been replicated.

Demand has shot up for all kinds of properties, including:

- Across the board, properties were let in 57% of the time this October than for the rest of the year.
- The average time that 1 bedroom properties spent on Lettingweb in October was under half that of the average for the year. Rents were also £70 less than the yearly average.
- The time to let for October was the second lowest it has been for the entire year for 2 bedroom properties, and 61% of the average.
- 3 bedroom properties were let 25% faster in October than for the yearly average.
- Despite the increase in demand, rental prices dropped from September to October for every size of property.

All in all this means mixed news for prospective tenants – those still hunting towards the end of the year should find cheaper accommodation, but the pickings are slimmer and demand is still high.

What this really shows is how much more investment the rental market needs: whilst it has picked up the slack of the housing market, there is still more demand than supply.

Patrick Foot, Lettingweb’s Product Manager, had this to say about the stats:

‘The usual annual cycle, where flats are rented in the summer and then re-let and rented again at the same time in a following year appears to have been broken. Because of this, it is even more important for tenants to take care of the latest tools to get ahead of the competition and find a flat early. Being too laid back about you property hunt may end up costing you.’

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