THE number of properties available for rent in Scotland have reached a “historic lows” amid warnings the drop in supply will continue to drive up prices.

A new report on rental prices by Citylets revealed average Scottish rents have risen 8.3% year on year, reaching a new all-time high of £981 per month over the summer months.

The figure is based on average price for flats ranging from one to four bedrooms.

The organisation also claimed stock levels, or the supply of private rented properties, reached "historic lows after having recovered mildly in the previous quarter".

"These eye-watering statistics expose how untenable the situation is for Scotland's renters,” Living Rent secretary Meg Bishop said and warned that rent prices are pushing some tenants into poverty.

Edinburgh has seen rent prices increase by 14.7% year on year, while Glasgow’s rents grew by 12.6% in the same period.

Dundee was not far behind with a 12.3% year-on-year spike, while Aberdeen saw prices rise by 8%. However, the Granite City was the only of the four where rents had dropped over the past five and ten years.

Edinburgh and Glasgow properties are also being snapped up quickly, with the average times to let being just 15 and 13 days respectively.

The real estate rental agency warned in its quarterly report that “alarm bells” were going off over diminishing supply.

The director of lettings at Rettie & Co, Karen Turner, warned there was a “race for space” that “shows no signs of abating”.

Speaking on the overall rental market in Scotland, she said: “We require to see positive steps to support investment into the private rented sector, not more hurdles to get through.”

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Living Rent’s secretary claimed that a permanent solution was needed to protect tenants from “skyrocketing” rents between tenancies.

“The statistics also show that landlords will stop at nothing to milk profit out of people desperate for a roof over their head.

“The rent freeze will provide temporary relief for most tenants, but with rents continuing to rise between tenancies way beyond affordable levels, it is clear we need a permanent solution to the crisis.

“That has to mean rent controls that bring down rents, and the rent freeze must last until the day rent controls come in, otherwise these figures show that landlords will hike up rents the moment the rent freeze ends, driving tenants further into poverty.”

Last week the Scottish Parliament passed the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill giving ministers the powers to ban evictions and cap rents until the end of March 2023.

While the move has been praised by tenants organisations, the Scottish Landlords Associations (SAL) has warned that properties available to rent could further dwindle.

Its chief executive John Blackwood said: “The Scottish Association of Landlords is gravely concerned about available letting stock.

“Our members faced serious financial difficulties before COVID-19, during the pandemic, and present financial pressures are making matters worse, not just for landlords but for tenants.

“Instead of supporting us and having a grown-up conversation, the Scottish Government, and their Green allies, seem committed to the idea that landlords are the issue.

“A hostile environment for landlords is only making a difficult situation worse.”

He suggested landlords are opting to sell their properties and urged for a “joined-up strategy from our leaders to try and prevent, what I fear, will be a mass exodus of landlords from the private rented sector.”

Outside of the big cities, rents are also rising with year-on-year prices increasing by 7.9% in West Lothian, 5.8% in South Lanarkshire, 9.5% in Renfrewshire.

Shelter Scotland assistant director Gordon MacRae said the country’s housing system is “fundamentally broken”.

While praising the recent rent freeze for “protecting people from the immediate threat of homelessness”, he added that the bill could not fix the broken system.

Mr MacRae warned that social housing also needs investment: “The issues facing renters are one indicator of just how broken it is.”

“Thousands of people in Scotland are homeless, including thousands of children trapped in temporary. The new legislation won’t help them.

“Fixing the housing system requires systemic change, and increasing the supply of homes for social rent is integral to that. Social housing has faced decades of underinvestment, which is why we see it as vital that the Scottish Government commits to buying and building at least 38,500 social homes by 2026.

“Only by significantly increasing the supply of social homes can Scotland’s housing emergency be meaningfully addressed and brought to a permanent end.”