Press Release Summary: The current credit crunch in the UK may mean a slowdown for many parts of the economy but the residential letting sector is flying at the start of 2008. Citylets, Scotland's leading portal for property to rent, has recorded its busiest January to date with the volume of searches launched for property to let in Edinburgh and Glasgow increasing 24.7% and 19.4% respectively on last year.
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Crunch Time in Residential Lettings
The current credit crunch in the UK may mean a slowdown for many parts of the economy but the residential letting sector is flying at the start of 2008.
Citylets, Scotland's leading portal for property to rent, has recorded its busiest January to date with the volume of searches launched for property to let in Edinburgh and Glasgow increasing 24.7% and 19.4% respectively on last year.
Managing Director Thomas Ashdown said that while the effects of the credit crunch are giving many businesses recession jitters, the letting sector is positively thriving.
He added: "It only stands to reason that we are seeing an increase in demand in the letting sector, something we have been expecting over the last 6 months, but we're all a bit taken aback at the size and speed of the increase. Most noticeably demand for 2 bed property in Edinburgh has shot up by over 30%.
While there is talk of economic adversity, people will be wary of buying homes. Others simply will not be granted their mortgage.
"This will drive more people to rent and for longer and we expect the demand for properties will continue to soar well into Q3 of 2008. This is good news for private landlords and their agents but tenants should expect to see rent rises in some areas.
Citylets is Scotland's most popular rental portal and over the past seven years has become many people's first port of call when they are looking for a new home.
Its leading position was significantly boosted by the signing up of no less that 10 new offices in the first trading week of the year including Slater, Hogg & Howison/Countrywide and Remax.
Ashdown said: "It was the best start to a year I can remember. Until now there were only a handful of significant industry names not using the Citylets network and we're delighted they are now on board.
"We believe that we can benefit any letting agent in Scotland through our extended network which uniquely includes s1homes and findaproperty as partners."
Citylets is also a respected market commentator publishing reports on a quarterly basis - the only independent, large scale detailed analysis for the Scottish rental property market. The next report for the last quarter of 2007 is due at the end of January and is expected to confirm an increase in tenant demand.
Thomas said: "We are delighted that the Citylets report is being well received. We were determined to ensure its integrity and accuracy through using independent consultants. The public are wholly fed up with reports from partisan organizations talking the market up in their direction of interest."
Citylets, which Thomas set up from his flat in 1999, has a long history of identifying valuable partners for the network, most noticeably signing up with major Scottish s1 brand in 2001.
A number of other January successes have ensured a bumper start to 2008 for Citylets, including signing an exclusive deal with leading Polish web portal Szkocja.net. It means most properties listed on Citylets are translated within 24 hours and posted onto Szkocja.net.
Ashdown also confirmed that its proprietary site www.citylets.co.uk enjoyed record visits in 2007, well into 7 figures, ensuring that as the controller of a wide property listing network its own site continued to lead by example.
ENDS
Issued on behalf of Citylets by Holyrood Partnership. For further information please contact Suzanne Mackie on (0131) 561 2244 or email info@holyroodpr.co.uk.
Web Site: http://www.holyroodpr.co.uk
Contact Details: Holyrood Partnership Bonnington Bond 29 Breadalbane Street Edinburgh EH6 5JW
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