Figures from Homelet’s Rental Index show the average private rent in Scotland rose 11.4 per cent from the 12 months since April last year and the average cost is more than £700 a month.

The increase is more than double that of the average for rest of the UK (excluding Greater London), which rose by 5.1 per cent in the same period.

The average rent in Scotland for new tenancies for the three months to March this year was £677 but by April this had hit £704 a month – a rise of four per cent.

In comparison, the second-fastest increase was the North West of England, which rose 1.7 per cent in the same period, while Greater London increased 0.5 per cent and Northern Ireland showed the fastest decrease at 0.7 per cent.

The average cost of a month’s rent in Scotland for the three months to April this year is higher than all but four of the 12 UK regions surveyed.

Only Greater London (£1,539), England’s South East (£963), the South West (£891) and East Anglia (£809) have higher rents.