People renting property are benefiting most from the beleaguered housing market with wider choice and rents continuing to fall across the country, according to latest research by letting portal Citylets.

The latest Citylets quarterly report, which covers the period April to June 2009, shows average rents declined for the second consecutive quarter and are now 3.3% lower than the same period in 2008.

High stock levels have forced landlords to lower prices to secure leases yet properties are still being slower to let than in previous years. With cheaper mortgages however, many property owners are seeing their overall yields improve.

The Citylets website was launched in 1999 and is Scotland's most successful lettings portal. Its quarterly report is the country's only detailed and independent barometer of the rental market, based on 50,000 annual lettings from over 250 agents. It is now a respected tool among investors, landlords and letting agencies.

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The report shows that the fall in rents has been widespread across Scotland over the last quarter, but in certain sectors - such as larger student flats - prices have held up well.

The high availability of rental accommodation has also seen significant increases in time-to-lets (TTLs) with properties taking on average 14 days longer to let than a year ago.

Edinburgh has experienced the greatest changes in rental activity. One bed flats took almost twice as long to let and rents fell 5.1% to £503, compared with last year. But new-build flats in the Leith waterfront recorded the biggest falls - down 10%.

In Glasgow, rents for one and two bed flats fell on average by 1.3% and 0.9% respectively. Aberdeen maintained the pattern of recent years with one bed flats letting quickest of all regions, but rents also fell by 3.2% while two beds fell by 7.1%.

Thomas Ashdown, the entrepreneur behind Citylets Network which includes major partner brands such as s1homes and Primelocation, said that whilst rental levels are falling which will be pleasing to tenants it is not all bad news for landlords.

He said: "Although the continued decline may be of concern, the fact that rents have only fallen 3.3% year-on-year during the sharpest recession in living memory and with other business sectors experiencing near catastrophic collapses, I'd say this is by no means a disaster for the vast majority of landlords. In addition, low interest rates on mortgages are still widespread."

(GK/JM)