Rents in Scotland have crept up to an all-time peak, despite an overall cooling in annual growth this year, according to the latest buy to let index.

The average residential rent in Scotland now stands at £539 per month, the highest level on record after a 0.2% rise in November, says the data from Your Move, one of Scotland’s largest lettings agent networks.

But on an annual basis, rent rises are stabilising after a slowdown in growth. Average monthly rents across Scotland have climbed 2.2% over the past year, consistent with the annual growth recorded last month. The average monthly rent has increased £12 from £527 in November 2013.

This shows a considerable slackening from 3.5% annual rise over the year to November 2013. At their fastest pace, annual rent growth reached 4.3% in February 2014, according to Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move.

A breakdown of the figures show that rents have increased on a monthly basis in just two out of five regions of Scotland in November. The East saw the fastest monthly uptick in average rents, up 1.1% from October. Edinburgh and the Lothians was the only other area of Scotland to record a rise, with 0.4% growth taking prices to a record of £617 per month.

Rental prices dropped over the majority of Scottish regions between October and November. The South saw the greatest monthly fall of 0.3%, with average rents dipping £2 to £485 in November. Average monthly rents across the Highlands and Islands slipped back 0.2%, and have dropped 0.1% in Glasgow and Clyde since October.