West Lothian Council
Letting agents across West Lothian
West Lothian is where a landlord’s money goes furthest in the Lothians. The register’s median sale price is about a fifth below Edinburgh’s, the ONS put the average rent at £912 a month in July 2026 after a 9.2% rise in a year, and demand runs in both directions along the M8, from people who work in Edinburgh and from people who work in Glasgow. Livingston and Bathgate let fast where the rent is set honestly; Linlithgow is a different market, with the county’s highest prices and its scarcest stock. Registration is with West Lothian Council, and the towns are far enough apart that we price each one on its own comparables.
West Lothian at a glance
- One bedroom
- £620
- Two bedrooms
- £835
- Three bedrooms
- £1,100
- Typical gross yield
- 6.6%
- Neighbourhoods covered
- 7
The local market
What drives demand in West Lothian
Two railway lines carry the demand. The Bathgate line stops at Uphall, Livingston North, Bathgate, Armadale and Blackridge on its way between Edinburgh and Glasgow; the Shotts line serves Kirknewton, Livingston South, West Calder, Addiewell and Fauldhouse; and Linlithgow sits on the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line with the fastest trains of all. St John’s Hospital in Livingston is one of the county’s largest employers, and the Livingston business parks, Edinburgh Airport and the distribution sheds along the M8 supply the rest. The new towns at Winchburgh, Calderwood by East Calder and Heartlands at Whitburn add homes every year, and their first owners are a steady source of properties to let. The ONS Price Index of Private Rents put the average rent at £912 a month in July 2026, with a two-bedroom home averaging £837, against the lowest register median of the four Lothian councils: the arithmetic behind the strongest gross yields in the Lothians. HMO licensing is rare outside Livingston, so almost every let is a single household.
West Lothian is the M8 corridor between Edinburgh and Glasgow: Livingston at its centre, Bathgate, Broxburn and Linlithgow around it, and railway lines that reach Waverley in about twenty minutes and Glasgow in under an hour. It is the cheapest of the four Lothian councils to buy into, with a large new-build pipeline at Winchburgh, Calderwood and Heartlands, so the stock is younger than Midlothian’s and the gross yields are the strongest on our patch.
What homes sell for in West Lothian
2023
- Median sale price
- £210,000
- Since 2018
- Up 45%
- Middle half of sales
- £140,025 to £312,746
- Homes sold in 2023
- 3,002
Sale prices for the whole of West Lothian, not just the neighbourhoods we cover, so treat them as the backdrop rather than a valuation. Source: Registers of Scotland, via statistics.gov.scot, Open Government Licence v3.0. 2023 is the most recent year published.
Council tax across West Lothian
2026-27
The year’s bill by band: West Lothian Council’s council tax with Scottish Water’s water and waste water charges, which arrive on the same bill.
- Band A
- £1,519.94
- Band B
- £1,773.26
- Band C
- £2,026.59
- Band D
- £2,279.91
- Band E
- £2,935.75
- Band F
- £3,587.07
- Band G
- £4,274.56
- Band H
- £5,292.24
Council tax up 7.4% on 2025-26, when band D was £1,515.45. Source: Council Tax, water and waste water charges, West Lothian Council, checked 7 September 2026. All four councils side by side.
Areas we manage across West Lothian
EH54
Scotland’s fourth new town, laid out in the 1960s along the Almond and now the county’s centre of gravity: the shopping centres at Almondvale, St John’s Hospital, two stations, and estate housing in every decade’s style from Craigshill to the newest schemes at Kirkton. The deepest rental market in West Lothian and the one that lets fastest.
Property to rent in Livingston →EH48
The old market town of the west of the county, with a station on the Bathgate line, a proper high street, stone villas on the hill and the large Wester Inch estate on the site of the former British Leyland works. Well-priced houses that let to commuters in both directions.
Property to rent in Bathgate →EH49
The palace, the loch and a high street of listed buildings, with the fastest trains in the county to both Edinburgh and Glasgow. The most expensive town in West Lothian by some distance, with little rental stock and tenants who stay.
Property to rent in Linlithgow →EH52
Shale-oil country under the red bings, ten minutes from the city bypass, with a station at Uphall and Edinburgh Airport up the road. Winchburgh, next door, is a new town of thousands of homes with a motorway junction already open and a station promised.
Property to rent in Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh →EH47, EH48
The western towns along the M8, where the county’s lowest prices meet its strongest yields. Former mining and foundry stock, the Heartlands new town on the old Polkemmet colliery at Whitburn, and Armadale’s station on the Bathgate line.
Property to rent in Whitburn, Armadale and Blackburn →EH53, EH27
Villages on the Edinburgh side of the county, closer to the city than anywhere else in West Lothian: Kirknewton’s station is a short run into Waverley, and the Calderwood scheme beside East Calder is adding a new village of family houses.
Property to rent in East Calder and Kirknewton →EH55
A shale-mining village on the Shotts line under the Five Sisters bing, with Polbeth alongside. The cheapest entry on the railway in the whole of the Lothians, and modest terraced houses that let quickly to people who value the train.
Property to rent in West Calder and Polbeth →Questions
Letting property in West Lothian
- How much do letting agents charge in West Lothian?
- Letting agent fees in West Lothian are paid by the landlord, never the tenant. Charging tenants is unlawful throughout Scotland. We charge a fixed one-off fee for Let Only and a percentage of monthly rent for Full Management, with no set-up, renewal or exit fees. Full pricing is published on our fees page.
- Do I need to register as a landlord with West Lothian Council?
- Yes. Every private landlord must register with the local authority for the area where the property sits, in this case West Lothian Council. Registration lasts three years, and your registration number must appear in every advert for the property. Letting while unregistered risks a fine of up to £50,000.
- What rent should I expect in West Lothian?
- As a broad guide, one-bedroom property in West Lothian lets at around £620 pcm, two-bedroom at around £835 pcm and three-bedroom at around £1,100 pcm, at a typical gross yield near 6.6%. Individual streets vary considerably.
- Will rent controls apply in West Lothian?
- Not yet. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 framework commenced on 1 April 2026, but no rent control areas have been designated. West Lothian Council must report on local rent conditions to Scottish Ministers by 31 May 2027, and designation could follow from late 2027. In the meantime, you must supply rent data within 28 days if asked, or risk a fine of up to £1,000.
We also work in
Find out what your West Lothian property should be letting for.
A free, honest valuation based on what comparable properties across West Lothian Council are achieving. No obligation, and no pressure afterwards.