Citylets published strong results for 2011 with visitor traffic up 22% on 2010 (source: Google Analytics) representing a full 200% rise on 2007. Enquiries to agents also rose by 21% (source: Citylets internal data).

Thomas Ashdown, founder and MD of Citylets said:

“We’re delighted to maintain our strong growth trajectory with a 22% rise in traffic in 2011. We operated in broadly the same geographies as 2010 and are confident these results reflect not just a growth in the rental market, but a growth in our market share. Traffic to Citylets is now 3 times what it was just 4 years ago.”

According to Experian Hitwise, Citylets averaged rank 74 in the property category (based on UK visits) in 2011, higher than any other dedicated residential letting site. Citylets was also the only site in its genre to maintain a top 100 position throughout the year & was regularly the most visited lettings site in the UK.

Agent offices on site (Scotland & N Ireland) grew over the year to 450, up 12.5% from the previous year.  Interestingly, just over half of all Citylets’ Scottish clients are not subscribed to the UK’s market leader, Rightmove.

“Rightmove may be the UK’s biggest site, however in Scotland Citylets is the clear market leader for letting agents with 54% of clients not subscribed to Rightmove. In major cities like Edinburgh and Dundee, that increases to 85% and in Aberdeen it’s currently 65%.

“These figures suggest that in urban Scotland, Citylets attracts the larger audiences relevant to our local clients. Indeed the figures seem to underline the fact that property markets are predominantly local and it is local presence that counts, not over-arching UK visitor numbers.”

Citylets was set up in 1999, remains under independent ownership and is managed in Edinburgh by its founding team. 2012 looks set to be another interesting year for the company which promises improved site functionality for visitors and a suite of new products for agents.