We all hear, south of the border that London is forever driving up property prices with huge sums needed to get onto the property ladder and the rental market is ever growing, despite the attempts by schemes such as “Help to Buy” but what of my Scottish family? (I am a proud half Scot from my father and still have folks back in the old country) Are they exempt from the ravages of an ever expensive London and England property market? Can you still buy an awful lot for very little? 

This would not seem to be the case…… 

Last year it was commented that property prices in Scotland rose at 6.9% and in particular the furnace heating up the rise was the capital, Edinburgh, with a 15.6% rise in the value of a home! 

Now, if you have never been to Edinburgh, shame on you! And if you have never been to Scotland at all I am casting a disapproving look in your direction! 

Scotland has seen a huge change in infrastructure over the last 15 years and the changes in the property market have been very pronounced, commercial property rejuvenation and renovation has been visibly marked too and none more so than around Edinburgh and the surrounding Midlothian area. 

Midlothian prices rose by 15.7% last year and West Lothian (home to the famous “Bings” or red slag heaps from various historical mining operations) by 8.5% according to Mortgage Strategy magazine, https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/astounding-house-price-growth-in-edinburgh-drive-scottish-property-market/ 

What though of the Official Data from RoS or the Registrars of Scotland: 

Their annual review indicated the following: 

Total residential sales value was £17.9bn

The average national house price rose by 13.2%

Average number of sales was 102,430

Average new build price increased by 24.2%

£1mil + properties in Edinburgh alone accounted for 52% of all £1mil + sales

Mortgages taken out fell by 44.5% over the previous year while cash purchases increased to 31.7% of the total sales market

The biggest increases were seen in the Midlothian (+11.5%) and Renreweshire (+10.6%) areas (Renfrewshire contains the claimed birthplace of William Wallace and Glasgow International Airport)

While the biggest decreases were noted in North Ayrshire (-46.9%) which includes the beautiful Isle of Arran (I’ve been there!) and Inverclyde (-46.3%) home of the legendary inventor and engineer, James Watt. 

Now the data from these sources is always going to be different as they often use different data collection methods and sampling periods but it shows us a common theme, house prices in Scotland are rising and the city of Edinburgh is rising more than the rest of the country. 

What does this mean for mortgage advisers? 

It means that while there are increasing numbers of cash buyers (according to RoS) there are increasing numbers of higher property purchases going through north of the border and that as a market Scotland is every bit as progressive as England and London. 

So despite the nuances in Law and tax rates, Scotland should be looked at from a mortgage adviser perspective as every bit as ripe for advice as England!!