The Herald - The Herald Magazine
The latest from the property market
LOOKING back, the timeline for the last decade is marked by jagged peaks and troughs, which had it been an ECG trace, would have had nurses scurrying for a crash team. In the last 10 years we have faced an Age of Austerity, three General Elections, an Independence Referendum, the introduction of LBTT and ADS, an EU Referendum and Brexit. And considering the decade started with many homeowners in negative equity, average house prices in Scotland have grown from £133,037 in 2009 to around £153, 692 as of the Registers of Scotland figure for end October 2019.
As we head into the 20s, many of the highs have been notably high: according to Rettie, since 2009 the average house price in Glasgow has risen over 21 per cent to around £160,000, while Edinburgh has seen prices rise 32 per cent over 10 years, adding almost £65,000 to the value of an average house.
The exception to this upward trend has been Aberdeen where prices have fallen 8 per cent over the past five years but are still around £28,000 higher than 10 years ago.
Arguably the biggest change of the decade has been in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), which has grown from 240,000 households in 2009 to over 350,000 today, sparking an explosion in the Build to Rent sector. Changes to the tax system and increased costs have disincentivised BTL investors at the same time as Airbnb has attracted landlords away from the PRS.
A report conducted by Rettie for Edinburgh City
Council on the impact of the short-term rental sector estimated around 10 per cent of PRS stock in Edinburgh has been lost to Airbnb. With rental demand increasing faster than supply, the firm says average rents in Edinburgh have risen over 30 per cent in the last five years and by over 20 per cent in Glasgow.
BTR has the promise to deliver much needed, high quality professionally managed rental stock quickly, but through the mid-market and affordable rental sectors to do so at an affordable price.
FIND YOUR PERFECT MATCH
NEW year, new decade…. will it be exciting times ahead for Scotland’s property market? Could this be the start of a decade that challenges and changes the conventional way we build, buy and sell homes?
CALA Homes (East) has made a start by launching Perfect Match, a new initiative to take personal service to the next level and make buying a new home even easier. Available across 11 developments in the East of Scotland (located in Penicuik, Roslin, Gullane, Dunbar, Haddington, North Berwick, Edinburgh and Balerno), Perfect Match aims to remove hurdles with tailor-made incentives, whether buyers are looking for a quick move, or a move later in the year.
Philip Hogg, Sales and Marketing Director at CALA Homes (East), said: “We want to reflect that buying a home is a monumental, deeply personal transaction. Every move is unique – and we all are looking for different things or face different hurdles and challenges in securing that dream home.
“That’s why we have created the Perfect Match to provide buyers with a tailor-made package to make sure the move brings excitement and not stress.”