KEYS TO KNOW
Kirsty Mcluckie finds a superb choice among the top-end homes to tempt buyers from all over the UK
There is a huge price differential between the Edinburgh and Borders housing markets and the further up the property ladder you look, the more the value offered becomes apparent.
For those looking for the most prestigious properties, there is currently a great deal to tempt a buyer to trade a city home elsewhere for a slice of country life.
Tony Perriam of Rettie & Co Borders says that half the buyers in the middle and top end of the market currently come from other parts of the UK and pricing is the key reason for the attraction.
He says: “We also have a much higher proportion of older buyers, who don’t have to commute, or those who are still working but only needing to gain access to the cities – both Edinburgh and Newcastle – a couple of times a week so commuting times are less important.
“Instead they value location in terms of extra space, land and privacy.”
He believes that the reopening of the Borders railway has only had a limited effect on prices in the Scottish Borders, very specifically around the central area, close to stations, but elsewhere there are mini hotspots with their own attractions.
“It is difficult to look at trends when activity is low, as it is at the moment, but in two specific areas, St Boswells and Melrose, and around Peebles, home report values are being surpassed by selling prices.”
These areas, according to Perriam, appeal to the usual aspirational buyers, those moving up within the local market and those moving in from Edinburgh and south of the border.
“The standard of state education is a driver. There is little alternative in the way of private schools so the reputation of Peebles High and Earlston High, which serves Melrose and St Boswells, is seen as a great attraction and there is a movement around catchment areas in those places.”
A high proportion of buyers are looking for a good-sized country property with amenity land – enough for privacy, a vegetable garden or orchard and space for a few hens or a pony paddock, but Perriam says that properties that tick all these boxes can be few and far between.
He says: “Often people come to us with that vision but even in deeply rural areas it can still be quite difficult to find and quite often buyers have to compromise.
“Those who come from further away are less location specific and are prepared to compromise on that, but local buyers tend to want to stay within the area in which they live.”
Ultimately, he says, many buyers come through the door of the estate agents with a set idea of what they would like, but end up buying something completely different.
“There are a number of beautiful and unique properties so buyers can end up going with their hearts, even if the home they eventually end up with is nothing like they originally imagined.”
From cutting-edge modern homes, smart townhouse to classic rural period properties, the higher end of the Borders market has a great deal to consider.
It is one area of the UK where those selling a modest city property can swap it for a lifestyle home far beyond anything they could afford elsewhere. Where is it: Stobicote, Ancrum, near Jedburgh What is it: A four-bedroomed modern home with beautiful landscaped garden on the edge of a conservation village. Good points: The house has some of the best views in the Scottish Borders, looking over the Teviot valley. Solar panels cover the cost of heating and electricity bills. Bad points: No room for a pony. Price: £425,000. Contact: CKD Galbraith on 01573 224244.