The Herald - The Herald Magazine
THE VOICE OF PROPERTY
OH yes, we do like to live beside the seaside. If proof was ever needed, last week the Isle of Bute was declared the best place to live in Scotland by the Sunday Times; this week the Halifax Seaside Town Review - which tracks house price movements in 191 British seaside towns – reveals prices have soared in Scotland in the last four years.
According to Halifax, a typical Scottish seaside property cost £165,986 in 2021 – 14 per cent up on 2018 – and Scotland dominates the list of Britain’s least expensive seaside towns, with Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae being the most affordable with an average price of just £74,148. Girvan took second place with an average £90,210, while Campbeltown came third at £92,726. Interestingly, Rothesay, the main town on the Isle of Bute, was in fourth place, at £97,726. Completing the top ten least expensive seaside towns were Greenock, Saltcoats, Thurso, Wick, Irvine and in tenth place, Stranraer, at £110,674.
Conversely, the list of seaside towns showing the biggest annual house price increases had Eyemouth in Berwickshire in second place at an average of £183,997 – up 36 per cent on the previous year, while Anstruther in Fife came seventh with £215,659, a rise of 22 per cent from the previous year. Scotland’s most expensive coastal town remains North Berwick in East Lothian, with an average of £374,406.
Currently for sale in Millport, the only town on the Isle of Cumbrae, is a detached villa on Ninian Street, which has a modern breakfasting kitchen, sitting room with a balcony and views to the bay, games room, three bedrooms (one en suite), shower room, and private garden grounds with driveway and garage. It is for sale at offers over £310,000 with Slater Hogg & Howison’s office in Largs.
PLANS have been submitted to South Lanarkshire Council which, if approved, could realise a major new residential and retail development in East Kilbride, to include 1012 new homes built by McTaggart Construction, alongside local retail, office space, and a children’s nursery located at Langlands West, near Auldhouse Road.