Investors flock to Scots property market
The Scottish housing mark et is attracting a growing number of investors from England as landlord returns outperform the rest of the UK, according to a Helensburgh training company.
Touch stone Education, which runs courses in prop - er ty investment across the UK, found that 78 per cent of its clients believe the greatest investment opportunities exist north of the Border.
In contrast, 50 per cent said they intend to target London, while 53 per cent opted for the south-east and 49 per cent for the south-west of England.
Touchstone pointed to rising rental yields in Scotland, which continue to grow while performance across the rest of the UK has flatlined.
The latest Your Move Scotland rental tracker showed average rents increased 1.8 per cent in the past 12 months to reach an average of £580.
Properties generated an average investment yield of 4.7 percent in March–a sixmonth high–while remaining unchanged in England and Wales.
Touchstone chief executive Paul Smith said: “Central Scotland is now the focus of a great deal of activity. Edinburgh has always provided consistent returns but Glasgow is now the city that’s setting the pace.
“There’s a great deal of excitement about its growing tech, creative and financial services sectors which are attracting young, affluent workers from elsewhere in the country.
“The main exception in Scotland is, of course, Aberdeen, whose property market continues to be negatively affected by the downturn in the oil and gas industries.”