The General Election is done and dusted. It delivered a comprehensive victory for the incumbent UK Prime Minister and his Conservative Party with an increase in seats in the house for the SNP within Scotland.
Whilst the SNP see this as a mandate to push for Indyref2 and Brexit remains the hot topic, Boris Johnson has already made clear his commitment to keeping Scotland within the Union.
Currently, Scotland offers great opportunities for property developers, most of whom recognise the three most important considerations when investing in property are ‘location, location and location’.
Collating any current statistics relating to property markets across the UK, makes it plain that Scotland is set to be a prime location for property investment in 2020.
Warmed up and ready for inward investment
The website TotallyMoney.com draws up an annual map of the UK which highlights those postcodes offering the best buy-to-let return on any investments made. Within the top 25, in second and third position, you’ll find Falkirk and Glasgow. The details of each given by the survey are as follows:
Falkirk – Postcode FK3 returns a rental yield of 9.51% and the average asking price for properties in this area, which includes Grangemouth, is £62,450, with the average monthly rent hitting £495.
Glasgow – there are five Glasgow postcodes within the top 25 listed, and the best performing in 2019 was G52, which covers areas including Hillington, Cardonald, Penilee and Mosspark.
The average buy-to-let yield offered here is 8.71%. Other Glasgow postcodes which offered an impressive yield included G32 with 7.13%, G67 with 7.2% and G51 with 7.32%.
Of the bottom 10 postcodes in the survey, no fewer than seven are located in the south east of England, with areas such as Reading Guildford and St. Albans offering yields ranging from a high of 2.28% to a low of 1.95%.
While there are, of course, many places within London itself which offer higher yields (though none that match Glasgow and Falkirk), the median asking price here runs from £290,000 to as high as £492,500.
While all of these factors come together to make Falkirk and Glasgow highly appealing hunting grounds for property investors, the appeal of Scotland for property investors isn’t limited to just these two.
It’s not just the big cities
In Edinburgh, for example, a student population of more than 40,000 and a general population which is forecast to rise by 28% over the next decade mean that demand for rented property is bound to rise.
Across Scotland as a whole, the rental sector is extremely healthy, with on in seven Scottish residents living in rented property and 14% of all Scottish properties being rented through private landlords.
Nor should it be assumed that the property market in Scotland is only particularly appealing to those investors seeking properties to let out as rentals. The truth of the matter is that property sales in Edinburgh and Glasgow are taking place faster than those of any other part of the UK, meaning that
investors, having purchased a property, then have the freedom to opt for renting out or resale safe in the knowledge that the conditions for both are equally attractive.
According to Barclays Mortgages and Hometrack analysis of Zoopla listings, the average length of time it currently takes for a property to sell in the UK is 84 days. In Edinburgh, by way of contrast, it takes 31 days and, in Edinburgh, 39.
Not only will any Scottish property probably sell more quickly but, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2019 UK Economic Outlook report, the average house price in Scotland is set to go up by 14% over the course of the next four years.
Whether you’re looking to invest in buy-to-let rental property or simply to purchase and resell domestic properties, the figures speak for themselves. Scotland offers an option which is more affordable than other property hot-spots in the UK, while at the same time promising high rental yields, quick sales and increasing property values.
Now you understand why Signature opened its first office in Scotland earlier in 2019, with our team based in Edinburgh, ready to get deals done across the country as more developers catch on to the opportunities on offer.