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Scotland’s secondary locations seeing growth
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Some of Scotland’s lesser know regions have performed well in the property market during the year to June, according to new research.
A report from Savills shows that sales in Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute have increased well during the period. In fact, sales in these areas were greater than in Scotland as a whole, indicating that buyers are looking further afield for affordable property.
Secondary success
Secondary locations have benefited from the Help to Buy scheme and from the Scottish government’s new build scheme. The report suggests that the scheme’s £250,000 price limit is more applicable to homes outside of the most expensive areas.
Glasgow City and West Dunbartonshire have both seen a considerable increase in supply, with private sector house building completions up by 44% and 75% respectively. On the other hand, traditionally primary locations such as East Renfrewshire and Aberdeen City have seen a lack of supply and as such have fallen behind in terms of activity.[1]
Across Scotland, sales of homes valued above £500,000 have dipped slightly, following uncertainty after the rollout of the Land and Building Transaction Tax in April.
Faisal Choudhry, spokesperson for Savills said, ‘we’re confident sales will pick up as the market adjusts to the new system. Below this threshold, the property market is strong and there is still a great deal of activity up to £500,000.’[1]
Scotland’s secondary locations seeing growth
Assistance
‘The Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme has assisted more first-time buyers in Scotland and across the UK to get on the housing ladder with 78% of users purchasing their first home,’ continued Choudhry. ‘the discontinuation of the Help to Buy new build scheme combined with the stricter lending criteria introduced by the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) will limit the number of buyers who can access sufficient lending to purchase property,’ he added.[1]
Concluding, Choudhry stated, ‘Anticipated rises in mortgage rates could also dampen activity among those with lower deposits. Consequently, transaction levels are not likely to show double-digit growth in the year to June 2016, but we would expect to see a small rise.’[1]
[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/scotland-property-sales-growth-2015081410867.html
