Scotland sees strong demand from rest of UK as buyers capitalise on new freedoms

English buyers haven’t just been drawn to the Cotswolds and Yorkshire over the course of the pandemic.

Successive lockdowns mean a growing number have headed north of the border, attracted by Scotland’s green spaces and the relative affordability of its property.

In some cases, it is Scots looking to return home but there has also been growing numbers of English buyers looking to make a lifestyle change, encouraged by the adoption of home and hybrid working since the pandemic.

New prospective buyers based in the UK but outside of Scotland made up 18% of all those looking to buy property in Scotland in the first ten months of 2021. This compares with 14% in the same period in 2019.

Among that group, London-based buyers made up the largest share, at 46% in the first ten months of 2021. This compares to 31% in the same period in 2019.

“We recently relocated someone from London to Edinburgh where they’ve continued to work for their London employer,” said Edward Douglas-Home, head of Scottish residential at Knight Frank.

“Since the pandemic, people have taken stock and many Scots that moved away to other parts of the UK for work and to advance their careers now want to return to their roots, often to raise a family. This is something that’s been enabled by the ability to work remotely,” Edward added.

A similar trend of buyers returning to their roots has been seen in other parts of the UK including Yorkshire.

The share of sales to UK buyers based outside Scotland has also increased. Between January to October 2021, UK buyers based outside of Scotland made up 22% of total sales in Scotland. This compared with 19% in the same period of 2019.

With demand high and supply tight, Scotland’s country market has seen record price growth this year, and Edinburgh has continued its strong performance.