Scotland’s Most Expensive Property Locations

Edinburgh is Scotland’s most expensive property location on a per square metre basis at £2,492 compared to the Scottish average of £1,529, new research from Bank of Scotland has revealed.

 

Edinburgh is also apparently the only city in Scotland to have an average house price per square metre higher than the British average of £2,260.

 

According to the report, there has been a substantial rise in property prices per square metre between southern England and the rest of Britain over the past 20 years. House prices per square metre have risen by 402% in Greater London and 208% in Edinburgh compared with the increase of 147% across the whole of Scotland.

 

"House price per square metre can be a useful measure for house price comparison as it helps to adjust for differences in the size and type of properties between locations,” explained Graham Blair, mortgages director, Bank of Scotland.

 

“Edinburgh and the east coast are more expensive than western and central areas, however we can see a number of notable pockets emerging in the Highlands,” he added. “There is a clear gap between southern England, particularly London, and the rest of Britain over the past 20 years – a trend that has continued during the last five years.”

 

The research found that seven of the ten most expensive towns are on the eastern side of Scotland, with Inverness in the Highlands (£1,636), Glasgow (£1,578) and Johnstone (£1,436) making up the rest.

 

Unsurprisingly, Edinburgh is Scotland’s most expensive area, which tripled (208%) its house price per square metre from £808 to £2,492 in the past twenty years. Aberdeen (£2,029 per m2) is the next most expensive area and then Inverurie (£1,884 per m2).

 

At the other end of the scale, Wishaw in North Lanarkshire is the least expensive town, with an average price at £1,027 per m², followed by Glenrothes in Fife (£1,065).

 

Interestingly, Dunfermline has seen the highest house price growth on a per square metre basis over the last five years, from £1,185 per metre square in 2012 to £1,416 in 2017 (20%), closely followed by Dalkeith (19%), Motherwell (18%), Glasgow (18%) and Alloa (18%).

 

In Scotland, house prices per square metre have risen by 12% since 2012 from an average of £1,365 to £1,529 in 2017. Greater London has experienced substantially faster growth than elsewhere in Britain, with an average increase of 57%.

 

It will come as no surprise to hear that across Britain as a whole, boroughs in London continue to dominate the list of the most expensive property locations on a per square metre (m2) basis.

 

According to the Halifax, Kensington and Chelsea remains Britain's most expensive area, with an average price of £11,192 per m2. Despite dropping 1% since last year, the borough is nearly five times the national average and the only area in Britain with an average price above £10,000 per m2. Twenty areas – all in Greater London – have an average price in excess of £5,000 per m2.

 

Only two towns in Great Britain were found to have an average price below £1,000 per m². Port Talbot in Wales is the least expensive town with an average price at £983 per m², followed by Nelson in the North West (£998).

 

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