Leith is top area in Scotland for young professionals buying property, research shows
31-05-2012
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The top ten areas that attract the most young urbanite professionals in Scotland are spread evenly across the three leading cities with four in the capital city of Edinburgh and three each in Glasgow and Aberdeen.
In the capital, the most popular areas for young professionals are in the north east, the west and north side of the city, as well as Leith. In Glasgow, the leading areas are Pollokshields and Shawlands in the G41 postal area south of the city, West End and Hillhead. Aberdeen's most popular areas for young professionals are the city centre, city centre north and Mannofield.
Outside the top ten, other areas attracting young professionals, that is people aged 25 to 44, are Paisley and Hamilton.
The research also shows that most of the popular areas are not necessarily the most expensive. For example, EH6 in Edinburgh, has an average price that is almost 30% lower compared with Edinburgh as a whole, some £144,7902 against £203,931. In the south side of Glasgow, G42, the average house price is 16% lower than for the city as a whole and in Aberdeen city centre they are a fifth lower.
There are, however, exceptions. To live in Glasgow's Hillhead area, G42, young urbanites can expect to pay a premium of 79%, and in the north west areas of Edinburgh the average price is 56% above those compared with the city as a whole.
‘The typical profile of young professionals is that they tend to have university qualifications, are in well paid occupations and like to take full advantage of living in or close to the city, either for work or leisure purposes. Our analysis certainly supports this with areas within Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen identified as the leading hotspots for young aspiring urbanites,’ said Nitesh Patel, housing economist at the Bank of Scotland.
‘Unlike in many other parts of Britain, young buyers in Scotland don't always have to pay a significant premium for a property to live in these areas. In fact, in many of the leading hotspots young professionals can benefit from prices that are lower than those in the city as a whole,’ added Patel.
