House Prices in Scotland

Tiger_greeneyes

We're not talking about London though, the thread is about house prices in Scotland

I'm not sure the information about the wages in Scotland being the same as the south of England is entirely correct. Having lived in NE Scotland for a few years after living 30-odd years in and around London/south east, I saw a big difference in the wages. For instance, I was earning £25k in London but my equivalent job in Scotland was only £17-18k - and companies paying that are a LOT harder to come by.

Which part of Scotland are you referring to, just out of interest?

mrstinchcombe

Unfortunately I cannot see what part of Scotland I am talking about on a map as my view is being obscurred by the chip on my shoulder!

Seriously though the prices quoted at the start of the thread are small change and in income multiples that appear trivial to FTBs in parts of England who cannot get anywhere near a home

Tiger_greeneyes

I was asking out of genuine interest since I lived there for so long, and plan to go back there as soon as I can

However. It's the same all over, unfortunately. If you can't afford a home, then it really doesn't matter whether you're short by £100 or £100,000. It's a horrible position to be in.

missile

Headintheclouds wrote: »

I too believed this to be the case, but I've asked this exact question of three local Scottish solicitors (including my own) and the answer is always the same - either party can pull out without penalty until the missives are concluded (this article includes a quote from the Law Society); this includes the vendor accepting a higher offer even if they have previously accepted a lower one from someone else, or the purchaser dropping out if the survey turns up something nasty.

Of course either party can change their mind before missives are concluded, this has always been the case. I would suggest your article is media scaremongering.

The Scottish system is not the same as England, where gazumping, gazundering and problems with endless chains are common place.

Doubtless the systems will become harmonised. Hopefully having the best aspects of both systems. For example, in recent years it has become the norm in Scotland to accept offers subject to conditions e.g. survey. Previously potential buyers were obliged to carry out survey before bidding.

Headintheclouds_3

missile wrote: »

Of course either party can change their mind before missives are concluded, this has always been the case. I would suggest your article is media scaremongering.

The Scottish system is not the same as England, where gazumping, gazundering and problems with endless chains are common place.

Doubtless the systems will become harmonised. Hopefully having the best aspects of both systems. For example, in recent years it has become the norm in Scotland to accept offers subject to conditions e.g. survey. Previously potential buyers were obliged to carry out survey before bidding.

Oh missile, make up your mind - first you say 'gazumping and gazundering are not possible' in Scotland and then you infer that it's just less common up here; and that once a buyer's bid is accepted they are 'committed' before then saying that indeed either party can pull out. It's confusing the OP no end and neither of us are helping them by bickering about this. You believe what you want, and I'll take the advice of my (local, Scottish) solicitor about the state of the Scottish market - and I suggest the OP does the same.

aussielovell

i dont particularly like the scottish market way of doing things with being a FTB here. I was lucky that i was accepted onto the lothian scheme of home advantage where i have been given a grant of 40% purchase price to buy first home. Have lost out on a couple of properties so far but recently found and had offer accepted on a repo one for offers over £75k. However, I was advised to bid as high as i could afford to secure.

This meant going in at my absolute top. valuation came back that i had paid a little high and have managed to negotiate a little to get this reduced. I have still got a wreck of a place, 60% share for the same amount of money as my current rented property - however - at least i am not throwing the entire monthly rent down the drain and i have the security that as long as i can pay, i will keep the house.

Next mse question is.....should i look to purchase back the 40% share or should i pay of mortgage early with any extra cash i have?????

irnbru_2

aussielovell wrote:

valuation came back that i had paid a little high and have managed to negotiate a little to get this reduced.

Did you pay more than what the house was valued at?

aussielovell

no, you cant on the scheme i am on....but the valuer was teensy bit generous too....there are a couple of others nearby on o/o very close to what i have paid so i think it will catch up by the time the paper work signed. only talking bout a couple of grand

epz_2

mrstinchcombe wrote: »

Whats the problem? Scotland house prices are still half what they are here with wages which are the same as here... imagine what its like for FTBs in parts of Southern England!

Having said that the same can be said of here by people from London!

because we dont have the same wages, in general they are a fair bit lower with fewer profesional jobs, there is also less inflationary preasures on houses since we have a declining population and way more space. there a huge ammount of undeveloped space which could easily te turned into housing if planning permission etc was approved.

as far as i can see the major reason for the recent spike in prices is due to the councils deliberatly running down council houseing estates then giving them to developers to turn into nice new developments likely for a bung.