AS ESTATE agents launch their annual Boxing Day marketing push, commercial real estate firm Colliers has revealed that two Scottish cities have topped its latest analysis of the UK housing market.
Edinburgh has returned to the top spot in the firm’s sixth edition of the report having featured in the top two rankings since the report’s inception in H1 2021, due to its strong economy, skilled workforce, as well as a high proportion of properties with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C or above.
Glasgow took second position, having had a steady rise through the report’s rankings from 11th in the first edition. The city’s high ranking is due to the affordability of housing stock, strong rental yields for investors and again properties which are generally more energy efficient.
Andrew White, Head of Residential at Colliers, said: “Edinburgh has once again secured the top spot for our UK Residential Investment Cities report thanks to its quality housing stock, diverse economy and residents reporting satisfaction with living in the area. The city also boasts a good range of tourist attractions, access to nature as well as good earning potential for residents.
“Glasgow has been a steady climber in our rankings over the last three years, it’s always had good property potential due to the affordability of properties, and in more recent years we’ve seen earning potential and entrepreneurship start to flourish in the city, which is also helping to sustain its rise.”
The biannual report analyses 20 locations across the UK against 24 indicators, such as population growth, EPC rankings and leisure facilities, which are grouped into five pillars: economy, research and development, liveability, property and sustainability.
The top 10 UK Residential Investment Cities in H2 2023 are:
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Milton Keynes
- Manchester
- Cardiff
- Oxford
- London
- Reading
- Cambridge
- Leeds
Oliver Kolodseike, director in the Research & Economics team at Colliers, said: “The Scottish cities both excel for different reasons in our analysis; Edinburgh clearly benefits from being the financial centre for the country, and as such we see higher earnings potential and higher housing prices – there’s a lot of strong educational institutions in the area as well. However Glasgow has had strong house price growth in recent years, and scores top in our analysis of EPC rankings which makes it attractive to investors as well as homebuyers looking to use their property as a long-term investment.”
