Scotland outperforms the rest of UK housing market

Scotland’s housing market outperformed the rest of the UK in January, according to a new report.

The latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK survey shows Scotland’s forthcoming Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is encouraging more first time buyers to think about getting on the property ladder.

While nationally the number of potential new buyer enquiries fell for the seventh consecutive month, Scotland saw the greatest interest.

Sarah Speirs, director RICS Scotland, said: “The changes to Stamp Duty and pending introduction of LBTT in Scotland are, to varying degrees, providing an incentive to first time buyers, but there remain a number of challenges to market, such as ongoing affordability constraints, lack of stock and an air of caution in the run up to the general election.

We are optimistic that 2015 will show continuing signs of recovery in the residential market

“Overall, while the RICS lead indicators suggest the level of housebuilding looks set to increase over the course of 2015, the volume of home starts will still fall considerably short of the number of new households being formed, let alone making a dent in the historic shortfall of housing across all tenures.”

South of the border, London market conditions continue to deteriorate with prices, buyer enquiries and sales all falling.

Thomas Baird of Select Surveyors Ltd in Glasgow, added: “We are optimistic that 2015 will show continuing signs of recovery in the residential market and January has already seen a positive number of home report instructions.”