Strutt & Parker’s recently published Housing Futures III report highlights key trends shaping the UK’s residential market, which most notably include increased demand for rural locations.
In Scotland, 33 per cent of those surveyed wanted their future home to be rural or in a village, while 23 per cent wanted to buy in the city, 19 per cent in the suburbs and 12 per cent in market towns. This fits with the Scottish Government report, Rural Scotland Key Facts 2015, which shows the population of rural Scotland has continued to grow at a faster rate than the rest of Scotland, driven by lifestyle preference and improved accessibility.
Who are the new village people? Strutt & Parker has conveniently put names to some new housing personas that may be moving to a village near you: Rubies – or Rural Newbies – families who are keen to move to a village location; Elderflowers – healthy and active retirees; Onesies – single-person households, which are soaring in numbers across the UK (currently around 3.8 million older people are sole occupiers, 70 per cent of which are women); Downtons – an influential family with substantial income living in the grandest village house; and Rusticarians – entrepreneurs and creative types who can bring dynamism to the village economy.
In a bid to identify what makes the perfect home for Scottish buyers, Strutt & Parker’s research shows the majority of buyers would prefer a detached property, ideally with two or three bedrooms and be within walking distance to shops, amenities and transport.
Source: heraldscotland