People all over the world know that Edinburgh is a great place to live, work, study and have fun – and that reputation has been boosted further with some exciting news.
Our capital city has taken the top spot for residential investment in the latest Top UK Residential Investment Cities report by real estate agency Colliers.
The H2 2021 report saw Edinburgh move up from second place, knocking Cambridge off the top spot, while Glasgow rose to eighth place.
Douglas McPhail, director and head of Scotland at Colliers, said: “It is pleasing to see that Edinburgh is now recognised as the UK’s top city for residential investment. Scotland’s vibrant capital benefits from thriving digital, science and tech industries thanks to its highly skilled workforce, with many businesses expanding or setting up a new presence in the city.
“Students are attracted to the city by an excellent lifestyle, the internationally renowned University of Edinburgh, the World Heritage Site of the Old and New Towns and a lively arts and entertainment culture including the Edinburgh International Festival. After graduation, favourable employment and earning prospects coupled with these excellent amenities help to maintain strong student retention rates in the city. Edinburgh’s demographic and economic advantage over other cities, house price growth and rental yields make the city innately attractive to residential investors.”
You only need to take a walk around Edinburgh to see the amount of construction work taking place in the city, with the new St James Quarter quickly becoming a jewel in Edinburgh’s crown. The Quarter, which opened last year, is quickly filling up with designer shops and restaurants and will also feature two hotels and around 150 apartments in a development that represents around £1 billion of investment into the Capital.
And it’s not just the city centre that is seeing exciting new developments take shape.
Three miles north of Princes Street, in the former industrial heartland of Granton, the first homes in a new £1.3 billion waterfront development will be ready later this year.
Once home to a gasworks, Granton Watefront will ultimately deliver homes for around 8,000 people along with a primary school, health centre, commercial and cultural space and a new seafront park.
And a £4.75m restoration of the former Granton Gasworks railway station is already under way, creating studio spaces for local community start-up businesses. There will also be a new public square in front of the building for pop-up events and recreation.
Work is also underway on Western Villages – Scotland’s largest “net zero” housing development – which will see more than 400 new homes constructed.
There will be a special emphasis on pedestrian and cycle links, electric vehicle charging points and public transport, while all new homes will feature low-carbon heating solutions.
Meanwhile, the UK Government has given £16.5m towards the restoration of the 140ft-high, B-listed Granton Gasholder, which dates from 1898. The disused structure is currently lit up as a beacon symbolising the fact that Granton is ready to do business.
In fact, business is booming across Edinburgh, and as Covid restrictions hopefully become a thing of the past, the city is building on its reputation of offering the very best when it comes to high quality commercial and leisure opportunities.
Read more about the development opportunities available at Granton Waterfront in our Investment Prospectus.
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