If you have been considering beginning a property portfolio and launching a career in property investment, there are few better places to do so than in Edinburgh. World-famous and increasingly popular with residents at all ages and stages of life, Scotland’s capital has long been a prime choice for investors as there is always huge demand to call this exciting, vibrant city home.
Whether you’re hoping to attract families, young professionals or get involved in the energetic student lets market, investing in Edinburgh can be a great option for those looking to build a secure property portfolio.
The current housing market in Edinburgh presents a particularly interesting picture for anyone considering investing soon. According to the latest ESPC house price data the city offers much opportunity for buyers at the moment, in stark contrast to recent years.
Over the last quarter, increasing volumes of homes have come onto the market (up by 20% compared to the same time last year), which lessens pressure on those planning to buy property in Edinburgh, and can make purchasing a property easier, for a variety of reasons, especially if, as we’re seeing at the moment, there are more properties on the market than buyers who are in a position to purchase.
A large increase in stock on the market, as we’re currently seeing, results in slower selling times, which then means buyers have more time to consider their options before committing to a purchase. It also means that there is less need for closing dates, which in turn reduces the pressure on buyers to pay a high premium. Overall, this can all result in slightly lower selling prices, as the competition among sellers means that buyers aren’t under the same pressure that Edinburgh’s housing market had become accustomed to, where demand was ultra-high due to a low number of available properties, and buyers needed to pay over and above a property’s value to secure it.
In the current market, you can feasibly secure a home for closer to its valuation price, and alongside this, Scottish private rental rates are now free of the cap that was in place from 2022, meaning that you can set a rent that suits the open market rate, and look forward to a long-term revenue stream.
For those interested in buying in the city centre, property prices in this area experienced an annual drop of 4.4% during December 2023 – February 2024, taking the average selling price to £308,996. While this price is steeper than many other areas of the city, the return on your investment can be very healthy, with one-bedroom and two-bedroom flats in EH1 reporting a rental yield of 6.2% and 6.3% respectively, while in EH3, one-beds returned a yield of 6.9%, two-beds offered 6.4%, and three-bedroom homes had an average yield of 6.6%.
However, if your budget doesn’t quite extend to buying a home in the heart of the city, there were many more affordable locations throughout Edinburgh where demand was high, meaning that there will be no shortage of prospective tenants also looking for a home there. One such area was, of course, the east side of Edinburgh, covering increasingly popular and trendy neighbourhoods including Leith, Abbeyhill and Portobello. In fact, Portobello was recently named as one of the top ten coolest neighbourhoods in the UK [link: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/10-coolest-postcodes-to-move-to-in-2024-s6tsshqsd] so if you like the idea of picking out a property beside the sea, you can feel confident that there would be plenty of interest for a home here.
One-bedroom flats around the hip Leith Walk and Easter Road area of the city presented great options for investment, with an average selling price of £181,076. One-bed flats in this area also offered a rental yield of 6.3%, making it a solid choice for rental investment whether you’re hoping to attract students or young professionals.
If you’re searching for an up-and-coming area in which to invest, Gorgie is a fantastic option, and is currently the location where you’ll find the cheapest one-bedroom flats in Edinburgh, with a selling price of £149,981 on average. Close to Haymarket and some well-heeled parts of the city, Gorgie is a prime area for students and young professionals alike, meaning there will likely be high interest in a quality property for rent in this locale.
If your plans involve purchasing a family-friendly home to rent [link: https://www.citylets.co.uk/] out, your initial outlay will be higher, but you could enjoy the security of longer-term tenants, reassurance that your property will be well cared-for, and, if you purchase in the right area, high demand for your property. For those interested in letting a family home, be sure to consider everything a tenant would be looking for, including transport links, school catchments, convenient amenities and green spaces, as these will all add up to ensure your property is extremely appealing to the market.
Of course, deciding to begin a property portfolio comes with much to consider, but you can contact a reputable letting agent to discuss your options, the current status of the housing market for the property type you’re interested in purchasing, and everything else you need to know about becoming a landlord.
