English house buyers seeking lifestyle changes are heading to the north of Scotland “in their droves” as lockdown eases.
Home owners are selling their houses south of the border and “panic buying” cheaper rural properties, sometime for more than 10% over valuation, to escape the cities and find a better quality of life during the pandemic.
While some are seeking to live in mortgage-free retirement, others wish to work from home having discovered it is easier than they imaged while in isolation.
However, one senior estate agent feels many buyers are acting “irrationally” and the market will slow down next year.
Ken McEwan, chief executive of McEwan Fraser Legal, which has offices across the north and north-east, said the business is receiving fives time the number of inquiries it had before lockdown.
He said: “I’ve never seen it so busy, we are being inundated with inquiries. We do not have enough properties in the Highlands to meet demand at the moment. I think there is a lot of pent-up demand.
“Before lockdown we were getting 300-400 calls a day, but in the last couple of weeks it’s gone up to 1,500.
“People want to get rid of their mortgages and start afresh. They are getting good money for their houses in the south of England and paying cash up here. They know the recession is coming and want to be mortgage-free.
“People are moving up here in their droves, and that’s just the ones I know about. Many are over 50 and looking for a better quality of life and they get so much more for their buck up here – they can’t believe what they get for their money.”
Mr McEwan said interest has been shown in properties from the central belt to John O’Groats. Two houses in Perth were sold without the buyer viewing them.
He added: “There is going to be a serious correction in the property market. People are acting irrationally at the moment where they are buying houses way above the home report value and that is going to come crashing down on them.
“I’ve been in this business for nearly 35 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The ability to work from home in more rural settings is also a factor in making the Highlands popular for potential buyers.
Ian Drury, an estate agent with the Skye Property Centre, said: “A big difference just now is the number of people saying how easy it has been to work from home. Now they are keen to work in a more desirable location and where perhaps there is less Covid around.”
He said the market is “quite buoyant” with inquiries from England and other parts of Scotland from people looking to re-locate or buy a second home.
Andrew Fuller, associate estate agent in Oban for Bell Ingram, said he is seeing a surge of interest from buyers looking to relocate to the area.
“Working from home, broadband speeds and connectivity have featured quite heavily in people’s criteria when looking for a house.
“It’s become more prevalent since lockdown. People are looking for a complete lifestyle change in some cases or the ability to have a property that can help provide a second income.
“There is also an element of cabin fever, people are now looking for a little bit more space around them to enjoy.
“They have seen that working from home is easier than they thought and realised that they need not make journeys to an office in a cramped environment. There is another option and they are looking to how they can capitalise on that.”
Mr Fuller said a high percentage of callers to the Oban office are from prospective buyers south of Birmingham: “People are able to release equity in the south of England and buy something quite different in the Highlands to what they are used to for the same money or less.”
Bernadette Walker, manager of the Highland Solicitors Property Centre, said home working has been a consideration among house buyers during lockdown.
“It’s certainly shifted the way people are thinking. Working from home can be easily done and frees you up to live where you would like to. It definitely seems to be on some people’s minds.”
