Rettie Property Research Services

Pressure is slowly starting to ease off the mortgage market after a challenging spell dominated by harsh affordability conditions. Some signs are pointing towards improved lending conditions throughout the remainder of 2025 and into 2026, but the market is fluctuating. Mortgage payments are on a downward trend overall since 2023 and have remained below the average rental payment throughout the second quarter of 2025.

As LBTT marks its 10th anniversary, we’re taking a fresh look at Scotland’s Land & Buildings Transaction Tax, examining receipts and returns over 2024/25 compared with earlier years, and assessing how the new financial year has begun.

Perth and Kinross – A Market in Demand. The area offers some of Scotland’s most beautiful scenery, world-class walking, fishing, golf and overall a fantastic quality of life. The region is also renowned for its cultural and sporting events and for its heritage and historic sights, which include Scone Palace, where Scottish Kings were crowned.

2024 was a record year for £1m+ sales … The overall Scottish residential market has been gently improving in 2024-25 after a tumultuous 18 months in late 2022 and 2023, when the cost-of-living crisis and the infamous UK Mini Budget saw it caught in a swirl of rapidly rising mortgage rates and much market uncertainty.

Edinburgh is Scotland’s top performing housing market area, with an average house price higher than it is anywhere else in Scotland. Within the city itself, the Edinburgh South postcodes of EH9 and EH10 shine brighter than anywhere else. These districts contain some of the city’s most sought after properties.

The Stirlingshire housing market continues to flourish against the backdrop of wider market challenges. Despite falling outside of the top 5 most expensive local authority areas in Scotland from the start of the year, Stirling remains comfortably inside the top 10 most expensive areas in Scotland, in 6th place.

South-West Fife offers a variety of lifestyle choices from the relatively remote countryside, accessible rural areas and the coastal villages fronting the Firth of Forth.

The latest Build to Rent (BTR) Market Review from Rettie shows that strong underlying market fundamentals have kept Scotland’s BTR sector alive, however, there has been very slow progress over the last year and no new investment in the sector for the best part of two years. While a number of schemes have achieved practical completion over the last 12 months, 2024 to date has seen the fewest number of new units entering the pipeline since 2015.

It has not been a balmy summer, but neither has it been a wash-out. The same can be said for the recent performance of the housing market both in Scotland and in the wider UK, which can best be described as ‘a little tepid’.

Over the last 12 months, 13 of the top 20 settlements in Scotland (ranked in terms of average house price) were located by the coast. Elie and Earlsferry took the number one spot with an average house price of £869,459. Gullane in East Lothian was second, with an average house price of £504,139, while St Andrews came in third, with prices averaging £490,361.

As we have passed the close of the financial year, it is time to take our annual delve into the performance of Scotland's Land & Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), in order to see how returns and receipts have performed across 2023/24 compared with previous years.

The East Lothian housing market is flourishing, boasting the second highest average house price in Scotland, trailing only behind Edinburgh. This growth, with a notable 2.8% increase in the past year, underscores the area’s appeal with its diverse lifestyle options and excellent transport links to both Edinburgh and London. We discuss in this briefing how these unique lifestyle opportunities have been pivotal in sustaining demand in the local market.