Buying Property in the Highlands of Scotland

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by Brian Turner

With its stark mountains, natural woodlands, hidden lochs, and moody weather, the Highlands of Scotland traditionally has a strong property market.

A favoured location for many across the UK to buy holiday homes, its also been a first choice for many Scots looking for somewhere to retire.

And following the Scottish Executive’s decision to ensure even remote locations were connected to mainline broadband telecoms services at the turn of the 21st century, the Scottish Highlands has increasingly become a choice setting for people working from home on the internet, looking to escape crime and crowding in England’s city regions.

However, rules for buying property in Scotland differ significantly from England & Wales - anyone looking to buy a property in the Highlands is advised to read this first: Guide to Buying Scottish Property.

Where to buy Highland Properties

Scotland has a generally more organised system of selling properties than in England & Wales. Although there is no single property register for Scotland, there are individual organisations which cover the majority of property sales for large regions of Scotland.

These organisations serve the property selling solicitors in the region, who pool their sales under them.

These include ESPC (Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre), which covers eastern Scotland; GSPC (Glasgow Solicitors Property Centre), which covers western Scotland; and SPCMoray, which covers the Moray region.

For the Highland region, HSPC (Highland Solicitors Property Centre) is the major organisation for property solicitors, and the majority of Highland properties for sale will be listed by HSPC.

However, there are smaller independent groups - both estate agencies, and other solicitors - who do not list their properties with HSPC.

Luckily, the following list of Highland solicitors and estate agencies offers a very comprehensive representation of the Highlands property market:

• HSPC (Highland Solicitors Property Centre) - covers the majority of Highland property solicitors
• RightMove (Highlands & Islands) - covers the majority of Scottish estate agency sales
• Nairn Property Centre - independent north-east Highlands agency
• Vebra.com - a larger estate agency with properties for Inverness-shire and Ross-shire.
• I & D Pollard - independent estate agency for Caithness, Sutherland, and Wick areas.
• Western Isles Property Centre - independent estate agency exclusively covering the Western Isles, ie, Outer Hebrides
• Drever and Heddle - independent solicitors/estate agency for the Orkney Islands.

There may be other small independents not covered though, so keep an eye out on your search.