“The best view in golf”: Inside Scotland’s prime property market

On the day the Scottish government unveils its latest budget, attention is firmly on tax and public spending – but in Scotland’s luxury housing market, a different kind of resilience story is playing out.

Brian O’Neill, principal broker at Glasgow-based ONOZZI, told Mortgage Introducer that Scotland’s prime and super-prime sectors have not only weathered the recent correction better than London, but are now beginning to outpace the capital on price growth, supported by equity-rich buyers and slowly widening lender appetite for high-value Scottish loans.

Scotland’s prime market: steady where London stumbled

While London’s upper-end market continues to face sluggish values and uneven demand, O’Neill sees a markedly firmer landscape north of the border.

“Values in the Scottish luxury segment have been a lot more resilient,” he said. “We haven’t had the huge drops seen in London, which hasn’t yet recovered.” Instead, he is now seeing meaningful price increases in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

A big differentiator, he argues, is the buyer profile.

“The Scottish prime market is more driven by equity than high LTV mortgages,” O’Neill explained. “So you’ll find more cash buyers and lower loan to value mortgages.”

That dynamic gives Scotland insulation from both elevated interest rates and political volatility around potential wealth and property taxation.

National data reinforces the point: Zoopla figures show nine of the UK’s top 10 house price growth markets in 2026 are forecast to be in Scotland – evidence of momentum shifting away from traditional London and South East strongholds.

Where demand is strongest

Glasgow – especially the West End – as well as Edinburgh, are high on the buying list. The attraction, said O’Neill, comes from scale, architecture and relative value.

In the West End, “you’re talking about beautiful big villas and the value you get for them,” he noted, citing returning UHNW expatriates acquiring mansions for around £2 million and spending £3 million refurbishing them – a £5 million total investment that “would cost five or six times as much in London.”

Beyond the cities, lifestyle is the calling card. Scenic, commutable markets are drawing wealthy domestic and international buyers alike.

“Scotland has so much on its doorstep – the Trossachs, the Highlands, the scenery,” said O’Neill. “You can be in Edinburgh or Glasgow and still very close, or stay in beautiful towns like Gullane.”

At the very top, scarcity rules: trophy Highland estates and ultra-prime new schemes such as Taymouth are seeing intensifying interest.

ONOZZI’s work arranging development finance for the Fairways scheme in St Andrews illustrates how global the buyer pool has become.

“Golf is a prime driver for the location,” O’Neill said. “Whoever buys these properties will end up with the best view in golf.”

Combined with the university and lifestyle pull, St Andrews could “set a benchmark for what Scotland can achieve” at the ultra-prime level.

Mansion tax concerns – but fewer forced sellers

With Westminster’s new mansion tax due to bite in 2027, high-value buyers can no longer treat wealth levies as hypothetical.

O’Neill reports clear concern, but believes Scotland’s prime market is less vulnerable than London’s, where long-standing homeowners have drifted into high-value tax bands through decades of capital appreciation.

Scotland’s lower leverage, he argues, gives buyers a buffer: taxes are “always on people’s minds”, but value remains the dominant theme.

LBTT, ADS and the legal realities of “offers over”

What does set Scotland apart is its existing tax and legal framework.

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) can meaningfully reshape affordability, particularly for second homes and international buyers.

Workarounds are limited. Some clients mitigate costs through early-stage investment in luxury schemes or offshore structures, but O’Neill cautions that even with higher tax exposure, Scotland still offers superior value for money.

Scotland’s legal system also requires recalibration. The binding nature of missives and mandatory home reports influence both timelines and mortgage outcomes.

Home report valuations mean lenders “offer lower loan to values because they only lend on the home report,” he said. When combined with the “offers over” norm and ADS, deposits swell quickly.

“For a second home especially, you need a much larger deposit than you would in England,” he warned. “Even for your first property, you’ll likely need more because you have offers over and higher tax.”

For brokers, crossing clients over Hadrian's Wall means adjusting affordability modelling and managing expectations early.

Lenders loosen – but geography still matters

O’Neill is broadly upbeat on lender appetite.

Criteria are loosening, he says, with greater willingness to consider interest-only terms, higher LTVs, foreign-currency income, and asset-based underwriting – options previously confined to private banks.

However, geographic restrictions endure.

“The difficulty is some lenders simply don’t lend in Scotland,” he said. “And the larger the loan, the more likely it is they’ll only lend in London and surrounds.”

This is starting to shift as specialist building societies move up the value curve. O’Neill cites one he already uses for offshore clients that is now expanding into Scotland – a “classic example” of improving choice.

For brokers, that means growing opportunity – and greater complexity.

Outlook: more demand, more lenders, more complexity

Looking ahead, O’Neill expects cautious but notable momentum over the next 12–24 months. Prices in prime postcodes are already outperforming much of the UK, lender criteria on large-ticket loans are loosening and expanding, and Scotland’s value-plus-lifestyle offer continues to resonate with domestic and international buyers.

ONOZZI’s own pipeline reflects this shift. The firm’s business is “predominantly driven by loan size,” and rising Scottish values are generating more £1 million-plus borrowing needs.

O’Neill also highlights growth in specialist niches – island purchases, estate acquisitions – all requiring bespoke structures and deep lender knowledge.

For advisers, the biggest risks lie in assumptions

Many pitfalls stem not from lenders or brokers, but clients unaware that Scotland plays by different rules.

“Very often a client approaches and says: ‘I’d like to buy a flat in Edinburgh,’ and they don’t realise there’s additional stamp [duty], and a completely different legal process,” he said.

Misunderstanding LBTT/ADS, missives, or home-report-driven valuations can fatally undermine deals if not planned for at the outset. Brokers importing HNW clients from London or overseas must “recalibrate expectations” accordingly and build in larger deposits, especially for second homes.

With the Scottish budget dropping today and fiscal policy firmly under scrutiny, advisers serving prime borrowers will need to stay sharp on evolving tax thresholds and lender availability.

For O’Neill, the long-term thesis remains clear. If Scotland continues to pair international-grade lifestyle assets with meaningful value, it will remain on the radar of UHNW buyers for years to come.

“That unique combination,” he said, “will appeal to ultra-high-net-worth individuals” long beyond the current cycle.