Here are some insights from a fantastic report from City of Edinburgh Council providing a snapshot of economic, demographic, social and housing trends in Edinburgh. We’ve picked some useful bits and pieces which present a very compelling case for investing in Edinburgh residential property.

Population

  • The city’s population has grown by 12.5% in 10 years to 2017 and is now 513,000, expected to rise to over 583,000 by 2041 (only Birmingham and Manchester grew by more people between 2007 and 2017).
  • The population is fairly young with a bigger chunk of people aged 16 to 49 than the rest of Scotland.

Employment

  • In 2017 the median annual full time salary of a person working in Edinburgh was over £30,000. Only London has a higher average full time salary. Edinburgh has more high skilled workers (38.6%) than any other UK city, including London (34.9%).
  • The average gross disposable income (money that individuals have to spend after taxes) in Edinburgh was £21,800 in 2016, higher than other UK major cities – this alongside the crazy demand for rental properties can help explain increasing rents.
  • In 2017, around 50,000 people in Edinburgh were employed in the health sector (15% of all jobs) and 9.9% in the finance and insurance sector (2 times the UK average). 38,400 people were employed in the Digital tech economy (74.9 digital tech economy jobs per 1,000 residents in Edinburgh; the second highest digital tech economy relative to its population size compared to other UK cities).
  • Edinburgh has a higher percentage (75.6%) of the working age population in employment than any other major UK city.
  • The city’s unemployment rate in the year to March 2018 was 3.6%; lower than any other major UK city, including London

Students

  • In 2017 there were 21,600 undergraduate students at Edinburgh University, 10,500 at Napier, 7,400 at Heriot-Watt and 3,500 at Queen Margaret University. 69.1% of higher education students were from the UK and 30.8% were non-UK (the highest %age for any UK city)
  • In 2017 63.9% of the Edinburgh workforce in employment was educated to degree level or above; higher than any other UK city.

Housing & Private Rented Sector (PRS)

  • The number of households in Edinburgh grew by more than any other Scottish city between 2007 and 2018 (7.2% growth to 233,370)
  • In 2016, 26% of Edinburgh households were in the PRS, higher than elsewhere in Scotland. Home ownership was 57% in 2016, also higher than most other Scottish cities.
  • In the five years to 2017 there were 8,840 new build home completions in Edinburgh. Between 2015 and 2017 2,400 new builds were started each year, almost double the number of new start builds in 2013 and 2014 which is welcome news for buyers in Edinburgh

The case of investing in Edinburgh property continues to be a very strong one.  The population is growing, the workforce is highly educated/skilled and there’s a major undersupply of properties coming onto the open market and so a shortage of properties in the PRS.

If you’re interested in investing in Edinburgh residential property contact our investment team who can talk you through some examples of properties we’ve successfully bought