Housing has risen up the political agenda once again and, as happens with most politically sensitive subjects, the debate about it has immediately become rancorous and ultimately unproductive.

The irony is that there is a general, across-the board-agreement that, faced with a rapidly rising population, Scotland needs to do something about the chronic lack of decent and affordable housing stock.

Nicola Barclay, the chief executive of Homes for Scotland – widely seen as a builders’ and developers’ lobby group – put the cat among the pigeons recently when she said that Holyrood government’s target of 50,000 new affordable homes is damaging private sector growth.

She said that her organisation’s view was that a focus on affordable and social housing is exacerbating Scotland’s housing shortages, ignoring commercial realities and was not the only recipe for solving the looming housing crisis.

Immediately, she was condemned for being anti-social – that is, against the concept of social housing per se. She was accused of lobbying for the property developer model which is stigmatised as having fuelled the housing crisis in the first place.

Ben Wray, head of policy at Common Weal, claimed that Ms Barclay’s view on social housing was “aggressive lobbying” to extract more subsidies for private developers on top of the new subsidy for private sector build-to-rent.

In terms of a spat, it was all fairly predictable and ran along the lines we have come to expect when political considerations begin to intrude on what should be straightforward commercial transactions.

Ms Barclay was subsequently at pains to point out that focusing on one element of the market to the exclusion of others will not, of itself, solve the problem. The 50,000 target, she insisted, can only be met with the help of a healthy and profitable private sector.

Speaking from my long experience with DM Hall, my role as Chair of the Judging Panel for the Herald Property Awards for Scotland and a non-executive director for a registered social landlord, I am convinced of one thing: the issue will not be resolved by fighting over it.

We can all agree on the root of the problem: Scotland needs more housing. The number of properties started in Scotland was down again on the previous year and completions were 36% down on 2007 and below 2010.

First-time buyers need an average deposit of more than £21,000 to get on the first rung of the Scottish housing ladder, typically around 16% of the purchase price. It is little wonder they are called Generation Rent.

But Ms Barclay is right in one major aspect – no one part of the house building sector can provide for all the different requirements demanded by an increasingly diverse and financially disparate society.

Collaboration is greatly to be desired among interested parties. We should not lose sight of the fact that there is considerable cross-sector work going on at the moment, but there is little doubt that there could be more of it, and better.

Another thing we should all be able to agree on is that there is more to be gained by collaboration than by conflict. We have to step back from knee-jerk reactions and try to see the points of view of other participants in the debate for what they are.

There is a generation of young people coming through at the moment who are sceptical about the possibility of ever being able to afford their own homes.

An open and mature debate is required from people with the relevant experience and expertise in the field to find solutions which will satisfy everyone.

Trading insults is not going to help.

Andrew McFarlane is a consultant in the Glasgow North office of DM Hall Chartered Surveyors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

For further information about DM Hall’s Scotland-wide network, please contact Neil McKenzie, Marketing Manager, DM Hall, Unit 3, Cadzow Park, 82 Muir Street, Hamilton, ML3 6BJ. T: 01698 284939. M: 07786 362517. E: neil.mckenzie@dmhall.co.uk. W: www.dmhall.co.uk.

A unique investment portfolio of shop and restaurant properties in Glasgow and Paisley held by SRA Ventures, a company owned by serial entrepreneur, Shaf Rasul, has been brought to market by DM Hall, one of Scotland’s largest independent firms of chartered surveyors.

The properties, all of which are currently well tenanted on medium to long term leases, are available for acquisition either as an entire portfolio or in individual lots.

The portfolio comprises a shop and restaurant in Giffnock on Glasgow’s south side, two hot food takeaways, one in the city’s Dumbarton Road, the other on Paisley Road West, a shop at 67 Causeyside Street, a sit-in café at 55 Love Street and a hot food takeaway at 107 Rowan Street, all in Paisley.

Offers in excess of £895,000 plus VAT are invited for the entire portfolio, whose annual rental income amounts to £96,180, representing an average yield of 10.74 per cent.

Michael MacLeod of DM Hall, who is overseeing the marketing process together with his colleague Anthony Zdanowicz, said: “All six of these properties are on busy thoroughfares with established tenants on good leases and providing handsome rental yields.

“As stated, the properties are available for sale as individual assets or as an entire portfolio and we anticipate significant interest from the investor market.”

For further information on DM Hall’s services, contact Michael MacLeod or Anthony Zdanowicz, of DM Hall LLP, Tel: 0141 332 8615, Email: Michael.MacLeod@dmhall.co.uk and Anthony.Zdanowicz@dmhall.co.uk

Edinburgh has always been a law unto itself in the property market, but current conditions are curious. In terms of activity, it has been quiet with a dearth of good stock. A consequence is that, when a good home comes up, frenzy ensues.

Stock has been in short supply all year, leading to regular closing dates and some pretty inflated prices. Recent reports suggest uplifts of 20% in the past three months compared to the same time in 2016.

Increasingly anxious buyers who have missed out on previous closing dates are exhibiting a tendency to throw significant amounts of money at the next one in the hope of beating off the competition.

This an understandable strategy in such an intense contest, but such cavalier buyers might reflect that their spending could come back to bite them when it comes to their turn to sell.

The consistent theme from agents this summer is simply that they have not had enough to sell, though what they have handled has shifted handsomely.

At root, the shortage is still caused by uncertainty, a lingering hangover from the shock of Brexit – and the snap General Election in the middle of the year didn’t do anyone any favours.

It came just as confidence was returning to the market, meaning that everything was put on hold again. It knocked the stuffing out of the Spring market and we segued straight into the slower paced Summer market.

It becomes self-perpetuating. People don’t want to sell their own property if they can’t be sure of finding something to buy. What we are seeing as a result of that is that new build sales are doing very well, with most sites sold out until Spring next year.

Untypically, builders are not having to offer incentives, as they normally would at this time of the year. People who want a bigger house are seeing the benefits of new build – no chain, a defined move-in date and relative certainty.

Another, quite visible, consequence of the current market is a spate of extensions, improvements and loft conversions as an alternative to moving. The lack of stock is making people ask: do I quite like living where I am?

Homeowners can acquire extra space without the costs of moving, such as Home Reports, removals and mortgages – although they pale into insignificance beside Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Central Edinburgh remains prime for Scotland but other hotspots are Stockbridge, with its village feel and good schools, Belleview and, pushing out from the New Town, Broughton.

To the south, Bruntsfield always does well and Marchmont is a great example of multiple types of occupiers, ranging from buy-to-let landlords, parents buying for student children and owner occupiers.

A two-bedroom flat in Marchmont with garden will need £450,000 to come out on top in a bidding war and three-bedroom tenement properties are going for up to half a million pounds.

Stockbridge properties, on the cusp of the New Town and with its own little high street, have seen sales in the £400,000 to £425,000 region, depending on the street.

Bungalows in districts such as Corstorphine and Willowbrae have not been transacting much but they are good family areas. An original two-bedroom, two reception room home should sell for £310,000 to £350,000 but buyers would have to add at least £100,000 to that for an extended four-bedroom.

The upper end is still slow, though good homes will sell well. An extended Belleview town house on the market recently at offers over £1.4 million had no trouble in going to a closing date.

There is still a lot of new build going on, particularly on greenfield sites with proximity to the bypass. A lot of speculative applications have been stopped by the publishing of the development plan but developers with permissions are confident of selling out a long way in advance.

In this market, expect land banks to be plundered.

Nicholas Hancock is a Residential Associate at the Edinburgh offices of DM Hall, one of Scotland’s leading firms of Chartered Surveyors.

For further information, please contact DM Hall Chartered Surveyors, 17 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 6DD. T: 0141 624 6600. E: nicholas.hancock@dmhall.co.uk

OR contact Neil McKenzie, Marketing Manager, DM Hall, Unit 3, Cadzow Park, 82 Muir Street, Hamilton, ML3 6BJ. T: 01698 284939. M: 07786 362517. E: neil.mckenzie@dmhall.co.uk. W: www.dmhall.co.uk.

DM Hall lawnmarket propertyThe heritable interest of a retail premises at 499 Lawnmarket, in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town on the Royal Mile has been sold to a private investor for an unverified Scottish record of £3,871 per square foot (£41,666 per square metre) by DM Hall, one of Scotland’s largest independent firms of chartered surveyors, acting on behalf of the vendors.

The 258 square feet premises, which currently operates as a newsagent, sits close by the global tourist attraction of Edinburgh Castle. Its current occupier, J&S, pays an annual rent of £18,100 on a full repairing and insuring lease due to expire in April 2034.

Margaret Mitchell of DM Hall who concluded the deal said: “Not only did we achieve a wonderful price for our client but it was positive to see competing offers around this level.”

Ross Wilson, DM Hall’s Head of Agency for the East of Scotland, said: “We believe, subject to final confirmation, that this investment sale has attracted the highest price per square foot ever paid for a commercial property in Scotland.

“With a footfall on the Royal Mile of four million plus people a year and a world heritage site like Edinburgh Castle, which has been a focal point for over one thousand years virtually next door, it is safe to say that this acquisition represents an exceptionally attractive long-term investment.

“When we were given the brief to market this rare investment opportunity, our closeness to the Edinburgh market allowed us to rapidly target prospective buyers then to enter successfully into a competitive bidding situation which ensured that we extracted full asset value for our client.”

DM Hall Roy Hudghton1Widely-experienced valuation professional Roy Hudghton has returned in a full-time role to DM Hall, one of Scotland’s leading firms of Chartered Surveyors, as the firm’s rapid growth continues apace.

The former head of the RICS Valuation Professional Group in Scotland has been appointed as Director in the highly-regarded commercial team as the firm’s East Coast-based operation undergoes a period of unprecedented expansion.

As Head of the four-strong Edinburgh Commercial Valuation team, Roy will work closely with Michael Court, Partner and Head of East Commercial and recently-appointed Ross Wilson, Head of Agency (East of Scotland).

Roy, who qualified in 1982 and specialises in trade-related valuations, particularly in the leisure sector and the licensed trade, was a partner in DM Hall until 2008, when he left to establish his own successful consultancy business.

He re-established links with the firm in 2013 and in 2015 was appointed as head of the Valuation team in a consultant capacity.

He said: “Since the appointment of Michael Court, the firm has been going from strength to strength in the East of Scotland and I am delighted to once again be able to devote all my energies to its continuing success.

“The team has met and exceeded all its targets since 2015 and new and very ambitious targets have been set in terms of client development and margin enhancement.

“We have established much better relationships with banks, lenders and pension funds and we are now in a position where we can promote the commercial department’s undoubted expertise much more rewardingly.”

Michael Court said: “Roy has been a tremendous asset to the team in recent years and we are very pleased now to be able to call on his services on a full-time basis. His contribution as a director will be invaluable.”

Alan Gordon, Principal Commercial Partner of DM Hall based in the Glasgow office, said: “Roy Hudghton has a long and illustrious track record in professional valuation and, of course, was a valued partner in the firm for many years.

“I am sure everyone in the firm will join me in welcoming him back to a full-time role. His expertise, integrity and dedication to the profession is unrivalled and the East team will benefit hugely from his experience.”

DM Hall’s East commercial department, based in Corstorphine Road, has a staff of more than 30, covering Edinburgh, Dundee, Falkirk, Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline and including the Property Management Division in Livingston.

For further information, contact DM Hall Chartered Surveyors, 17 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 6DD. T: 0131 477 6000. E: edinburghresidential@dmhall.co.uk. W: www.dmhall.co.uk. T: http://twitter.com/dmhallLLP.

For further information about DM Hall’s Scotland-wide network of offices, please contact Neil McKenzie, Marketing Manager, DM Hall, Unit 3, Cadzow Park, 82 Muir Street, Hamilton, ML3 6BJ. T: 01698 284939. M: 07786 362517. E: neil.mckenzie@dmhall.co.uk. W: www.dmhall.co.uk.