Edinburgh's got style: Scotland's cultural capital is the number one choice for Londoners moving north

The largest arts festival in the world is in full swing in this elegant city with great homes, but even once it's over, Edinburgh's reputation as a festival city carries on.
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Cathy Hawker20 August 2019

Edinburgh Festival, the largest arts festival in the world with more than 1,000 performances a day, is well under way in the Scottish capital, filling the medieval Old Town and Georgian New Town streets with international visitors and performers.

The festival is now in its 72nd year but even once it’s over, Edinburgh’s reputation as a festival city carries on with year-round events celebrating science, jazz, film and even storytelling.

Edinburgh is booming in every way. It has the best-performing property market in the UK according to Savills, with seven per cent annual price growth in the prime market last year.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 340,500 Londoners moved out of the capital for another UK destination last year, with Scotland their number one choice.

Compact Edinburgh has culture, elegant architecture, outstanding private and state schools with swift access to a long coastline and beautiful countryside.

It is the fourth-largest financial centre in Europe with a booming tech sector based around Codebase, a start-up incubator part-funded by the Scottish government, and shared workspace provider WeWork recently opened its first office in George Street.

“Buyers from outside Edinburgh include overseas investors and many families relocating from southern England,” agrees John Forsyth, associate director at Savills.

We get told time and again what phenomenal value they find in the market — plus living well is so easy.

“Edinburgh is a green city with a major international airport 30 minutes away, the beach within 20 minutes and a good choice of neighbourhoods to live in.”

Popular areas include Stockbridge with its village atmosphere, filled with young professionals and families for its good schools.

Property ranges from small one-bedroom apartments for £100,000 up to detached houses for £3 million.

Canonmills Gardens is a development of 180 new apartments close to Stockbridge and the Royal Botanical Gardens priced from £235,000 to £348,000 for one- and two-bedroom homes.

Southside and especially its micro-neighbourhood of Morningside offers a good mix of family homes, while neighbouring Bruntsfield is also affluent and leafy with immediate access to The Meadows parkland and Bruntsfield Links golf course.

West of the centre close to Murrayfield and on the way to the airport, The Crescent at Donaldson’s is a Cala Homes development of 84 one- to three-bedroom homes on a green and peaceful 18-acre estate just 20 minutes’ walk from Princes Street, the city’s main shopping thoroughfare.

From £950,000: contemporary flats at The Crescent, with spectacular views of former Donaldson's School

The first residents moved in this year, mostly second home owners taken by the historic location in the grounds of the former Donaldson’s School, the great view and the well-built homes.

Remaining one- and two-bedroom apartments are priced from £950,000.

Edinburgh's Georgian New Town

The New Town in the city centre has handsome, solid Georgian homes in wide streets.

It remains a top choice but at only five streets wide by four streets long, supply is restricted. Flats there start at £350,000-£400,000.

In Rutland Square with access to the gardens, a top-floor flat in a listed Georgian building is £600,000. At 1,944sqft, it has four double bedrooms and a study.

The location is peaceful yet it’s an easy walk from Princes Street in the heart of Edinburgh.

On the east of the New Town a 1,399sq ft first-floor flat in Bellevue Street, also with four bedrooms, is £450,000.

Even closer to the centre, a delightfully refurbished open-plan top-floor apartment with two double bedrooms in Rose Street is £275,000.

Edinburgh Waverley train station is within a mile, the tram stop to the airport is steps away and the bars and restaurants of the city are on the doorstep.

Waterfront living in Edinburgh

A couple of miles north-west of central Edinburgh and eight miles from the airport, plans are in the initial stage for a new waterfront leisure and residential scheme.

Edinburgh Marina aims to build a new community with excellent transport links by tram and road with 427 berths, a Hyatt Regency hotel and up to 1,850 homes.

Detailed planning permission has been given for the marina and the first 168 homes, including private and serviced apartments and retirement flats, all with access to the waterfront and marina.

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