The English are coming.
by Jenny Shields. Daily Mail Friday September 13 2002

If you lived in the Borders in the 16th century it was a cry that made women weep and men don their spurs. However, the raiding parties of today are armed not with broadswords but sales particulars. Once again, our southern cousins are coming in numbers to settle, not just for work. And the main reason for these relocations from the economic engine of the South-East to Scotland? Quite simply, people from the Home Counties are seeking to recapture a quality of life, which many feel the South may have lost for good. The search for that elusive feel-good factor is driving so many southern buyers over the Border that one local estate agent reports househunters coming on 'property shopping trips'. Bolstered by the high value of their homes, particularly In the Home Counties, they can afford to bid well over the asking price when they see a property they fancy.

Ron Hastings noticed the start of the trend a while ago and decided to angle his business towards the English househunter. Since then the number of inquiries to his Kelso estate agency has increased so dramatically that it now makes up the bulk of his property sales. He claims that significant numbers of people from the South take a week off work, come up to the Borders, check into a local hotel and literally go shopping for a house.

Mr Hastings' said: 'We're not talking about holidaymakers looking in an estate agent's window but people who are here for a single purpose, to find a property.'

Mr Hastings, whose company also runs a popular website, has capitalised on the interest in the Borders property market by becoming 'southern friendly'. There's no dark talk here of the 'auld enemy' -just an enthusiastic welcome for anyone contemplating a move northwards.

Mr Hastings added: 'Buying a house can be difficult enough but when you are unfamiliar with the country and it's legal system it can be very hard, so I decided to orientate the business specifically towards the English market.'

He has a wide client base but most are middle-aged 'down-shifters' who are able, having sold up down South, to buy almost anything that takes their fancy.

Most of his househunters come to him with a very clear Idea of what they want. Properties in need of refurbishment are particularly popular. If a place has already been done up it doesn't tend to sell as quickly as an old place which needs everything done - those are the places that command premium prices these days.

The influx of buyers with plenty of cash has, unsurprisingly, had a knock-on effect. While people with desirable houses to sell are delighted at the revitalised property market - some have been achieving as much as 50 per cent over the asking price - people trying to get their first foot on the property ladder now find the bottom rung out of reach.

Mr Hastings is aware of those being squeezed out of the property market and says that prices at the lower end, typically former local authority homes, small flats or very modest cottages, have risen between 20 and 25 per cent - bad news for anyone working in what has always been a low-wage economy.

But while some people might find it harder to buy their first home, Mr Hastings is in no doubt that the net effect of this migration is positive. He said incomers tend to spend more, thus benefiting the local economy. The story is the same in other parts of the country. Edinburgh has also seen a dramatic increase in the number of English buyers in the last 12 months. In 2000 they made up 33 per cent of all sales, compared with 51 per cent by people living in Scotland. But Mr Hastings' latest figures show this has now risen to 43 per cent of property purchases, just five per cent behind domestic sales. The rush of clients on to the firm's books, while welcome, has led to a dire shortage of property. Price is not usually a factor although Increased competition for good-quality country houses with a bit of land and ideally within an hour or two of Edinburgh means that some southern buyers, once- confident of getting whatever-they wanted, are now finding they have to pay more than they first anticipated.

In Glasgow, too, English buyers now make up a significant percentage of the firm's business. Andrew Perratt, of estate agents FPD Savills In Glasgow, recently sold a 'magical' property on the West Coast near Fort William, which had an asking price of 325,000. Seven of the eight offers came from English clients. There is also a tendency among English buyers to seek out remote properties - with Argyll a particularly favourite area. Mr Perratt recalls selling a place to one couple In the middle of nowhere'. He said they installed a state-of-the-art office and relocated their business. Now, instead of being in the heart of London, they look over rolling countryside. 'I think it gives them a kick when clients just assume they are in the middle of the city when In fact they are about as far from It as can be.'