In numbers, w/e November 17

THE average price of a house in Scotland in September was £195,000 – some 2.5 per cent up on the same month last year, and 0.2 per cent down on the previous month, August.

The figures have been published in the latest house price bulletin – here – by Registers of Scotland.

Says RoS: “In Scotland, detached houses showed the highest annual percentage change out of all property types, increasing by 5.2 per cent in the 12 months to September [this year] to £358,000.

“Terraced houses showed the lowest annual percentage change, increasing by 0.8 per cent in the 12 months to September [this year] to £164,000.

“Average prices for local authorities are based on a three-month moving average to help remove some of the volatility in the series. Increases were recorded in 18 out of 32 local authority areas, when comparing prices with the previous year. The largest increase was in East Lothian where the average price increased by 15.2 per cent to £348,000. The largest decrease was recorded in North Ayrshire, where the average price decreased by four per cent to £127,000.”

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A QUARTER of planners are estimated to have left the public sector between 2013 and 2020, mainly for the private sector.

Says the Royal Town Planning Institute, following a survey it has conducted, here: “Responding to a survey by the RTPI, 82 per cent of local authority planners said their employer had difficulties hiring planners in the last 12 months. 68 per cent see competitive salaries as a key difficulty for local authorities.”

Among other findings, here: 40 per cent of planners are women, there are 22,000 planners in the UK and there are 4,600 students at RTPI-accredited planning programmes in the UK.

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SOME 92 per cent of homes in Scotland for rent in the private sector are estimated to cost more than covered by the housing benefit, Local Housing Allowance.

The finding follows research commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland, in partnership with Fife Council.

Among the discoveries, here, the average shortfall in rent for a two-bedroom home was estimated to be £108.10 per month.

The research was carried out by the Glasgow-based UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence – which also reports the findings, here.

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Picture credit: Place Design Scotland

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