Edinburgh is the most attractive place outside London to invest in property.
The Scottish capital pipped Bristol and Manchester to the accolade in a survey of property investors carried out by YouGov for law firm Morton Fraser’s commercial real estate division.
These were the only three UK regions outside London with a net positive score in the survey, in which 311 British investors rated 10 cities as either attractive or unattractive.
At -40, Aberdeen came bottom of the list, after its energy-dependent economy was hit by falling oil prices. Only 16% of investors gave it a favourable rating.
Morton Fraser expects Leeds, Cardiff and Glasgow to join the top three with positive scores in the coming year.
David Stewart, commercial real estate partner at Morton Fraser, said: “When the property crash happened in 2008-2009, London was always going to be the first area that would recover and, as yields compress, it is inevitable that will spread out to the regions as people look for value elsewhere.
“Bristol and Manchester have excellent transport links, making them desirable business locations, which drives demand.”
| How uk cities ranked | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City | Attractive (%) | Not attractive (%) | Net investment score |
| 1 | Edinburgh | 52 | 28 | 24 |
| 2 | Bristol | 48 | 27 | 21 |
| 3 | Manchester | 40 | 37 | 4 |
| 4 | Leeds | 31 | 42 | -11 |
| 5 | Cardiff | 31 | 45 | -14 |
| 6 | Glasgow | 30 | 46 | -16 |
| 7 | Birmingham | 26 | 47 | -21 |
| 8 | Newcastle | 21 | 50 | -29 |
| 9 | Dundee | 17 | 50 | -33 |
| 10 | Aberdeen | 16 | 56 | -40 |
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