Savills Portugal

Only a couple of years ago I was sitting in my London office on a Friday afternoon, poring over beautiful homes on Scottish property websites and dreaming of home. So it’s wonderful to have returned to live here, selling properties in a country with 790 islands and 6,160 miles of coastline.

And it turns out I was not the only one dreaming of enchanting properties nestled among lochs and glens. Around 40 per cent of our buyers come from outside Scotland. Some, like me, are lucky enough to have made it their permanent home; others have discovered that, with numerous flights from London to Scottish airports, it’s possible to leave a City desk and be enjoying holiday or weekend waterside luxury living within just a few short hours.

Showing buyers around our clients’ waterside homes across Argyll and Bute in the west never feels like work. For example, we have recently seen the sale of a Victorian shooting lodge on the banks of Loch Lomond, with 731 m of loch frontage, attract international interest. It generated more than 50 viewings and was ultimately secured by a buyer from the Middle East who outbid 11 rivals.

Looking eastwards, the beautiful St Andrews, where golf was invented, is one of my absolute favourite coastal retreats. Its medieval spires, proximity to the famous Old Course and expansive sandy beaches combine to deliver premiums for those selling property in Scotland’s oldest university town. Just along the shoreline, my wife and our small boys have spent many a happy weekend on the sandy beaches of Elie and Earlsferry: properties in these picturesque harbour villages are a magnet for families looking for peace and tranquillity. The traditional hotspots of East Lothian continue to perform well, attracting interest from the golfing and sailing fraternities as well as benefiting from the spill out from a thriving property market in Edinburgh.

However, it is the West Coast that has been stealing the headlines this year. Average premiums of waterside property have achieved more than 10 per cent over home report value and prime transactions above £400,000 have increased by 30 per cent in Argyll & Bute, highlighting the confidence and desire for property in some of the most picturesque settings in the UK.

Scotland really is spoilt for choice when it comes to waterside beauty – from north to south and east to west. For me there’s no better place for crystal blue waters, white sands, incredible seafood restaurants, seal and dolphin-spotting and some of the best fishing and sailing in the UK.