2018 was a monumental year for the Scottish city of Dundee with the opening of the V&A museum and the new railway station. Huge transformational projects in their own right, both are helping Dundee towards its vision of becoming a thriving and innovative city and boosting its economy to boot. V&A Dundee is estimated to have contributed £10 million to the city’s coffers while tourism has increased by 8.7 per cent year on year, according to the city Council.

Helping to put the city that invented Desperate Dan, Dennis the Menace and Oor Wullie on the world map (comic and newspaper publisher DC Thomson has been based here since 1905) are the many awards and accolades it has won over the past year. V&A Dundee made it onto Time Magazine's World’s 100 Greatest Places to Visit 2019 and National Geographic voted it one of the coolest places to visit; it also featured in Condé Nast Traveller's City Breaks UK: The 10 Best for 2019.

Add to these the city’s position as a UNESCO City of Design, its impressive university and reputation for medical research not to mention its famous technology and innovation sectors, particularly in the field of computer gaming – Lemmings, Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto are all linked to this Scottish city – and it’s easy to see why the Sunday Times named it the ‘Best Place to Live in Scotland’.

The residential market here is active and affordable. The average transaction price in the city, at £143,416 during the 12 months to June 2019, was 25 per cent lower than the Scottish average of £179,607 during the same period.*

However, Dundee did experience stronger price growth than the country as a whole, 4 per cent compared with 2 per cent, suggesting that residential property is in demand, supported by the fact that activity increased by 9 per cent to 2,692 transactions, compared with a national increase of 3 per cent.

Rents also look comparatively good value. Citylets data reports that the average rent within the city has remained relatively steady year on year at £616 per month. This is 35 per cent lower than the national average but the time taken to let in Dundee has decreased by eight days, suggesting the rental market is active.

One year from the opening of the V&A and the new train station and Dundee is looking dandy. With a vibrant creative sector, booming tourism industry and affordable residential sector, this Scottish city is more than worth a look. 

*Savills/Registers of Scotland

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