''Desperate'' Scottish housebuyers pay the price

Prospective homeowners who slept overnight in their cars to ensure that they would have first offering on a number of new homes near Aberdeen have not been as fortunate as they would have liked.

In February, up to 25 eager consumers looking to invest in bricks and mortar slept close to a sales office in Elrick, Scotland, in order to give them priority over £302,000 valued four-bedroom homes in the area, reports the Press and Journal.

However, last weekend the seven vigilant consumers found that the uncomfortable sleepover had been to little avail, with the final purchase prices being raised to £312,000.

A spokesperson for the Gladedale scheme, which organised the reservation process, said that all of the new homeowners were "very happy to buy at that price".

Other consumers looking to get a firmer footing on the property ladder also voiced their concerns that they would have to pay £350,000 for similar properties later in the year.

John McCrae, chairman of the Aberdeen Solicitors'' Property Centre, said that he was not surprised at the price increases the homeowners faced, with properties in the Aberdeen market having "steadily risen" in the past three decades.


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