Highland sporting estates a must-buy for the bankers

Experts report the sector has held up during 2011, with demand still relatively strong and average prices showing marginal increases.

Estates generally only go on the market once in a generation and that drives interest from both home and abroad, with demand outstripping supply.

However, most buyers of sporting properties north of the Border this year have been UK-based, mainly aged between 40 and 50 and money men such as bankers or hedge-fund managers.

Across Scotland, 22 estates were sold, an increase from 17 in 2010 and 13 in 2009, with the average sale price up from £3.4 million in 2010 to £4.19m this year.

John Bound, partner of CKD Galbraith’s estates division in the Highlands, said: “At the top end of the market there is still a lot of money around, and it’s a good thing for Scotland because they [buyers] invest heavily in these places and by doing that they create local employment and keep kids in the local school.”

Among the sales was the Heights of Kinlochewe estate in Wester Ross, on the market for £2.5m, which went to a London businessman, and the Little Gruinard and Larachantivore estates, also in Wester Ross, which were bought by the e-commerce millionaire Gordon Crawford, who owns the neighbouring Eilean Darach Estate.

Mr Bound said there had been great interest in grouse estates, with grouse shooting having experienced one of its most successful seasons.