Scots house price growth to fall behind rest of UK

House prices in Scotland will rise by 4 per cent next year – trailing behind growth in the rest of the UK, a forecast has claimed.

House prices in Scotland are set to rise at a slower rate than the rest of the UK.

Prices UK-wide are set to increase by 6 per cent, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) forecast for 2016.

The north-east of England was said to be likely to see the most modest price rises, with a predicted increase for 2016 of just three per cent, while London property was predicted to increase in value by five per cent.

The Office for Budget Responsibility had predicted that house prices would rise by five per cent year-on-year until 2020.

RICS, which is the professional body for the land, property and construction sectors, blames supply problems for the likely increase in prices in 2016, saying it will outstrip any rise in household income.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS’s chief economist, said: “Housing has clearly leapt up the government’s agenda, but despite the raft of initiatives announced over the past year, the lags involved in development mean that prices, and for that matter rents, are likely to rise further over the next 12 months.

“Lack of stock will continue to be the principal driver of this trend.”