July 28 2020

In recent months Barratt Developments has reported a surge in interest from buyers keen to escape the confines of their city flats in favour of more rural and spacious accommodation with a dedicated office space.

The housebuilder reports strong interest in areas such as Johnstone, Gilmerton and Prestonpans where reduced land prices and a vertical focus have been combined to provide flexible living space over three floors.

A spokesperson for the builder wrote: "The majority of people who are buying up these townhouses live in city flats and have always wanted a townhouse, but couldn’t stretch to inner-city prices, but also because they want to live in a more rural environment.

"Whether that has anything to do with lockdown we are unsure, but believe anecdotally that it has had a significant impact on the way buyers are thinking about where they live and how they live."

This follows similar developments by CALA which has ushered in elevated living at Erskine. 

12 Comments

#1 Posted by Dead Inside on 28 Jul 2020 at 10:58 AM

Who amongst us can honestly say they've never yearned to live on a Barratt estate in Johnstone?

I mean just look at that first photo! Just imagine the feelings of joy that would fill your heart every time you arrived home and saw that black tarmac front garden waiting for you!

#2 Posted by CM on 28 Jul 2020 at 11:20 AM

Grim!

#3 Posted by Donny on 28 Jul 2020 at 13:45 PM

The principle is good, the execution is bad.

#4 Posted by TH on 28 Jul 2020 at 13:54 PM

#1 comment on the gardens being overshadowed by the tarmac is true however we all know this will have been a surveyors decision to save money. The picture however looks good but is actually in Aberdeen and proving to be a very fine redevelopment of a brownfield site.

#5 Posted by Kenny Powers on 28 Jul 2020 at 14:39 PM

I can't comment about these properties specifically, but you so often hear of modern properties being built devoid of sound proofing, so it can be a big risk buying a middle terrace home. Better to get a viewing in the evening when the occupants both sides are at home and you can hear what the noise is like, it would be deceptive if you did a viewing during the day when they weren't at home.

#6 Posted by Dead Inside on 28 Jul 2020 at 14:58 PM

Well #4 that changes everything. I can certainly say i've never yearned to live on a Barratt estate in Aberdeen. Not even one very fine as that

#7 Posted by David on 28 Jul 2020 at 16:04 PM

This is exactly the kind of dross that the Glasgow urban area needs to avoid. Hence why merging the seven Glasgow council areas or having some kind of planning partnership is crucial, similar to London. Glasgow needs to re-densify its core and if councils such as Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire etc keep approving such schemes, it will make the repopulation of central Glasgow all the more difficult.

#8 Posted by StyleCouncil on 28 Jul 2020 at 21:44 PM

This reads like an advertorial..... is UR peddling this guff on the behalf of Barrett et al?
Suburban Realm it is.

#9 Posted by Peter on 29 Jul 2020 at 01:08 AM

Any more questions regarding high suicidal rate in Scotland? This is cheap and generic to the bone...

#10 Posted by James Hepburn on 29 Jul 2020 at 13:13 PM

why are Scottish house builders so dreadfully poor.

#11 Posted by Randall Sloan on 29 Jul 2020 at 15:29 PM

Our forefathers, the builders of Edinburgh's New Town for example (among a huge list of others) must be spinning in their graves with such frequency they must surely have burrowed to Australia by now with the sight of what contemporary housing stock has been reduced too. Never before has housing been so expensive, yet bizarrely, the quality of both design and construction seems to get worse and worse with each year that passes. Shame on the house builders of this country.

#12 Posted by Walt Disney on 29 Jul 2020 at 16:54 PM

Small townhouse don't work with an integral garage. Don't know why hoosebuilders still build them. Do away with the garage and have some proper interaction with the street, put cars on the street or round the back and create a place to live rather than a car park.

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