Scotland’s third-largest city, with a population of around 200,000, has ambitious plans to build around 3,000 new homes a year and have half-a-million people living across its suburbs by 2035.
Its historic prosperity as a major part of the fishing, quarrying, oil and gas industries is reflected by the number of prominent historic buildings around the city, most commonly of a design that gave Aberdeen the nickname of the Granite City. It is these days the HQ of numerous major Scottish companies, providing employment opportunities in a wide range of disciplines.
Shoppers will enjoy the variety of big-name and independent stores they’ll find on busy streets and several malls. There are plenty of ways to spend your leisure time in this part of the world. For casual or formal dining, there’s an excellent selection of places to try out, or opt for one of numerous well-rated pubs and bars, both traditional and contemporary.
Sports fans – whether spectators or players – have plenty to explore. Highlights include Aberdeen FC from the Scottish Premier League and the world’s sixth-oldest golf club, the Royal Aberdeen. From rugby and tennis to ice hockey and shinty.
Aberdeen has a wide range of cultural attractions covering many topics, including several museums and galleries alongside theatres, cinemas, comedy clubs, nightclubs and live music venues. Several festivals are held here every year for things like art, music and science. For a family day out, there’s an amusement park, attractive gardens and parks, farms, activity clubs and the beach.
Parents will find many primary and secondary schools here, both state and independent. The city has a large student population, with the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University providing a wealth of degrees and other qualifications. There are also colleges and institutes on subjects from arts and architecture to agriculture and marine science.
The A90 and A96 are the main roads the serve Aberdeen. Dundee is around 70 minutes from the city centre and it’s around two hours to Edinburgh and two-and-a-half hours to Inverness and Edinburgh. There are good local bus services and Aberdeen’s railway station offers regular trains to other Scottish cities and further afield to the likes of Newcastle, Leeds, London and Plymouth. The city has ferries to the Shetlands and Orkneys. Aberdeen International Airport, located to the north-west of the city, has routes to a number of UK and European destinations
There’s an excellent range of brand new homes for sale in and around Aberdeen right now, and we take a look at a few of them here. Any offers, initiatives and assistance schemes mentioned are all subject to terms and conditions.
Westburn Gardens
West End
Aberdeen’s West End is close to the city centre but with plenty of shops, services and sports/leisure venues of its own. Rosemount Hospital is nearby, making this a popular choice for people working there, with good schools, parks and open spaces also adding to its appeal.
Barratt Homes’ Westburn Gardens is a collection of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in granite-style blocks, each unit with a parking space and all accessible by lift. Starting prices for the available plots range from £164,995 to £239,995. This starts with the ‘Clark’ on the top floor, with one bedroom, and the offer of Part Exchange Xtra or flooring for people with an existing home to sell, or for others, £8,249 towards their deposit. The ‘Griffith’, on the third floor, has two spacious double bedrooms (on with en suite), a bathroom, a utility cupboard and a dual-aspect open-plan kitchen/dining/living room. There’s an offer of Part Exchange Xtra plus flooring worth over £2,000, or a deposit boost of £11,999.
There’s quite a different range of homes available at The Grange from developer Dandara. High-specification four- and five-bedroom executive houses here start at £534,950 and due to its popularity, just three properties remain for sale in current phase to move into this summer 2023. ‘The Yew’ is for sale on Plot 65 for £609,950. All five bedrooms are doubles, two of them having en suite shower room and wardrobe. Downstairs, the lounge has double doors to the open-plan kitchen/dining/sunroom, of which is a utility room leading to the integral single garage. A final phase here is coming soon.
Hopecroft View
Bucksburn
Bucksburn is a suburb on the north-western edge of the city, close to the A90 and A96 for direct connections to Inverness, Dundee and Perth. It has shops and amenities of its own, including a library, swimming pool, fitness centres and a number of schools, and its only five miles to the city centre.
Hopecroft is bringing a variety of family homes to the area in two parts, one with starting prices ranging from £259,995 to £364,995 and another, called Hopecroft View, where the brand new properties are priced between £234,995 and £254,995. A new show home is coming to this latest phase soon, but right now, house-hunters can visit the site from Thursday to Monday to find out first-hand about the properties and arrange of offers on things like deposit contributions, upgrade packages and moving costs, and schemes such as Part Exchange and special deals for key workers and Armed Forces personnel.
A couple of miles away, Riverside Quarter is set alongside the River Don and offers two-, three- and four-bedroom homes, a mix of apartments, two-storey houses and spacious townhouses. A number of show homes can be visited, illustrating this impressive array of property types and providing an opportunity to speak to the Barratt Homes team about selected plot offers and upgrades worth thousands of pounds. For example, the apartment on Plot 184, priced at £159,995 is ready to move into now and the buyer can ask about flooring and furniture packages, Part Exchange or an £8,000 contribution to costs. This first-floor home has two comfortable double bedrooms (one with en suite) an open-plan dual-aspect kitchen/dining/living room, and bathroom.
Cala Homes is building a great variety of properties at its Craibstone Estate development, a mile or so north of the centre of Bucksburn and with countryside and woodlands on the doorstep. Phase 1 is a collection of apartments, with only a few left for sale, all with two bedrooms and priced between £166,950 and £194,950. Phase 2 serves a quite different budget and property type, with four- and five-bedroom houses from £399,950 to £575,000. Plot 207, at £549,000, is a great example. Called ‘The Lowther’ and available with Part Exchange, this detached house is ready to move into and offers 2,323 sq ft of living space and an elevated private garden. Four of its five bedrooms are doubles with built-in storage, two of them also havingan en suite shower room. Downstairs are a spacious lounge, a large dual-spect kitchen/dining room, and a utility room leading to the integral double garage.
Mains of Grandhome
Bridge of Don
Bridge of Don is the city’s largest suburb, four minutes north of central Aberdeen, on the doorstep of Royal Aberdeen Golf Club and convenient close to shops and some major employment estates. There are plenty of amenities, schools, and public green spaces and play areas.
Grandhome is a new community growing that could bring up to 7,000 new homes to the area when completed, served by new schools and many facilities to put everything within a short walk of home, with paths and cycle routes another feature of its design. Cala Homes is offering a host of house types on its second phase here, the Mains of Grandhome scheme. Prices currently range from £378,000 to £650,000 for the current new three-, four- and five-bedroom properties. Buyers can ask about a range of tailored incentives. Phase 3 here is called Green Park at Grandhome and Cala has two-, three- and four-bedroom houses for sale here at the moment, priced from £238,000 for a house called ‘The Adam’ on Plot 49. It could be a perfect starter home, with living/.dining room leading to the rear garden, a separate kitchen at the front of the house, a cloakroom, a bathroom and two sizeable double bedrooms, both with built-in wardrobes.
Cults
While within very easy reach of the bustling city centre, sought-after Cults itself offers its residents a good range of shops, places to eat and drink, and sports clubs close to home. Cults Academy is one of the UK’s best-performing state schools, making this a ‘must-see’ for buyers looking for high-quality secondary education.
Friarsfield West is a Cala Homes development which is the final phase of the Cults masterplan, and comprises a mix of homes with two to five bedrooms from the housebuilder’s Light & Space Collection, house types which focus on natural light, open-plan spaces and ample storage. The current availability of four- and five-bedroom family homes ranges in prices from £499,000 to £755,000. Among the new plots just launched is ‘The Darroch’, at £575,000. It’s a five-bedroom/three-bathroom detached house with integral single garage, a useful utility room off the kitchen/dining/family room, and a lounge and a cloakroom off the welcoming hallway. Four of the five bedrooms have built-in storage, two of the an en suite shower room. Bedroom five could be a perfect home office. Altogether, some 1,960 sq ft of living space.
David Wilson at Countesswells
Countesswells
Neighbouring Cults and delivering some 3,000 new homes together with future schools (a primary school coming soon), parks, commercial, medical and retail amenities, Countesswells is establishing itself as an attractive choice for all types of buyers thanks to the array of homes being built there. Surrounded by lots of open countryside, this new community is also well placed for easy access to the A90 and only four miles to the city centre.
King's Gallop is the latest collection of new properties here from Barratt Homes. It comprises a new range of three- and four-bedroom terraced, semi-detached and detached homes. Current major offers include Part Exchange, a choice of cost contributions worth up to £19,499 and free flooring included on selected plots. Prices currently start at £232,995. The detached ‘Fenton’, which is one of the show home types here, costs £324,995 on Plot 33 and is offered right now with a choice of offers – either purchase through Part Exchange Xtra with £5,849 LBTT paid, or a £16,249 deposit boost. All four of its bedrooms are doubles and it has a utility room and an integral single garage.
David Wilson at Countesswells currently has four-bedroom new homes for sale with prices £389,995 to £529,995, some of them offering similar deals. The ‘Brechin’ is a double-fronted detached house priced from £469,995, with a great layout that has two sets of French doors to the garden, one from the living room and the other from the kitchen/dining room which has a glazed bay, a feature island worktop/breakfast bar, and a utility room. There’s also a dedicated study. All four bedrooms are good-sized doubles, with an en suite to one of them. This home comes with a detached double garage. Buyers have a choice – £23,499 boost towards their deposit, or use Part Exchange Xtra and get half of their LBTT paid, worth £10,174.
Cove Bay
Around a few miles south of the city centre, the ‘village feel’ and coastal location of Cove Bay (also known as Cove) make it one of the most sought-after districts to live.
Charleston Green is part of a growing community, with Barratt Homes offering a range of three-, four- and five-bedroom home types with terraced, semi-detached and detached styles that will suit a whole array of budgets and wish lists. Right now, the housebuilder is offering some significant offers on selected plots. Available currently and ready to move into this summer is the ‘Glamis’. Priced at £294,995, the buyer will get £14,749 towards their deposit, or alternatively use Barratt’s Part Exchange Xtra (an option for buyers with a home to sell and get your LBTT paid too. This detached home has an integral single garage and south-facing garden, a lounge leading to the kitchen/dining room with utility room, three double bedrooms (one en suite), single bedroom and bathroom.
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