Bothwell street is named one of the most expensive addresses in Scotland

Mar 17 2011 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

A BOTHWELL cul-de-sac has been named as having homes among the priciest in Scotland.

Properties in Countess Gate, which comprises homes fewer than 10 years old, currently attract an average price of £1,060,000.

It is the only Lanarkshire location named in a new property study by the Bank of Scotland.

The majority of addresses mentioned in the survey are in Edinburgh. Expensive addresses in Aberdeen and Longniddry, East Lothian, also feature.

John Clelland of Hamilton chartered surveyors Whyte and Barrie said this week it was no surprise to him the address was one of the most expensive streets in Scotland.

“Bothwell has been consistently one of the most popular areas in the central belt,” he said.

“Countess Gate seems to be almost unique in its position within Bothwell.

“If you look at the homes in Royal Avenue most of those are in the region of £600,000 to £700,000.

“However, the homes in Countess Gate are slightly larger than comparable homes.

“And their price reflects the price paid for the original plots which were in the region of £300,000 to £400,000.

“If you are paying that for a plot you want your house to be worth £1m-plus at the end of the day.

“Countess Gate was one of the last plots of reasonably developable land in that particular part of Bothwell.

“The houses there are a bit bigger too. People wanted to go there because it offered an opportunity to build your own house in a very desirable location.”

In 2008 one of the houses in Countess Gate had been on the market at offers over £1.15m.

However, Mr Clelland said the price of higher value property in Bothwell is holding up “reasonably well” in the current troubled economic climate.

The 12 properties in Countess Gate, next to the 13th century Bothwell Castle, were given planning approval in 2003, despite 621 letters of objection.

The cul-de-sac had been built on part of plots five and nine of neighbouring Earls Gate and on adjacent mature woodland.

Opposition to the plans came from villagers, Scottish Natural Heritage and charity the Woodland Trust.

And Historic Scotland expressed concern about the number of houses at the site.

In 2003, a spokesman for developer Montgomery Homes described Earls Gate as “tired and neglected”.

Their plans – which subsequently became Countess Gate – were a means of bringing the address “up-to-date”.