Here in East Renfrewshire, we are lucky enough to boast some of Scotland’s top performing state schools, including Williamwood High School, St. Ninians and Mearns Castle to name just three. As a result of the fantastic schooling options in the area, the number of children living locally has increased at ten times the Scottish average and demand for property shows no signs of slowing down.
New schools in East Renfrewshire
Over the last few years we have also seen the development of a new £17 million pre-five and primary school for Newton Mearns that sees A ‘world-first’ campus bringing together schools serving both the Catholic and Jewish faiths; St. Clare’s Catholic Primary and the Jewish Calderwood Lodge sharing the new premises with a non-denominational nursery. There are also plans for a brand new primary school, Maindenhill in Newton Mearns, scheduled for completion ready for the 2019 P1 intake. Finally a new £9m family centre is being built in Busby and Clarkston.
School regeneration projects
In addition Eastwood High School was recently regenerated with state-of-the art facilities and Barrhead High School has been rebuilt at a cost of £29.7bn.
East Renfrewshire is already leading the Scottish Government’s flagship push to drive down the attainment gap in the country’s education system. In fact, the council here spends over 50% of its budget on Education according to the recent Accounts Commission report.
Exceptional results
The performance of pupils gaining five or more awards in both Level 5 and 6 or above in East Renfrewshire is the highest in Scotland overall and second highest for pupils in areas of deprivation. Over the next twenty years, it is forecast that the number of children living areas within East Renfrewshire including Newton Mearns, Giffnock, Clarkston and Busby will rise by nearly 15% per cent compared to just 1.4% for Scotland as a whole, according to the Best Value Assurance report prepared by Audit Scotland. This will result in a rise in the general population of around 13%, compared with 6% for the rest of Scotland.
Demand for homes
Although we are seeing high housebuilding rates to meet the demand for families moving to the area, it has resulted in a steady increase in demand for established family homes in the area. Existing residential land values remain among the highest in Scotland and house prices are set to continue to increase.
If you would like to buy a property in East Renfrewshire and would like sound advice about the school catchment areas, talk to us at Nicol.