Why a slice of Edinburgh is being bought up by overseas owners

Why a slice of Edinburgh is being bought up by overseas owners2 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAndrew PickenData Journalist, BBC News ScotlandPA MediaNew data shows hundreds of properties in Edinburgh's Quartermile development were sold to overseas buyersEdinburgh's Quartermile district is wedged between the city's historic Old Town and The Meadows, one of the city's most popular parks.A rash of glass and steel towers surround 19th Century sandstone buildings left from when a hospital occupied the city centre site.But walking among its sleek new buildings, housing offices and luxury apartments, it is hard to escape the sense you could be almost anywhere in the world.And when you look at who owns the properties in this controversial development, there is another unexpected discovery.More than a third of the properties in the development were bought by people based overseas, latest figures have revealed.Registers of Scotland (RoS) data shows 263 of the 751 property titles at the site were registered to an overseas address when purchased. This includes 95 buyers based in Hong Kong alone.They are among more than 5,000 offices, hotels, homes and shops in the city where records show the buyer was based outside the UK at the time of purchase.Getty ImagesThe Edinburgh Futures Institute, run by the University of Edinburgh, which is part of the Quartermile districtThe vast majority of property and land in Scotland is registered to people and companies based in the country.But RoS data shows a total of 28,825 titles - 1.4% of the total - on the land register where the owner had an address outside the UK at the time of purchase. Titles in Edinburgh account for 18.7% of the overseas registrations.Located on the site of former Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the Quartermile development gets its name from the fact it measures a quarter of a mile from corner to corner.It was a controversial project because of the height and design of its glass tower b...