The Scottish lifestyle is the primary motivator for people to buy properties north of the border, an estate agency has claimed.

According to the Halifax, house prices in Scotland rose by 14.2 per cent between September 2006 and September 2007 but James Whitson, director of private sales at Rettie & Co, says that prices are not a factor in the average buyer''s decision to move there.

"The quality of life has always been very good, people have always enjoyed moving up here… You get the odd person who of course will buy a second home, it could be by a loch or in a rural location – that''s a lifestyle decision. Regardless of house prices they''re going to do that anyway," he said.

Figures released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors today revealed that 27 per cent of Scottish surveyors saw property price rises in September, compared to a two per cent increase in the traditionally buoyant areas of London and the south-west.

Mr Whitson suggested that because of a lack of supply of homes in the centre of big towns, such as Edinburgh, prices in Scotland seem to remain constant even while house prices elsewhere in the country dip.