A woman from the US has divided TikTok users after she revealed she bought her university-age daughter a flat in Glasgow because the market was “affordable”.
Janelle Copeland, from California, shared a video detailing her experience of trying to find a place for her daughter to live while studying at university in Scotland.
Copeland said she and her husband, Eddie, spent three months trying to find a property their daughter could rent with friends, but the search was unsuccessful.
They also found some options outside of Glasgow but didn’t feel comfortable with any of these as they would require their daughter to walk up to an hour to university every day.
Explaining her rationale, Copeland said that out of “desperation”, she began researching if American citizens could purchase property in Scotland.
“Turns out there’s no restrictions. So basically, I spent seven days figuring out everything there is to know about Scotland’s real estate,” Copeland said.
“We found two that we really liked so we put in offers. Luckily the real estate market is pretty affordable in Scotland, so we saved a ton of time not having to take out a mortgage.”
According to the latest figures from the UK House Prince Index, published in August, the average price of a property in Glasgow is £177,812.
A report by industry body Homes for Scotland, published in March, found that Scotland is suffering from a “chronic housing shortage” of about 100,000 homes. Housing charity Shelter estimates that a household becomes homeless in Scotland every 18 minutes, and that 11,804 children were made homeless in Scotland last year.
Copelands comments have received a mixed response on TikTok.
Some people were shocked that the family found property prices “affordable”.
Others accused the creator of ignoring the plight of Scottish people who are struggling amid the crisis.
“It’s always delightful when those with affluence and money cash in on the housing collapse in another country,” one person wrote.
Another said: “Very bad taste with the housing crisis for Scots.”
“This makes me so sad, there’s plenty of properties to rent and we have good public transport routes, this just adds to the housing crisis,” a third person said.
The Independent has contacted Copeland for comment.
