Property prices in the Highlands have risen by 37% over the last year, the second highest price rises in Britain according to a recent Bank of Scotland report.

Yet with the Scottish Natural Heritage set to re-locate 260 jobs to the area and the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute set to fuel a demand for buy-to-let flats, the Highlands could experience a further increase in the demand for property.

Tim Crawford, a group economist with the Bank of Scotland, said: "The Highlands had the strongest house-price growth of any region in Scotland in the past year and it was also the second-best performing area in the UK. Clearly buyers have been attracted to the combination of city and rural living that the region offers.

The report found that County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland experienced the highest UK rise at 39%.