The typical property in AB42
Peterhead, Europe's largest white-fish port, with a property market priced for what it actually is: a working coastal town with a strong local economy and a thin commuter overlay.
Area summary
AB42 covers Peterhead and the immediate Buchan coast, including Boddam, St Fergus, Cruden Bay and a tail of farming and fishing villages.
Peterhead is a substantial working harbour. The fish market at the harbour is the largest white-fish landing point in Europe by tonnage and the dominant single economic driver in the postcode. The town has also been the operating base for offshore energy services since the 1970s, with the St Fergus gas terminal sitting within the postcode.
Housing stock is varied: Victorian granite tenements in the central town, post-war local-authority terraces around Mount Pleasant and Buchanhaven, post-2000 estate development on the western and southern edges, and isolated farmhouses across the wider Buchan.
Demand is local-driven rather than commuter, the journey into Aberdeen is around an hour by car. Rental yields are routinely above 8% in central Peterhead, reflecting low prices relative to incomes.
The town hosts HMP Grampian, a major Scottish prison, and the Peterhead Power Station (now a CCGT plant), both of which sit within or adjacent to the postcode.
What the data shows
Researched facts
- Peterhead Harbour, operated by Peterhead Port Authority, lands more white fish by tonnage than any other UK port and ranks as one of the largest white-fish landing ports in Europe., source
- St Fergus Gas Terminal is one of the main UK natural gas import points and sits within AB42; it is also a candidate site for the Acorn carbon-capture project., source
- HM Prison Grampian, opened in 2014, is the principal Scottish prison for the north-east and is located within AB42., source
Buyer notes
- The local economy is heavily exposed to commodity prices (fish, gas, oil); rental and capital values move with sector cycles.
- Coastal properties along the Buchan coast are subject to erosion considerations and to wind-loading factors that affect insurance pricing. Check SEPA and the council coastal change plans.
- Peterhead's tenement stock is materially cheaper than equivalent Aberdeen city stock; this is a yield play, not a capital-growth play.
The full AB42 data page
Sold price history, crime totals, EPC distribution, council tax bands and more, pulled live from HM Land Registry, Police UK and the EPC Register.
AB42 property dataNearby AB postcode districts
Compare AB42 with adjacent areas in the same postcode district.