A rise in housing activity is expected as parents look to move to areas close to top-performing schools.

Elsewhere, a green-fingered owner is sought in Bute and a flat in an iconic Glasgow building hits the market.

Pupils return to the classroom in many parts of the country today and the end of the summer holidays usually spells the start of a period of increased activity in property sales. So will the start of this year's term see a flood of new homes and buyers on to the market?

Michael Luck, managing director of Slater Hogg & Howison, thinks there will be a modest rise in activity, rather than a full-scale rush.

"Most of the interest at the moment is coming from serious movers who haven't lost focus to either the Olympics or the holidays," he says.

What he is certain of is that houses in catchment areas for top-performing schools will continue to sell at a premium. And this will be most marked in those areas where exam results are also matched by new premises.

"What we do know is that parents are keen to see their children taught in the best possible facilities so that has an impact on house prices in areas where not only are the results good, but there has been an investment in school buildings."

Among the top-performing schools that have recently moved to new premises are Williamwood High School in Clarkston and Bearsden Academy.

A new building is under construction for Eastwood High School in Newton Mearns and is due to open at this time next year.

B-listed Burns link

While almost every castle in Scotland lays claim to some association with Mary, Queen of Scots, there are numerous houses in Ayrshire that boast a connection with Robert Burns.

Many of these are tenuous, but one house that has just come on to the market really can claim an association with the Bard. Mayville House in Stevenston, which was built in the 1760s, was the birthplace of Lesley Baillie, later immortalised by Burns in the song Bonnie Lesley.

The B-listed Georgian villa has been considerably updated since Burns's day, but it retains all of its period charm, including an inglenook fireplace in the sitting room and a stained glass window on the landing.

Mayville has three public rooms, a kitchen and a wine cellar.

The first and second floors have five bedrooms, a dressing room and two bathrooms and there is a separate stable block with three loose boxes and garage space that has planning permission for conversion into two two-storey cottages.

The house is set within 1.5 acres of garden and meadows. Offers over £525,000 are invited by Savills.

Village life

Competitors heading home from London 2012 to begin preparations for the Commonwealth Games may be happy to know that when they arrive in Glasgow in 2014, they'll have more room to relax between events than at the Olympics.

While more than 16,000 squeezed into London's Athletes' Village, just 6500 sportsmen and women will be accommodated in the new riverside community being created at Dalmarnock.

Once the Games are over, 300 of the 700 houses and apartments will be for private sale; a further 100 will be available for rent on the open market and the remaining 300 will be held by local housing associations.

The village is the first major carbon-neutral housing development in Scotland.

Time for a move?

A top-floor flat has just become available in one of Glasgow's most iconic buildings. Number 11 Charing Cross Mansions sits directly beneath the clock tower and has impressive city views.

The interior has been decorated to a high standard and includes a lounge, dining room, breakfasting kitchen and three bedrooms.

It is the perfect eyrie for anyone who works in the city but wants to be within strolling distance of the west end.

A fern investment

Green-fingered purchasers are still being sought for Ascog Hall, the turreted mansion house on Bute that was rescued from dereliction in 1986 by the family of the present owner and which featured in Scotland's Homes earlier this year.

When it was bought, Ascog Hall had lain empty for many years and the garden was heavily overgrown.

It wasn't until the new owners began clearing the site that they discovered that beneath the brambles and weeds lay a subterranean Victorian fernery.

That too was subsequently restored and today a lush forest of ferns flourishes beneath its elegant glazed roof, including a 1000-year-old Todea barbara, the only surviving fern from the original collection.

Carolyn Campbell of selling agents, Strutt & Parker says that the appearance of Ascog Hall on the market has prompted contact from pteridologists hoping to be reassured the future of the fernery and its important collection will be in safe hands.

"It is a unique property and I imagine that whoever purchases it will be someone who is willing to maintain the fernery at its current high standard," she says.

For anyone keen to own this rare piece of horticultural architecture and the plant collection within it, but who can't meet the asking price of offers over £650,000, then a further option is now available.

It would be possible to purchase the adjacent Old Coach House, which is for sale separately without the fernery at offers over £125,000 and which has detailed planning permission for the creation of two further homes and a tearoom.