Thinking of moving back to edinburgh

[Marylou47a]

Hello!

My OH and I lived in Edinburgh together for 8 years while i was at uni and then stuck around for 5 years after. We did love it but I felt far from family and frustrated about the lack of jobs- I work in fundraising and was stuck in the same job for years. So we moved to London when an opportunity came up at my work. My OH was pretty reluctant but came with me anyway. Now 6 years later we have a little boy who is one and the thought of staying in London for too long makes me feel all kinds of stressed! To be honest I'm just generally stressed at the moment!

Anyway, we have been thinking of moving as we know we can't afford a bigger place in London and I can't bear the thought of living in a suburb. The other option is Birmingham where we are both from and is nearish my parents in Oxford. Went to look at houses and while you can get a lot for your money the thought was just quite depressing.

So we are back to considering Edinburgh. I love the city, we still have quite a lot of friends up there and i think in the long term it will be so much better for our little boy.

So questions for those that have done a similar move- do you feel far away from everything if you are originally from England? What's the jobs market like- is it frustrating coming from London with all of its opportunities? But more importantly do you feel like you have a better quality of life?

And for everyone it's really hard to tell how much property is going for up there as I know they can go way over the offers over mark. Where could we get a 3 bed tenement flat for £350k? Could stretch to £400k possibly if it meant somewhere perfect in bruntsfield or marchmont but that looks unlikely? Newington would be good or leith.

And what are nursery fees like?

Also, wierd one, how much monthly income do you reckon you need to have a nice time after mortgage etc has gone out? I remember feeling like I always had money in Edinburgh even though I earned about £20k less than I do now!! But don't know if that is an idealised memory of it all!
Any advice gratefully received. I feel like I'm just having a circular discussion in my head at the mo so hoefully this will help me clarify!

Ta!

[Marylou47a]

Just to clarify we were there for 8 years in total originally

[EdinburghImmigrant]

Didn't do exactly what you're contemplating, but did live in SE England, move to Edinburgh, and have a child here. Better quality of life, yes, definitely, no way would I move to London. The money thing may well have been mostly your expectations - everyone feels as though they have money when they start having more of it, and that was probably that time in your life! However, there are many things to do here that don't cost money, and it's very walkable so there's really no need to run a car or spend lots on transport (even with a child, IME), so that's part of it too.

A 3-bed flat very near us in Marchmont just went on the market for oo slightly under £500k, though, and the Sold board went up a few days later. Solicitors (eg contact ESPC) will be able to tell you what the offers over margin is now, but you may have trouble there; not sure. Can't help with nursery fees, that was too long ago now for us, but ringing a few places would be easy enough, or maybe someone will be along shortly...

Think about where you stand on independence and how you'll feel if it goes the way you don't want - given Brexit we're in for a turbulent few years and I wouldn't like to predict what will actually happen. I much prefer to be watching it from here not there, but ymmv.

[Marylou47a]

What were your reasons for moving to Edinburgh- and do you feel far from family?

I think transport would save us a lot, we currently spend probably £250-300 a month on travel and don't even have a car! Plus my thoughts are by downsizing we would reduce our mortgage outgoings, and im assuming nursery will be at least slightly cheaper. Although I think we would both take a pay cut.

I think I just want out now though. I feel stressed most of the time because of work, knowing we will not be able to afford to be here forever and generally being surrounded by rude busy ppl who constantly talk about how much money they make. I don't remember feeling this stressed in Edinburgh.

A lot of ppl we know are leaving London for the affordability reason. So the only thing keeping us in London is my job (I got a promotion when I got back from mat leave) and the only other thing keeping us in south of England is my parents and sister who we see probably every two weeks.

It's hard not to wonder if I'm just thinking the grass is always greener though? Plus I know we probs can't get somewhere in marchmont for our budget, but there are other parts of the city obviously.

To be honest thI whole brexit/independence thing is another reason I want to leave. Think brexit will really hit london, and I would prefer to either just be further away from it if Scotland doesn't become independent or would welcome being a part of an independent Scotland and see what happens. It's going to be a rollercoaster either way and I would prefer to ride it out while pottering around beautiful Edinburgh than in grotty north east London!

[catdil]

Nursery fees are around 50-60 a day - example is from one in Bruntsfield.
www.littlevoicesnurseries.co.uk/join-us/fees/
What does hubby do as that would also have bearing on whether job market up here would work for you ?

[Marylou47a]

He runs pubs/venues and has lots of contacts from when we were there before so dont think I'm too worried about that. As it's such a touristy city there always seems to be lots of GM jobs.

That's hilarious, our nursery fees in London are less than that!! But I think we were really lucky. Maybe it's not cheaper in Edinburgh...

[Alwaysinahurrynow]

I would definitely consider the family situation as you will be moving away from all your family (albeit there are a lot of trains and planes). The other thing is to consider how you would slot into Edinburgh now, are you still close to your uni friends? A lot of people move back to Edinburgh when they have kids/never have left so it's harder to find a good group of friends especially if you work full-time from scratch. The jobs situation, I find, is quite frustrating in that there are not that many great jobs in my industry so I feel a bit restricted compared to the London opportunities. However, the city is fab and the quality of life is great.

In retrospect, with the independence issue having reared it's head after we moved, we may have chosen Birmingham (tho' probably Warwickshire) instead.

[Toottootcar]

I pay £30 for a childminder who takes ds to the free nursery space too. I have a 3 bed semi for a lot less than your budget, but probably not in an area you'd consider! I really wouldn't accept not having a garden now with dcs, when tiny you happily take them to the park as you have to watch them all the time anyway but with a bigger child you can just throw open the back door... Ed is an expensive city, not London but much worse than Glasgow and probably Birmingham too. I'm miles from family and do wish I had the option of support from them. My life here now is nothing like my student life was though I do still love the city less so in bloody August perhaps Good luck with your decision!

[ZooLanePetCorner]

I moved to edinburgh, I love it but we often think about moving back because of distance from family, the older they get the more the dc miss their gp etc. I also have doubts about Scottish education, dc1 is 3 years into primary and we're underwhelmed but hard to say how much of that is specific factors - scotsnet has a few interesting threads on the topic and depends what your schooling options are in London!

Edinburgh is expensive - especially if you want a garden - you can find small garden flats by if you plan a second dc it's not going to be spacious anywhere central. 1/23 floor flats are a better deal. There are fantastic events - always something on with the children and lots of parks, espc is where to look for properties.

[ZooLanePetCorner]

Our nursery is £1040 full time for under 3s - we save a bit with vouchers.

[Marylou47a]

Thanks for all the advice guys. We do still have lots of friends in Edinburgh as a lot of ppl we knew were from outside uni anyway. We know a lot of ppl actually from Edinburgh so they've all stuck around. That said I do think the family thing is one we need to consider more to be honest. We did feel very far from everyone last time.

We are coming up in a few weeks time and I think a few days out of London will help clear our minds and think about our options, Edinburgh and Birmingham included.

I'll take all of your comments into consideration. Either way I'll be sure to keep visiting, bloody love the city!

[Marylou47a]

Hmmmm don't seem able to let this go. Have gone back and thought about Birmingham instead and just not sold on it.

So if we were to move back... where is nice and family friendly, relatively central, that we could get a 3 bed flat for £350k???

[museumum]

Just look on espc for flats.
Our nursery is £52 I think a day. Seems pretty standard.

[museumum]

Here you go. South morningside primary catchment, in budget.
espc.com/property/4f1-304-morningside-road-edinburgh-eh10-4qh/35543729?sid=25375223807

[Marylou47a]

I can't figure out how much over offers over is the norm? If I try and look at sold prices most of the properties don't have numbers of bedrooms/photos so hard to figure out from the few that have photos

[museumum]

You need to talk to a solicitor for up to date info on exact locations but we paid 10% over two years ago.
Most people don't offer much more than the home report valuation (partly as mortgage lenders use that as the value). Register with espc and you can download home reports to see the actual valuations.

[museumum]

That one I linked is valued at £320k market value £390k for insurance.

[Marylou47a]

Good tip about registering. Will do that now. I did see that one but was thinking ppl might be offering way over. Thanks!

[museumum]

This is a great area if you want a garden. 5min walk to Bruntsfield.

[museumum]

espc.com/property/32a-polwarth-gardens-edinburgh-eh11-1ln/35542931?sid=25376530229

[Toottootcar]

You can easily get a three bed house in a nice-but-less-central area such as Trinity for your budget, though it won't be Victorian. Anyone I know who lives in a lovely flat with kids has eventually got a house, though obviously there are others who continue to love their flats.

[Marylou47a]

I've had a look at trinity actually as there are some lovely reasonable properties. What is it like? I have to say even though I lived in Edinburgh for 8 years I don't think I ever went to trinity- I was a lazy southsider!!

[toottootcar]

The north side is way better! Happy to answer a pm if you want to know any specifics.

[whyismykid]

We moved from London (and lots of our family) and I love it here! We had moved to the suburbs in London (Ish, as close in as we could afford) and after 2 years we were done - we had lost all the advantages of living in inner London (culture, excitement cosmopolitan feel) and were paying masses of money to commute 1hr 15 mins ish (train and tube combo!) and pay £76 a day to nursery so when a job came up here for DH even though we knew no one, we jumped at it!

A few caveats - the job we moved for pays a 'London' salary and I am currently working remotely for a London based company and our housing budget was a little higher than yours. But we have no transport costs as DH walks to work (has breakfast at home, always back for kids bedtime - massive change!). Though we do now run a car as there are such amazing mountains / forrests / beaches within an hours drive. I have found the people to be welcoming, diverse and interesting. And there is so much to do! And it's possible to know about most of it because the city is small enough so I actually feel connected to what is happening- actually manage to buy tickets for things before they sell out which I was rubbish at in London!

I do miss family from a practical perspective- had some very close by in London who were awesome babysitters fir example - but as they come to stay with us for longer periods of time I think we actually see them more than we did when they could pop in, or come up for the day.

I think with your sort of budget I would look at Portobello- beach, some lovely houses / flats and close to Leith, short bus to town - but I'm not at all an expert on areas as I'm so new!

[Cailleach666]

You perhaps are looking at city living, but yo may wish to consider living somewhere along the new Borders Railway route that leads South from the City.
House prices are very cheap compared to the city

I live near a station on the line and I can be in Waverley Princes Street in 18 minutes, ( possibly a shorter time than travelling from Bruntsfield).

I bought a 5 bedroomed semi with a garden in a lovely area two years ago for £215K. There are good shop and schools, lots of Nurseries and childminders, and the city is a stones throw away.

THis 5 bed semi espc.com/property/4-melville-road-dalkeith-eh22-3by/34810993?sid=26424452460

Well within your price range and a short walk to the station.

[dinosaursandtea]

Do it! We did it a few years ago and have zero regrets.