Where to move to in Scotland?

[Librarybooksandacoconut]

We are likely to move to Scotland in the next year. Primarily my dad is unwell so we want to be closer to my dps, but we also want more space than we can get in London. I partially grew up in Scotland so have a reasonable knowledge of good places, but it’s also based on things from 15 years ago!

Things we need to think about:

• Needs to be within an hour of Stirling so we can get to my parents easily.

-DH is likely to continue to need to go to London for work semi-regularly so we also need to be closish to an airport or major train station. -Somewhere which is fairly open to outsiders and we are not likely to get any anti-English sentiment. I experienced it growing up, it’s not nice and I really can’t be bothered with having to deal with it. -Family friendly -I think I want small town or rural but still close enough to a bigger city to go to for the day.

We’ve got a fairly healthy budget (thanks to the ridiculous London property market) so we can afford to look in areas that are more expensive, but at the same time I’m fine with areas that get you a lot for your money.

If you thinking of small town or rural keep in mind you'll end up taxiing your kids around as buses will be infrequent. One of my friends lives in Clackmannanshire and has frequently had to do driving n wee small hours due to teenage parties.
Theres also not much in the way of takeaways, swimming pools or supermarkets.
But there are lovely hills, walks, fresh air

ARoom - I’m a teacher and have been reading up on CfE. It suits my own philosophy of education far more than the absolute car crash that the English system has become. I know there are criticisms of it, but from what I can gather a lot is around issues that are also arising in England. Not wanting to put my dc through the ridiculously narrow and test-focused system we have down south is one of the factors for our move.

ratspeaker - I know that will be the case if we live somewhere more rural - it’s something dh will be weighing up in the pros and cons of choosing somewhere to live.

I’d forgotten to put Bridge of Allan in the list!

Budget isn’t really much of an issue coming from London, however I have noticed that few places in our budget seem to come on the market in the areas we’re looking. It’s just a pain that the English and Scottish house buying systems aren’t really compatible as it would otherwise be pretty easy to sell our current home quickly if something we really liked came on the market.

What are you considering a healthy budget? I searched on Right Move for within 30 miles of Stirling and the first result was a £7m castle.

Take - it’s good but not that good!

Probably around 600-700k, and I know how incredibly fortunate we are to have that much available.

Perth if wanting something busier Carnoustie is good for links with the train to Edinburgh. Bridge of Allan is also nice.

Regarding house selling English and Scottish systems don't meet up your right generally friends have always sold English property first due to chain and fall through options so unless you have the cash to definitely complete don't put offers in on Scottish property once the solicitors agree terms (usually a week) that's you legally bound unless you pay high pull out fees!
Plus side of the Scottish system you can't get gusumped at the 11th HR

Carnoustie is an absolute pain in the arse for train links to Edinburgh. Most of the trains that stop in Carnoustie are the Glasgow bound trains, meaning a change at Dundee for Edinburgh.

Also someone mentioned BA flights to London city, there are more from Edinburgh than Glasgow, but still 6 per day operating out of Glasgow.

That is a hefty budget for Scotland, you will have plenty of choice. Convenience would suggest places like larbert or Falkirk, but dunblane, bridge of Allan, auchterarder, linlithgow all nice. If I had that budget I would be getting several acres and finally getting horses at home! You could blow it all on a house or get some land too in many areas for that.i would be looking at schools first personally to help with decision making.

Something to bare in mind, depending on your parents health, is that hospital stays are likely to be at Larbert as there is no Stirling Royal infirmary. My mother did 2am trips from north of Callander to visit granny at Larbert hospital near the end of her life. Even having to travel that distance to take her to appointments or for visiting hours in the years before her death was draining.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Dalgety Bay. Only 20 mins into Edinburgh on the train. Modern coastal town. Great schools. Here's an example of what you would get for the budget:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66240232.html

Although to be honest, you could get a huge house for far less, and just keep some money in the Bank.

The Donibristle estate is gorgeous, with Georgian style homes, many of which over look the Forth. Some even have indoor swimming pools and would be within your budget.

North Queensferry and South Queensferry are also lovely. South is a lot dearer, as it's on the Edinburgh side.

Still within your budget though:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73100183.html

There was a gorgeous house for sale in NQ recently, with 6 bedrooms and it literally had it's own beach, I think it went for about £650k.

I'm on the seafront myself : currently sat in my study which overlooks the Forth, The Forth Rail Bridge and there's a lovely big cruise ship docked just now, called the Royal Princess. There is a different cruise ship most mornings when I open the curtains, as the Fringe is on.

You’d get a lovely house in Kings Park, Stirling, for that kind of cash.

Or, if hospital in Larbert is likely to be in the equation I would opt for something like this at Airth.

Castleview, Airth
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54320763.html

Or this in Linlithgow

Linlithgow, EH49
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65891149.html

Or save a small fortune, buy in Boness

Duchess Anne Cottages, Bo'ness, Stirlingshire, EH51
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55959213.html

Re the CfE, you should have a think about the range of Nat 5 options and whether that is important to you. Schools range from allowing 6 -8. This was hugely important to us and we weren’t happy with limiting choice to 6 courses in S4 so we made sure DC we’re in a school offering 8. Other people won’t particularly care, but it’s worth looking into if you aren’t aware of the differing options.

Cormoran - thanks for the links, unfortunately I don’t think they are quite right for us.

Wicked - my oldest won’t be in S4 until 2031 so I’m not going to worry about that issue just yet as the chances of things being the same are slim. I’m not going to get hung up on being near a ‘good’ school as I know that things will change over the years

Being near the hospital isn’t a consideration - it’s likely to be an issue for a year or two sometime in the future but not what I want to base our decision on where to live for potentially the next 30 odd years.

Huskylover - I’ve always imagined being on the firth as being very cold and windy. I’ve no idea if that’s the actual reality (I don’t mind cold, I am definitely not a fan of constant wind!).

We're in bearsden and we love it. Both DH and I were brought up here. The schools are excellent and it's very safe.
With your budget you will be able to get something nice here (our 4 bed, 3 rec bungalow is worth £410-£450 ish)
If you have any questions then just ask.

Bearsden or Milngavie.

Helensburgh

Milngavie is also lovely, my mum lives there and there's a nice community feel as the centre is pedestrianised.

Takes us an hour to get to Stirling from Helensburgh, 25 mins to Glasgow airport, 40 mins into city centre of Glasgow with a direct train. 5 mins away from Loch Lomond.

I saw this house recently online and I think it’s the sort of thing we might like, shame it’s gone off the market.
search.savills.com/property-detail/gbglrsgls180099

Ha, ha, yes, plenty time to wait for the next big change to the curriculum, then.

Following with interest! It's our plan to leave London for Scotland in a few years, have only thought about Edinburgh so far.

Kippen is lovely - only 15 mins from Stirling but a lovely community rural feel and great houses

Here are a couple in the Kippen area. You'll get a lot more for your money than BofA or Dunblane and a more rural feel

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54645372.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55528002.html