Moving to Glasgow

[kisaki333]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post - I wrote this on "local" and got no replies...

I am originally not from the UK but I moved here over 10 years ago. I lived in Glasgow for a couple of years back when I was younger and loved it. At the time, I lived in the city centre (merchant city) and never really got out if the area much - only ventured as far as the west end.
Now, a good few years later, I am in my early 40s, I have a husband, a newborn and I live in SE England. We are still renting and I am desperate to buy but the way the market is now I have almost no chance of getting anything decent. More and more I am thinking of going back to Scotland, partially because I loved it there and partially because it's the only place I'd aford to buy a nice house.

For those that are familiar with Glasgow:
What are some nice and safe areas to bring up a child? So far I heard Lenzie and Bearsden. Is Stepps also ok? I see some really nice modern houses there for good prices.

What is the job market like at the moment? I work in IT and I am hoping I can find something fully remote so it doesn't matter but just in case I don't, is the market generally OK?

@kisaki333 Are you saying if I live near a school, that's where the child will go and I can't ask for a place in a school further away?

In Scotland we have school catchment areas. A catchment area is an area around a single non denominational school. Any children who live in this area are given a place at the school. You also have the choice of attending the nearest catholic school. Most Scottish councils publish catchment area maps on their website.

You can make a placing request to go to another school but will only get a place if there is one. In East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire the schools are great and are very popular. The chances of getting into one of these schools if you are NOT in the local catchment area is pretty low.

This is a significant factor in the higher house prices in these areas.

As others have suggested if you asked MNs admins to move this thread to Scotsnet you will get a lot more replies.

@MyHusbandTheIdiot We're looking for a nice 3 bed or a large 2-bed. Not too bothered if it's detached, semi or even terraced, but it needs to be ready to move in as I can't oversee renovations from far away and with a 4-month old to boot. Budget would be around 400k I guess. I can go higher but then the quality of life would go down and I would be restricted into what job I have to take. I work in IT but it's a niche area (ERP-related) so there's not a lot of jobs in general and even fewer that are fully-remote.
Do you think any of the areas mentioned would match the above?

@NamechangeFML
My husband is planning a trip next month to actually see the areas we pick as candidates (hence this post to get a better idea). We've not been back to Scotland since 2018 so I guess it could have changed a lot. A shame if it did but I guess austerity+Covid took a toll on everywhere to some degree...

What do you mean by "beware of the feeders going into mental high schools"?

Which commuters towns would you recommend?

If you're ok commuting to Glasgow rather than living there, there's lots of 'commuter' towns on the Glasgow-Edinburgh train line. Some larger towns in North and South Ayrshire are a manageable commute as well.

You'd get more house for your money!

As pp have said- you might buy in an ok area, the primary might be fine but msy feed into a crap high school
for eg kelvindale areas finr. Right by " proper" westend but the high school is rough!
lanarkshire for commuter towns or south of glasgow

If you look out in the Paisley direction, Bridge of Weir and Houston both have good primary schools, and feed into Gryffe High school which has a good reputation - all three of my boys went there and did well.

I would start with schools first. I wish we'd done that and decided where we want to live for secondary before the kids started primary. It's been harder for them and us to try and join social groups that have been established since baby and toddler groups.

East renfrewshire schools are desirable. There's plenty of houses within your budget in Giffnock, Clarkston, busby etc

You’re in the SE?

brace yourself for the biting cold and very mild summers in comparison with lovely SE climate

I know, I did live there for 3 years. Definitely don't miss the wind and cold. My logic is while the SE weather is better, it's still generally shite compared to other countries.
So I'd rather have really bad weather where i live/work but be able to afford 2-3 sunny vacations per year, than have better but still bad weather and afford maybe 1 sunny vacation.

It's more the daylight issue that bothers me: too much in summer waaay too little in winter. I remember leaving for work in the dark and coming back in the dark and no, no overtime ...

Depends where in SE (I’m in garden of England and it’s bloody lovely)

but the weather situation… I shudder at the memory. Such a lovely city but I just couldn’t enjoy it. Cold to the bone and then summer was always such a bloody disappointment.

Right not, all windows and doors wide open, children and I will have dinner outside and as soon as they’re home - they will be outside until dinner

Think carefully op

You’re a softie southerner nowadays!

Is your partner ready for it?!

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