Relocating to Scotland

[BipolarBabe34]

hi MN (not sure where I was supposed to post this one) but once again I’ve been thinking a lot again about relocating. I currently live down south it’s very expensive rent ect I’ve been thinking of moving up north more so to Scotland. I have family up there and the rent is so much cheaper. I’ve found lovely cottages up there with land for only a small amount more than what I pay in the south for a smaller property.

my question is anyone that has relocated such a long distance how did it go? Do you regret it? Are you glad and how did you go about viewing properties as it’s not like I can just pop over for context we are about a 9/10 possibly even 11 hour drive from the highlands.

thanks for reading again.

Are you on your own? Age?

Where abouts are you thinking of moving to in the Highlands?

mid 30s I have a husband and DS 7

honestly I’m not overly sure it’s something I would have properly looked into depending on schools ect I just wanted to get some ideas and advice before having a proper look.

Jobs?
school?
custody arrangements?
health?

Not really sure what this has got to do with me asking for advice about if people regretting a long move or how they viewed houses?

OP, if you are moving from the south of England, I would consider spending several weeks there in January/February before you consider moving.

Oh dear. All somewhat relevant.

How do you propose to support yourselves if you relocated to the Scottish Highlands. Having a bit of extra land won't provide an income unless you have a well thought out plan.

Apologies Hassell...didn't mean to quote you. 🤦‍♀️

Post in Scotsnet. You will get much better answers.

You could go to the Scotsnet topic and read through some of the threads there.

Buying a house is different
Education is different
Health is different
Weather is different

Now the word different looks weird. My point is it’s not just driving for eleven hours that you need to think about.

If you don't think this is relevant then you've not thought this through properly.

You are contemplating moving from down South because the rent is very expensive down there and in the next breath saying to a bigger place that's more expensive !
What's the logic to that ?
I get the property has land but with that comes extra responsibility . You also say you only have the one child so it's not as if you need a mass of extra bedrooms .
Yes make the move to Scotland if it makes sense to do so , but look for a house that's perhaps slightly bigger to suit your needs but not more expensive .

I've lived here over 20 years so depends where you're considering.
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness or near one of them - living costs are the same as down south.
Highlands - nice but if you're not near a city, you're going to be spending a lot of time driving to get to places for main shops etc.
How to view houses - agents can do video calls to show you around and give you an idea.
Or choose an area and spend a weekend viewing properties.
Scotland is a diverse country so some idea of where you want to stay would be helpful.

Be aware income tax is higher and if you ever want to buy the stamp duty /land tax is significantly higher. Our council tax is also higher in Scotland than it was when we lived in London, although water is wrapped into it. Obviously there are some benefits from the higher tax like free prescriptions if you’re a person who needs a lot of medicines (we’re not luckily), free university etc

I moved from the south of England to the west highlands about fifteen years ago. It took a good year or two to adjust, it's very very different!

Small communities can often be very hard to integrate into, worth considering for your child too.

There are hidden costs you might not consider. We are 2.5 hours from a city. Any healthcare that can't be covered in our local hospital is a day off work and a 200 mile round trip. Delivery can be more for online shopping. If you holiday a lot you have to consider more expensive flights and less choice.

The weather and midgies are wildly different. It's not just a bit rainier. Particularly on the west coast!

But, it's amazing. A wonderful sense of space and freedom and knowing your neighbours.

Good luck!

Thanks all. As I said i was thinking just wanted some opinions. I’ve never said it was set in stone obviously I wouldn’t move off a whim but obviously I wanted a few opinions before moving from just a thought to ok this could actually be an option.

There’s a huge difference between moving to the central belt and the highlands. If you had some idea of the areas you’re thinking about people could advise you properly. My advice to someone moving to Perth or Stirling would be very different to someone moving to Fort William.

There’s a long relatively recent (this year) thread on here about a mumsnetter in England considering a move to the highlands

lofs of useful info and stuff to think about
i’d recommend searching for it

I’d make sure you’re sorted for jobs first tbh.

When I moved to the south of England from the highlands I had to take an AirBnB for a few weeks while I sorted my long term accommodation. It was quite expensive but the only option for me at the time.

The other option would be just you or your husband coming up north for a few weeks or a month just to solely look for rental properties. Depends where you want to be in the highlands, but for most areas there’s a huge amount of competition for rentals and they go really quickly. If they’re really cheap it’s for a reason!

But can you not see that we have no idea about your job, health, situation - and things what drives an opinion on this

I made this move! I've never EVER regretted it Op. In fact, you couldn't pay me to move back to England.

My kids were 4 & 5 at the time (it was 2003). We initially moved to Livingston, but later on we came to Dalgety Bay, which is a seaside town in Fife. Best of both worlds here - cheaper houses, but just a 20 minute train journey takes you into Edinburgh. We have 2 good Primary schools, and the High school is going to be replaced with a state of the art multi million pound school on the banks of the river Forth - plans look amazing. We've got 5 lovely beaches, and I can see the sea from my windows and garden. Love it!

Ignore people who moan about the weather - it's a common misconception that Scotland is cold. It was 30 degrees on my decking yesterday and so hot we had to have the parasol up.

Schools are good. Crime is lower. I could leave my door unlocked if I wanted to. Hospitals are infinitely better than in England. The people are super friendly. Prescriptions are free. University is free! Both my kids went to Uni - one to Edinburgh and one to Aberdeen - both got degrees and now have professional jobs. The only thing we had to pay for was board and food. The degrees were free!

Whilst the Highlands are beautiful, I would personally choose Fife, as you get all the best bits, but you're still close to Edinburgh, which is stunning. Lots if things there for kids, like museums, the fringe festival etc. Loads of bars and restaurants.

Oh, and to answer your question, we flew up several times, and spent the weekend looking at areas and houses. It's the only way to do it really.

We moved midlands to ne Scotland. But it wasn’t really planned. We planned to move to ne England and did so. Rented there so we could look at houses. Then on one holiday up in ne Scotland, we decided to view some houses on a whim, we did, put an offer in and that was that.