relocating to glasgow need help with areas

[dogmadmum]

we are relocating to Scotland sometime in the new year due to my husbands job moving to Erskine near Glasgow. I was hoping some of you mums out there could advise us on the best areas to live and for schools for our 5 and 8 year old. I come from Durham and have never lived anywhere else, so i am very nervous to say the least and any advice will be very welcome. Ideally no more than 30 Min's drive from Glasgow would be good.
many thanks for reading

We haven't had as much snow as some other places. (I am down the West Coast). Some of the higher up villages, like Kilmalcom did get snowed in for a couple of days last winter but it's not been too bad.

Although we are on the same latitude as Moscow, the Gulf Stream keeps it relatively mild! Just be prepared for lots of rain but beautiful scenery!

As per previous post, think about what you want for you and the children in terms of work, childcare, interests and after-school activities and post back.

We'll find you somewhere!

Lol at 'good morals'

Do you mind living in a flat? most of Glasgow (and the surrounding big towns) used to be all Victorian tenements. The ones still standing tend to be lovely- high ceilings, cornicing, fireplaces, huge bay windows, stained glass etc. You will have a lot more choice of acommodation if you consider one of these, esp when renting.

TBH on your budget you are not going to get a 3 bed house in one of the really nice areas. Schools in Scotland are allocated on catchment area much more then in England. There aren't the equivalent of CofE/faith schools with their own entrance requirements. All state schools are divided into donominational (Catholic) and non-donominational (everyone else). There are lots of good primary schools all over the place but good luck finding somewhere with 'good morals' in the state sector for secondary! (have a drive around at 3pm and take note of the typical belt skirt length and you'll see what I mean. Private schools are a lot cheaper up here than down south btw.

So, not taking into account secondary schools my top 5 areas would be:

Giffnock
Newton Mearns
East Kilbride (40mins)
Gourock
Kilmalcolm

I would agree with DC, you may need to look at some of the maisonette or vocroian tenement flats on your budget, as 3 bedroom house in the nicer areas will be going for a lot more.

I've seen some really nice flat conversions in Paisley and the South side.

rightmove search

Rental search

Here is a link for Childcare search aswell and Jobs site

In rightmove just type in Bishopton, Renfrewshire etc and it should find them

If you could stretch your budget slightly, you might be able to find something like this in Pollokshields

Yes, would you be able to stetch at all? some lovely conversions available in the south side for around 170,000 or 180,000

omg prettybird i love it mmm will need to do some work on dh

im sure we could go to at least 170,000

I am going off now ive got alot to go on for now thanks very much for all your advice and words of wisdom i will come back on tomorrow when i have had time to look and think.
thanks again

Good luck!

Just remember to factor in the "offers over" thing, it can make a difference to affordability!

Remember: prices are offers over - and that one I lnked it is just for part of the house. it does seem a bit low compared to most I found.

Our own house is more like something like this - the top half of a big Victorian villa (dh calls it a "horizontal semi") - minus the horrible dormer that has been added (we have a smaller dormer that was put in when the house was built, looking over the back, so not visible from the road).

The other thing that these schedules don't do is give you an idea of the size of the gardens. They are incredibly large - and can't be built upon 'cos this is a conservation area.

Don't be put off the idea of tenements either: there are lots of "family sized" tenements and Glasgow is well endowed with parks plus there will be a communal back garden/drying green area so it's not that you don't have a garden area. )althogh you did mention that gardening was one of your interests). And once you have got used to the size of the rooms and the height of the ceilings, you are spoilt for life!

I grew up in eaglesham (village just to the south of Glasgow). It's very nice. It's quiet but has a real community feeling. You can drive into the city centre in about 15-20 mins depending on the traffic. Loads of people that grew up there move back when they have kids themselves, but it isn't all weird an insular.

In case it matters, the local schools are very good. There's a primary school in the village and the kids transfer to means castle (which is a good high school). The local private school is in clarkston and transfers to st ninians (also good).

what private school in Clarkston? There's Belmont House In NM but nothing else in that neck of the woods.

St Ninians is the best state catholic school but there is currently a big hoo-ha over its catchment.

Sorry thought I was typing 'catholic' and it came out 'private'. I may, or may not, be utterly incompetent.

St joes feeds to st ninians and I doubt it'll stop doing that in the catchment hoo ha as there's no closet catholic high in east ren for it to feed to.

Erskine is a nice area. I have family there. There always seem to be lots of kids about.

TBH Glasgow is a funny one - there are very posh areas (Bearsden, the 7th richest area in the UK) and very poor areas (like Drumchapel, poorest area in Scotland) squished up right next to each other. You can literally stand with one foot in Drumchapel and one in Bearsden. This means that even really nice areas can have a slightly rougher element IME (I barely set foot out of Glasgow until I was 25).

Maybe think about somewhere near the Erskine bridge - it'd be easy enough for your DH to commute from there. For example, Duntocher and Bowling are probably within your price range. A little bit further up the road and you're in Clydebank, which has some dodgy bits and some nice bits, and slightly beyond that you're into Old Drumchapel (near dodgy Drumchapel, but nice), Blairdardie and Knightswood, which are all decent areas and not a bad commute to Erskine (half an hour, maybe).

Here's a quick rundown, from the bridge to Knightswood:

1. Bowling: always looks like a lovely area with a nice harbour on the river etc. I've never lived there but have visited many times. No idea about schools.

1. Duntocher: My dad used to live here. Affordable housing, several playspaces, within easy reach of shopping centres etc. Has a slightly dodgy element, I suppose, but we never had any problems growing up and had lots of freedom. Again, not sure about schools.

1. Clydebank: Slightly dodgy in bits, but very nice in others. Has a big shopping centre - not very high class but it has a 24 hour Asda and a multiplex cinema.

1. Old Drumchapel: quite middle class area just off Gt Western Rd. Easy access to Gt Western Retail Park (Sinsbury's, B&Q etc). Close to Drumchapel so some dodginess but growing up I was always very jealous of my friends who lived here. Lots of bungalows.

1. Blairdardie: Almost exactly like Old Drumchapel but with smaller houses! Flanked by Rotherwood Avenue which is somewhat dodgy.

1. Knightswood: Where I grew up. Big park, lots of semi-detached/terraced housing, pretty affordable. Easy reach of

shopping etc. Quite quiet. Downside is all the high flats nearby but tbh most of Glasgow is full of these.

All these areas are what I'd probably describe as predominantly lower middle class. I'd happily live in any one of them but sadly don't at the moment :( My family still live in Knightswood.

It's worth noting that Knightswood Primary has an outstanding reputation, though it has quite a deprived catchment (taking in some of the high flats).

In the areas I've mentioned the majority of the housing is semi-detached or terraced post-war ex-council properties with good sized gardens.

Freerangeggs, Erskine is my home town.

Does Knightwood High still have a bad rep? Is the Ballet school still there do you know?

The Dance School of Scotland is still based at Knightswood.

Aren't most of the houses there cottage flats ie 4 in a block?

Some of them are, but there are a few High Rise as well.

I used to live in anniesland, and had we stayed there I would have gone to Knightswood.

As it was we moved when I was in P1 and I ended up in Erskine.

I went to Knightswood and my partner worked there as a teacher.

There were lots of fab teachers at Knightswood but their results weren't that great. It has improved though.

I heard (may or may not be true) that Knightswood should have been given additional funding because of its deprived catchment (the high flats, Temple, Shafton etc); however, because part of its catchment was technically Jordanhill, which is very wealthy, this meant the school didn't get the funding it needed. Of course no kids from Jordanhill go to Knightswood.

The Dance School is still there and a lot of the dancers I went to school with have gone on to be incredibly successful. Of course the vast, vast majority of dance kids don't come from the surrounding area (I think I knew one) and it's very competitive to get in.

Yeah, you're right, there are lots of 4-in-a-blocks too. I don't know why I didn't mention as both my aunt and dad live in them . They're a great size, my dad's is 3-bed and he has his own garden as well as a shared lawn.

mankyscotslass, where do you live now? :D

I'm in Manchester now!

We moved to Erskine in the 70's