dreaming of a new life in edinburgh

[frazzled74]

we have just returned from a holiday in edinburgh and loved it.I am only at day dreaming stage but am just wondering how possible it would be to move there.
I know that we could get jobs,but is it possible to buy a 3 bedroomed property for less than 150,000? or rent one for under £800 a month, if so ,which areas? are they ok? are the schools good etc. we would want to be within easy reach of city centre. all advice appreciated as i have tried searching on internet but dont really know the areas.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha.... [bitter]

No. Not in an area you would want to be in, or anywhere close to the centre.

If you go on the espc website you can search by value, but remember this is Scotland so the price is the starting price that you bid above.
Good and bad schools in Edinburgh as OB said good schools in good areas.

I'm from Edinburgh and it is a lovely place to grow up and live but very insular.

We are in a 2 bed in an area with good schools and within reach of city centre and its prob valued at £195k, so no, I don't think you could get what you wanted for that budget.

That was unhelpful, sorry. Look on

www.espc.com/

Granton or Corstorphine might be possible? Neither very central though.

I did actually laugh aloud as OhBuggerandArse said, those very sounds.
Edinburgh is lovely, but v expensive, unless you want to live in the type of area you probably would pay not to live in.
Not trying to sound patronising, but how are you sure could get jobs? Things like accountancy, teaching, nursing etc now so thin on ground actually don't exist...
However, never say never, don't know what you do?
Good luck anyway, hope you prove us wrong. (If so please let us know how....)

will carry on dreaming then, theres always the lottery!

I didn't mean to be so negative. maybe you could find a place that needs some work done or something?

not corstorphine....broomhouse maybe

hmm, from experience, wouldn't call broomhouse OK

and I wouldn't call Granton ok either but I was going by someone else's criteria

I live between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Pretend I live in Edinburgh by hanging out in Mornigside/Stockbridge etc as much as possible! Would that be an option? Our 3-bed house is probably valued at approx £170,000. Don't think we'll ever be able to afford to move back into Edinburgh.

Frazzled - if you're happy to rent you could get something for your £800 pcm budget but would likely be a flat. Don't be put off too easily if you really want to move here. As others have said it depends on what you do regards jobs. If you're in the public sector then obviously going to be tough but plenty of private sector are still hiring and Edinburgh is still classed as a city where you're more likely to find work after being made redundant than many others (have been privy to lots of interesting employment stats recently) so maybe not a bad move if you're coming from somewhere with high unemployment.

Definitely come and spend some time here in winter before you move permanently though, don't underestimate how quickly you can go off a place when it's bitterly cold and the wind is howling.

Come back to ask more questions, don't give up too easily!

thanks belle, i am a nurse, there seems to be a few jobs about, and i dont mind renting, we would rent out our house here though so that we do still have a property if doesnt work out.We are planning another visit in dec/jan. In the meantime will keep looking out for jobs and getting more information, have also drawn up a 6 month budget today so can be debt free (apart from mortgage) which will give us a better chance if we need to take wage cuts or pay out more on housing. thanks for all the advice.

I recommend you spend a long holiday there in winter.

Depending on where you are, it may be very dark and cold and wet.

It's lovely in summer.

It is the most expensive city in Scotland, however, and the third most expensive city in the UK.

The NHS trust there is also making 300 nurses redundant in the next year, with more cuts to come.

Houses are very difficult to find to rent, as 70% of the housing stock there is in the form of flats, and when you find one the rent is going to be quite high.

Ditto the council tax, which will almost assuredly go up when the government allows it to pay for the trams.

Under £800/month isn't going to rent much in a nice area in easy reach of city centre, even a flat, unless you're talking some ex-council ones, and then you need to be very careful when you go in these because it's possible to find serious anti-English sentiment in such areas.

And oh, god, not Broomie!

Hi Frazzled

We relocated to Edinburgh from London in April and so far are loving it. The shopping is so convenient with everything I need a 10 min drive away. Ditto family days out - beaches, country parks - it's great.

I am renting a 3 bed semi detached modern house in Liberton for £795 a month. I think Liberton is quite nice. It's quiet and yet easy to get into town on the bus or by car. Liberton Primary school is supposed to be quite good too. Maybe not Gracemount though at the other end of Liberton.

You're also really close to the Infirmary which is huge and liberton hospital.

The house a few doors a long sold for £155k I think. It was a small 2 bed though and terraced - but don't rule out your finances as an impossibility.

We are in Greenbank and pay £900 for a really nice big 3 bed flat.

There are lots of tenement flats in Morningside and around Marchmont that aren't too expensive.

It's lovely here, we moved here two years ago.

Schools near us are very good.

Hi Fraggletits I'm in Liberton too!

Moved to Edinburgh in 2006 and love it here. Housing is expensive and state secondary schools are a bit mixed

oh god expat...the voice of doom as ever

as much as i agree with you redrobin, did you see that Ch4 doc on drugs last night? The UK episode was set in Edinburgh - the UN called it the drugs capital of Europe. Absolutely the first time I have heard of that from the UN.

{{http://www.channel4.com/programmes/our-drugs-war/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1]]

I wouldn't contradict the UN as I'm no expert on drugs and they're probably right as there are a good number of very deprived areas in Edinburgh. However I don't think anyone moving to Liberton, Greenbank, Bruntsfield etc need worry about it!

I'm not saying that it's right or good but over the past fifty years or so Edinburgh has very effectively pushed the council estates to the outskirts of the city so unless you live in them you don't tend to see the problems which exist. I have friends in the police in Edinburgh who can paint a pretty different picture of the city than the one many people are familiar with though. Leith is still pretty rough round the edges but when we lived there for 7 years I never once had any hassle.

Aberdeen was for a long time the "drugs/heroin capital of Europe" but DH grew up there and was completely unaware of it's status until he moved away.

I guess the divide between the 'haves ' and 'have nots' is pretty wide in Edinburgh but I wouldn't worry any
more about the drugs problem here than I would moving to any UK city.
On a separate note glad to see that there are more people encouraging the OP to move here, I thought I was the only one

I feel safer in Greenbank than I have ever been anywhere! I have lived in Notting Hill, Hackney, Pimlico, Nairobi and Derbyshire.

You may not live in these areas yourself but your houses may be a target for addicts needing to feed their habit. Especially if nearby.

(Bitter experience both from where I used to live in Greenbank and where I am now.)

The UN statement really surprised me...no wonder the News didn't pick that up!

What do they mean by the drugs capital of Europe? Highest proportion of drug use per capita?

I have experienced crime in Hackney, Notting Hill and Nairobi.

I wish everyone would see sense and just legalise drugs! These problems would vanish overnight.

ANyway, I think putting someone off moving to Eidnburgh because of drugs is crazy. Madness. There are drug problems everywhere and Edinburgh is certainly no worse.

DP (from Edinburgh) says try having a look at Portobello (near the sea) or Trinity. Some parts of Leith are worth looking at (some worth avoiding).
Corstorphine's got the feel of being a village inside the city, worth a try.

Maybe try looking at the colony houses They're small but really cute and will be cheaper than other period properties.

good idea lowrib...i lived in the Lochend colonies for years and it was lovely...lots of families, and i never saw any "leith' trouble at all. Headmaster friend says any primary school in Edinburgh will give your child a decent education - high schools vary wildly tho, for instance although Portobello is a good shout for prices, Porty high not a good school is pretty grim.