Moving from London back to glasgow

[Grannyapple]

Glasgow/Scottish peeps! Hoping you can help.. we currently live in SE London with 3 kids aged 6, 3 & 2. Eldest is in year 1 here, 3 yr old turns 4 & would start school here in September (July birthday) but wouldn't start til next year if we were back in Scotland (we've been down south for 16 yrs). Had a long-ish chat with hubby earlier.. turns out he's worried about his job & we're kinda coming to the conclusion that now may be the time to move back up the road.. Trouble is not sure where we'd want to live now but obviously want to be close to good schools/transport/flat-ish for hubby & his mobility (he has a mild neurological condition). Not anywhere near to selling up yet..need to make a decision by the summer we think as he should know more about his work. I'm thinking I'll need to start tidying up the house a bit in prep for selling if that's the case..without spending much!

Anyway....east Renfrewshire is pretty good for schools eh?! Sis seems to think east Renfrewshire or east Dunbartonshire for schools. Also want to be handy for town centre as the kids get older..to give them independence & to hopefully not be too much of chauffeurs!! I also need to think about work options as I'd be the main earner..

Of course all of this could be a whole year off..but I'm starting to think about it all... sis is in Barrhead, best mate is in westerwood, Cumbernauld & hubby'a family are spread out between Laurieston, Stepps, & then west Dunbartonshire...decisions decisions! Love the look of newton mearns & Giffnock but not sure we can get what we want for the money we want to spend (age old dilemma eh!!).

Any help/advice/talk throughs much appreciated...

When it comes to the league tables, your sister is right, East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire are both at the top.

I can't speak about Dunbartonshire as I haven't a clue, but East Renfrewshire has generally good public transport links (depending on which part you are in) and the train to town takes about 20-25 minutes in the morning. Not bad at all.
It is a nice area to live especially if you want to be near your sister.

There is some nice parts in Barrhead but it is the least affluent part of East Renfrewshire and the schools there don't perform as well.

If public transport is a thing that you require, I'd argue that Mearns isn't very well served. There are estates within Mearns that aren't as ££££.

Clarkston, Giffnock and Busby are a bit more mixed. With a mixture of cheaper homes and expensive. (Cheaper is still relative though as house prices there are more competitive than elsewhere in Glasgow.)

How much do you want to spend realistically? I'd also recommend coming up for a visit as each area of East Ren has it's own 'feel'. Some are more community driven than others.

Hmm..I'm thinking £280k max.. yes agree I need to come up a bit to get a feel.. Clarkston is a consideration as is Giffnock..wasn't sure we'd get what we want there for our ££'s though? Busby seems far out..is it not as far out as I think it is??

Thanks for the reply x

Busby isn't particularly far out. It has it's own train station but to walk to Clarkston's train station from the middle of busby is 10 minutes. It's attached to Clarkston (which is attached to Giffnock which is attached to Mearns)

£280k is a pretty reasonable budget, there's really not a lot on the market at the moment in East Renfrewshire. There doesn't appear to be anything in Giffnock at the moment for your budget. I did spot this house in Clarkston (maybe a touch small in my opinion for the money-but it's a seller's market)www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64257635.html Houses do come up but they sell quickly as everybody is trying to get in for catchments.

That £280k would go a LOT further in other areas. For example this house in East Kilbride (7 miles from Glasgow, about 2 miles from Busby) is the same price [http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46547865.html]] or then again if you look at properties in Cumbernauld or Stepps you'd get a really quite large house for the money. So it's sometimes a difficult choice to pick between space or schools.

I'm sure your sister probably told you but s1 homes is a scottish search engine for house hunting and there's also the GSPC.