Relocating to Scotland with kids??

[Hannah2199]

We are thinking about relocating from England to Scotland for my OHs job. I have some serious reservations. How would we go about applying for schools for our primary school age children? Do we wait until weve moved? But would this mean kids might end up missing weeks of school? Or apply now for say 6 months time? What if one child got in to new school but the other didnt, would they have to remain in england until a place came up in Scotland? We would want them both in the same school straight away. I really have no idea how this works!!

Also, what would we do about our house? We have a large mortgage. Work have offered to pay approx 6 months rent for a new property which is great but I worry what would happen if we couldn't sell our old house as we cant afford two properties.

Do we spend the money on renting a like for like house straight away? OH to move there, but kids and I remain here attempting to sell the house? Or do we all move asap and hope estate agent could sell the house? Or does OH commute until house is sold(very long distance with unreliable flights! so not really an option) and then use the money to pay for first few months of rent in a new place?

My fear is we get school places completely wrong. And we lose our life savings paying for both a mortgage in England and a rental property (or new mortgage) in Scotland.

Has anyone done this?? What worked and what didnt??

Also, should we expect OH work to give us any help? Eg finding schools or anything? We know noone and nothing about the area really.

I'm not totally sold on moving and I'm looking for reassurance that this isn't going to be a massive disaster.

Just a wee note.

The rental laws changed here in last year or so and there is no longer a minimum rental contract of 6 months or whatever. You only have to give 4 weeks notice to move out of a rental, even if you have only just moved in.

Ooh thanks didnt know there was a Scots net (clueless!!)

Very surprised about the rental laws but that's really helpful thanks

Where is the office that makes a huge difference - traffic coming in from the country in the rush hour is terrible. If We still area it makes sense to live out that way so west end Aberdeen/ West hill banchory / Alford doable albeit last 2 are 30 min drive on fast country roads. Very much country towns. If bridge of Don/ airport ellon new machar etc. If town go for Aberdeen itself in a good high school catchment.

His workplace would be near Peterhead so I think we would be looking north of Aberdeen or within easy access to main roads etc.

It's such a big decision! We didn't even have time to see Aberdeen. Do people live in say Ellon but use the facilities in Aberdeen? Or do you think people live in Ellon somewhere and stay in their local area as SAHM. I'm coming from a big town/city where things like swimming pool, trampoline parks, playgrounds, toddler groups, cinema, coffee shops and big shops are all within 5 to 15 mins away.

Definitely not Banchory then!

Peterhead is a difficult one - not on the rail network so your reliant on the car. Very few job opportunities for you or if your DH wants to change job, iffy schools you are right not to live there. At least he will be doing a reverse commute - most people will be coming into Aberdeen.

I don't know Ellon but it was seem a good option - equidistant from Aberdeen and Peterhead and if you wanted to work in Aberdeen in the future, Dyce (airport) isn't far away with lots of companies located there. It's high school seems decent enough (ranked 105 out of 300+ last year).

If you visit again go to the beach at Collieston it's lovely there. The seaside villages in Moray are lovely too - Findhorn, Pennan Gardenstown and lots of others, lots of lovely day trips. Inland you have lots of castles and gardens - you can get a lot of value for a national trust membership in that neck of the woods. It is chilly but quite dry.

Haddo estate is just lovely too. There are lots of outdoors things to do.

simd.scot
Scottish Index of multiple deprivation is a useful guide if you don't know an area at all - not perfect but if you aim for the darkest blue you can that's the least deprived based on a basket of different measures.

Put a post on Scotsnet - "What is Ellon like?" - DH needs to commute to Peterhead and we have young dc - don't want to be isolated with nothing to do!

Thanks everyone. Definitely the attractions in Scotland national trust and beaches are a big draw for us.

What about Turriff?

Hadnt heard of it but I'll check it out thanks

Ah thanks but Tunriff probably too far away from Aberdeen. If I wanted to get a a job in future we wouldn't both be able to commute 40-60 minutes unfortunately

Oh I thought because Turriff is closer to Peterhead than Banchory.
It’s a great town, lots of opportunities for your children.
Fair dues. 😊

When looking for property in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire use ASPC pretty much all properties in these areas are on that website. Good luck!

You could look at somewhere like Oldmeldrum (has primary and secondary school) - it’s a little further to Peterhead but close to Inverurie which has a lot of facilities that avoids need of always having to go to Aberdeen

Thanks I'll have a look

Mintlaw might be a good option also. I work in Peterhead but stay very rurally.

When my kids were little there were lots of groups in Ellon for toddler/pre-school plus there's the sports centre and swimming pool too.

I used to live in a very small place south of Stonehaven, it was on the main coast road and looked as though nothing ever happened there. We moved in and my goodness me, the village hall was an absolute hive of activity. I still miss friends from there now.
So Ellon may look quiet but try not to make assumptions. Best of luck. We loved living in Scotland, fabulous countryside and fabulous people.

Ellon will be a lot cheaper than Banchory for buying and renting as Banchory IS very touristy in summer as well as being in ''Royal Deeside''.
I'd say the commute would be equally long to Aberdeen centre, but might be better for other areas where your DH's work will be.
There's lots on in both places, but a lot more in Banchory due to the tourisy things (it's also expensive to eat there, but very nice).

There's lots of other larger and smaller villages and towns all around that would possibly suit you too e.g Inverurie, Tarves, Oldmeldrum, Kemnay, Portlethen, Stonehaven etc as all these sizes of places have lots on and plenty schools. Just look at a map of Grampian, Scotland and zoom in on the places.

Maybe check out some places using google maps and 'things to do in........' sites to see what's there ?

You should also look at the newspapers ''Evening express'' and ''Press and journal'' online to check out the property section (I think it's once a week) as they advertise properties to rent and buy, so you can get a rough idea of costs etc.

Hey i know this is an old post but i wondered how you got on with relocating and how are your young children with it all? Were also thinkiny of moving to Scotland up the highlands though