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Original poster

Where to live in Edinburgh - advice needed please :)

37 replies

gemmac · 26/12/2006 17:36

Hello, this is the first time I've posted although I have lurked for a while.
My dh has been offered a job in Edinburgh and is keen to take it. He was a student there many moons ago and has fond memories.
Can anyone advise about which areas are 'nice' for families (2 kids aged 2 and 9 so looking for good schools, family friendly etc) and roughly how much we will have to pay for a 3 or 4 bedroomed house (pref detached).
Any other advice about living in Edinburgh would be gratefully received. I've never even been there although a visit is planned pretty soon.
I know there have been threads like this for other parts of Scotland recently but haven't really found anything about Edinburgh (could be my fault though )
Any help would be most gratefully received.
Thanks

OP posts:
tommysmama · 26/12/2006 18:09

Edinburgh is a brilliant city for living in and bringing up kids, you'll love it here.
Areas to look for:
Barnton, Cramond, South Queensferry (out of town), Duddingston, Portobello, Silverknows, Davidsons Mains, Morningside, Dean Village, The Grange.. these are all realy nice areas although can be very pricey.
For a 3 or 4 bed house in one of these areas you are looking at anywhere between £200,00 up tp £1,000,000!
These areas all have good schools, but be careful of surrounding areas, Edinburgh is a very small city.
For example, parts of Niddrie may be classed by estate agents as duddingston, when Niddrie is one of the worst areas in Edinburgh, but happens to be close to Duddingston.
Also steer very clear of Wester hailes, Saughton, pennywell, pilton, polwarth.

Hope this helps a little, anything else you would like to know i would love to help.. i love this city!

tamum · 26/12/2006 18:12

Hello . The best High Schools are in the areas around Marchmont/Grange/Bruntsfield/Morningside, which are the catchment areas for Gillespies and Boroughmuir (Royal High is good too), but these are not cheap areas to live. The primary schools are pretty good in these areas too. There are lots of facilities for children in terms of music, ballet, swimming, that kind of thing around here, but I guess that's true of lots of areas. Detached houses? I think you would probably have to look outside the city centre unless you are really loaded- most of the city is populated by terraces and tenements, and although detached houses do exist they tend to be at a premium. The best bet is to look at the ESPC website , as the vast majority of properties for sale will be on there, and it will give you an idea of where to look. There are several of us on here who live in Edinburgh so I'm sure you can get more specific help later on!

Original poster
gemmac · 26/12/2006 18:23

Tamum & tommysmama,

thank you both for your replies.
I've had a quick look at the ESPC webside - didn't realise Edinburgh was so pricy - maybe I'll have to change my ideas about a detached house. Don't really fancy living outside Edinburgh - dh hates the idea of commuting - but will have to think about this too.
Will have a think and see if there is anything else I need to ask.
In the meantime any more advice would be very gratefully received. Thanks again.

OP posts:
tamum · 26/12/2006 18:27

Sorry, prices are pretty awful, aren't they? What I would say is that if you're not used to tenement flats don't rule them out completely unless you are desperate for a garden- there are some beautiful flats in places like Marchmont with huge rooms and shared gardens at the back. We used to have an 8 bedroom flat there that was way bigger than most houses. You should definitely come and have a good look round. I completely agree about living in the city, I greatly prefer it, but you have to make these kinds of choices unfortunately.

tommysmama · 26/12/2006 18:47

I agree with tamum, the tenaments in the city arent like most cities, they are mainly HUGE old georgian tenemants, my friend had a 3 bed flat in morningside which cost £190,000 and it has very huge rooms, beautiful big windows and nice old features like cornicing, and his own garden.

Most of the tenaments in town are massive, but pricey.

Out of town living isnt too bad as Edinburgh is so small it really doesnt take that long to get into town. Between 10-30 minutes from most decent areas. the 9-5 commute can take a bit of time though, but thats more the 'getting around the city' than the 'getting to the city' part!

If you are heart-set on detached, it really has to be out of town. Somewhere like North Berwick (a beautiful little seaside vilage with great schools) or Gullane (again, beautiful seaside town, with Pro golf course!) are amazing places to bring up children. and the houses can be a little pricey but there are usually cheaper new build options or cottages around. Most places down the East Coast are similar. Avoid Tranent or Prestonpans.. And the commute from these places to Edinburgh is less than one hour.

bogwobbit · 26/12/2006 18:59

Hmm, Ive just had a more thorough look at the espc website.
Hardly anything with 3 bedrooms (house or flat) in Edinburgh for under £200,000
Also, what about the 'offers over' system. Is there a rough rule of thumb about how much 'over' houses go for?

bogwobbit · 26/12/2006 19:00

I'm looking in Edinburgh too, gemmac probably for the same sort of thing you are. Very depressing isn't it.

Original poster
gemmac · 26/12/2006 19:02

It certainly is depressing, bogwobbit.
I was wondering about the offers over system too. Look forward to hearing how it works.

OP posts:
tamum · 26/12/2006 19:07

The offers over thing depends on the area and the time of year IME. The rule of thumb is anything between 10 and 20% but I have seen things go for 50% over. That would usually only happen with very desirable properties that rarely come up, and where there are lots of notes of interest (people tell their solictor if they are planning to bid, and you can find out roughly how many people you are biding against). Having said that, if you're willing to do work on a property and/or are buying at a dead time of year (like now) you could easily get away with 10%, I think. The last two properties we bought we just made an offer that was accepted because they were both places that needed loads of work, so we got them for scarcely more than the offers over price. It's worth looking for "fixed price" to, as obviously there won't be any need for bids there. The other thing to bear in mind is that if you get a survey done that will give you an idea of what to bid- there is a bit of an attitude with a lot of lawyers of "put the asking price artificially low to get people in through the door" unfortunately.

Original poster
gemmac · 26/12/2006 19:25

Thanks tamum, that's interesting.
I did really have my heart set on having a garden of my own, but I think the best thing to do is to come up and have a look round at what is on the market, including flats, and then decide what to do. Dh did live in a flat when he was a student but obviously student flats are very different from family ones.
Couple of other things to ask - would you say Edinburgh was an expensive place to live in (not counting actually buying a house), travel costs, council tax etc and also how 'friendly' is it esp to English people. Mentioned the job to a friend who said that she had heard stories of English kids being bullied at Scottish schools because of their accents.

OP posts:
tamum · 26/12/2006 19:39

Well, another thing to look into would be "main door" flats- they are in tenements on the ground floor but have their own front door and often have their own gardens, at least in front but often at the back aswell. Hmm- I have been here 14 years and moved here from London, so it seems relatively cheap to me but I'm not sure it is, particularly. Council tax is pretty bad I think- the rates are here . Having said that I am English/Welsh and dh is English and we've never experienced anti-English feeling (well, a tiny bit from a few people) and the children certainly haven't (they don't have Scottish accents, weirdly, so they would be targets in theory). I think that partly depends on the area you live in- there are certainly lods of non-Scottish people where I live, and a high proportion are English. It is a lovely place to live, honest

mummytosteven · 26/12/2006 19:42

with flats bear in mind hidden charges if you buy rather than rent - we own a flat in England, and service charge is nearly £100 per month (owch!)

tamum · 26/12/2006 19:47

That's a good point actually, the vast majority of flats here don't have service charges because there isn't the same leasehold system. The only ones that do tend to be new builds with flats.

Kristingle · 26/12/2006 19:47

oh yes edinburgh is lovely, do go and visit. but you will need ££££ for house

tamum · 26/12/2006 19:48

New builds with flats??? I meant lifts, sorry

bobsmum · 26/12/2006 19:54

Edinburgh has a reputation in the West coast for being just another part of the suburbs of London, just separated by the odd mile or two. Possbily up to 30-40% people of English origin in some parts so I can't imagine there being any anti-English feeling at all!

I'm in a rural are in central Scotland and i'd say it's up to 60% English in my area. ds has a very south east of england accent! V Odd. Don't know where all the Scots have disappeared to?

Kristingle · 26/12/2006 19:55

we are all here in the west

bobsmum · 26/12/2006 19:56

I put on a fake accent at playgroup to fit in!

tommysmama · 27/12/2006 01:03

Edinburgh isn't cheap to live in, taxis are expensive for example, and parking is too. Buses are £1 any distance, and Lothian buses are one of the best in the UK. They are frequent and plentiful, and very child friendly, with buggy spaces and huge doors to let you on with a buggy.

Council tax depends on area, i live in a very upmarket area and mine is £220 a month, but averagely its about £150 a month i think.

On the plus side, there are LOADS of good bars and restaurants, and you can go out for a really cheap night or a really expensive night, and the cheap places are all pretty good!

As for being friendly, i dont think there are friendlier people than scots! We are very welcoming and certainly all my non-scottish friends don't seem to have problems? i am aware that not everyone is so accepting, but on the whole i certainly dont think it should be a concern.
Dont know about this bullying, possibly on the west coast but certainly not in edinburgh, it is a pretty multicultural place and i went to school with english people who were never bullied for it, and that was 20 years ago!

expatinscotland · 27/12/2006 01:21

We're looking to leave Edinburgh in the new year. It's just too dear for many families on a normal income to afford ANY sort of place w/a garden, even to rent.

DH is a native. So are our girls.

It's tough, b/c we have roots here, friends, etc.

Nothing gold can stay.

Time to move on.

Best of luck in your search!

expatinscotland · 27/12/2006 01:24

Edinburgh has a very large English population, so don't worry about bullying here.

Outside of here, I can't really vouch for. DH and the girls are Scots, so I'd know even less.

Much of what I have found is quite tacit, tbh, not overt. It won't come out whilst you're present, if you are English, so don't worry.

Original poster
gemmac · 27/12/2006 16:57

Thanks again for all your help.
If I can think of any more specific questions either before or after we visit Edinbrgh, I'll let you know.

OP posts:
Original poster
gemmac · 27/12/2006 16:59

Expat, also wanted to say how sad it is that you and your dh are being forced out of your home town because you can't afford a decent family home - that sucks
Where are you planning to move to, if you don't mind me asking.
Would have posted this with my last message but the computer is playing up and wouldn't let me - don't know why.

OP posts:
Pruni · 27/12/2006 17:05

Message withdrawn

tamum · 27/12/2006 17:41

I completely agree with Pruni- places like Liberton are more affordable but have no centre, and the high school in Liberton is pretty dire. I know quite a few people who moved there from flats when they had children in order to get a garden and who are now moving back to flats to be in a good catchment area for secondary schools. With a 9 year old I would be looking very carefully at catchment areas- the city is very polarised at secondary level as it is, with such a high proportion of children going to private school, and the state high schools are very variable.