Immigrant family wanting to settle in Scotland

[TSeeker]

TL;DR: Would an Indian family with children be OK living in Troon or Ayrshire in general ? We can understand our children might stand out in schools but that's obvious and OK as long as there's no targeting or deliberate ostracism. In general we find Scotland extremely pleasant but understand certain places everywhere would insular and/or not open to diversity.

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Longer version:

My DH works in the IT industry as a Software Developer/Engg. He lived in Troon and commuted to work for 4.5yr switched companies, came to England and we are currently in Cambridge since 1.5 yrs. He now has ILR and is free from immigration restrictions and doesn't need sponsorship anymore. He's getting a lot of remote/work-from-home job offers/contracts. We are therefore planning on buying a house and settling down elsewhere.

We are an Indian family and have 2 small babies now (7month twins). DH hates life in Cambridge. Reasons given: (1) Traffic and congestion - unable to enjoy driving. (2) dullness/flatness, no access to mountains or sea or forests (there's Thetford but he loved Galloway so...) all of which he says helps him unwind (3) House prices - his idea is that he has worked super hard to earn whatever he has so he doesn't want to take a huge mortgage and continue slogging under pressure to repay it over next 2 decades or more.

The positives here are (1) Lots of jobs (2) super-sunny (3) education - Don't know how much this matters - DH did not go to "good" schools/uni, but with sheer determination and hardwork, outdid a lot of them who probably did - after-all he came from a poor background that too in a developing country and got himself a very decent paying job in a tech giant in a 1st world country :) .

He loved Troon. I joined him late so only lived there a very short while. He is not crazy after socialising or being with "own kind"- just enjoys his work and nature and not a people-person. We don't go to pubs or care about it for instance (non-drinkers anyway).

But now we have me (who wants a bit more social life or at-least some job) and our babies :) . House prices in South Ayrshire are wayyy less than Cambridge. We want to spend a max of £260K (can go to £280K if really needed but would prefer not to) on 3 or more room detached. We are seeing we can buy this in following places:

1. Ayrshire - Troon/Barassie (1st choice of DH), Irvine, Kilmarnock, Ayr - didn't find Prestwick appealing to live in.
2. Glasgow surroundings - Paisley, Newton Mearns (might have to compromise for a semi-detached here), East Kilbride. Obvious reason - availability of jobs should we need to switch
3. Livingston - commutable to both Glasgow and Edinburgh if needed
4. Edinburgh and surroundings - Dunfermline, Edinburgh itself (access to beaches) though might have to compromise for a semi-detached, North Berwick, Dunbar (super expensive so unlikely)

We have been to Edinburgh (sightseeing) and loved it. Never been to surroundings though. We have been to Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Irvine (ASDA, A&E, beach) occasionally and liked them. Lived in Troon for a while but didn't have children then. Others (Livingston etc.) we have just heard about, never been to.

Any guidance would be helpful - any places to obviously avoid (reasons appreciated) or obviously choose. Thanks !

Would suggest you post on Scotsnet or ask for this to be moved to there as you'll get more response.
I'm from Glasgow but moved away a long time ago. I used to live near Troon - also a long time ago. Troon and Prestwick are nice towns with good connections to Glasgow and I don't think you'd have any problems living there.
Edinburgh and the surrounds are ( I think ) more expensive than Glasgow. If you're not wedded to coastal then you might want to consider some of the Renfrewshire villages such as Bridge of weir and Kilmacolm but i think they are likely to be a bit pricier than Troon.

I'm in East Kilbride. I'd say there would be absolutely no problems with the fact you are Indian. There's a diverse population here and we're 15 minutes from the south side of Glasgow which is home to many different immigrant communities.

Honestly, you'll get utter horrible racist people anywhere but I wouldn't say there's any more up here than anywhere else. The Catholic/protestant sectarianism would be the big issue here, not race.

I can't comment on the areas in Scotland, but my suggestion would be to factor in the practicality of needing to fly down to the SE, or wherever his employer is headquartered, on occasion, at least a few times a month. I think a lot of companies are very gung ho about totally remote right now but will swing back to wanting at least occasional presence in the office as this becomes possible again. The trendsetters in tech have already ruled out totally remote working as standard, in general.

I’d definitely choose Troon over Irvine, Kilmarnock or Ayr!

if he is doing contract work his contracts could be in Glasgow Mancester Cambridge London Oxford Liverpool Sheffield etc

if it genuinely doesn't matter where he is based but needs to commute occasionally make sure you are either on a trainline to Glasgow and hence South or not too far from M74 to drive South or M8 to go to Edinburgh you don't weant it to be taking an hour just to get to the main road

but you need to be sure that remote working really is long term if he is self employed with contracts it is then up to him but I agree not working silly hours to fund a giant mortgage on ordinary house when a similar house elsewhere is half the price

Yeah you’d be fine in any of those areas.
However I would not choose to live in Kilmarnock for love nor money!

We live in Dunbar and you could definitely get a 3 bed for £280k here (my detached 4 bed was £300k last year). NB is much pricier. The schools are lovely.

It is predominately white here, but this part of Scotland (I think) is friendly and inclusive.

I'm about a mile outside Livingston and I have always worked there. I would say West Lothian as a whole is diverse, I don't think you will have any issues. Livingston like any town has good and bad areas. As a rule if thumb 200k for 3 or 4 bedroom detached indicates a better area. Good luck

Also consider areas outwith Edinburgh; Linlithgow, Winchburgh, Inverkeithing, S.Queensferry.
No to Kilmarnock.

Have you looked at largs in north Ayrshire?

Im English and fairly recently moved to Scotland I heard rumours that Scots can be a little unfriendly to the English but I've found the opposite everyone Ive met has been sooo friendly it takes me an hour to walk the dog on a 1/2 hour dog wall because everyone I meet is so friendly.
We live in Dumfries and Galloway, have a look at Dumfries its self, I don't know it overly well (we live in a village 35 mins way) but from my experience of working there the people are super friendly I went in to town and everyone I walked past smiled and said "hello" and it seems very pleasant it's particularly leafy and green for a town. There are quite. a lot of shops (much more than Troon) supermarkets and M and s a department store etc and you not too far from the sea I think one of my colleges said about 15 mins and its on a river. It has a station with training going to Glasgow and I think Edinburgh then south as well and the M6 to go south is also not far away about 30 mins. I think you'd easily get a house for £280K there e.g. this one.

Yeah if ur going for Ayrshire stick to Troon, it's lovely. I've a friend that lives there and she's always posting pics of her outdoor adventures and it looks absolutely beautiful. Makes me a bit jealous not to be at the coast. Think it's quite pricey for the houses though but sure u wld get what u want within top end of ur budget.

I'm in East Kilbride and you wouldn't have any issues here. U wld probably get a decent sized 4 or 5 bed detached for ur money, dependant in what area. My favourite areas are Stewartfield, Hairmyres and the village (this was the very small original part of East Kilbride that started out a long time ago). It has some housing, lots of restaurants, pubs, some independent shops and a theatre, very close to train station and the EK shopping centre too. Good transport links.

I like that we are close to Glasgow and it's a big town with lots to see and do (pre covid). It's maybe not so important if u can work from home though and plenty to do I'm sure in Ayrshire. If u like shopping I don't think there's much around and U wld probably need to come up to Silverburn shopping centre or even get on the train the Glasgow.

I think you should have no problem doing this. My dh works for Unity in Edinburgh and we live in East Kilbride.
Unity (who are looking to hire engineers now btw) are all WFH with their engineers just now and have just announced a 2 day max in the office policy as a permanent standard change. One of dh's engineers has moved to Arran off the back of this as their current manager is moving to Scotland and has indicated he's willing to be even more flexible than this.
So if your dh had a job like this living anywhere in a feasible long commute to Edinburgh would be possible. I love Ayrshire and would love to live there, but Fife is also beautiful and the countryside around Edinburgh, but you'd get more bang for your buck in Ayrshire I think!
Good luck finding somewhere lovely to call home x

WOW, so many helpful responses ! Thanks a million for all who took time to answer.

The Catholic/protestant sectarianism would be the big issue here, not race.
Ah right, we are atheists so either both those groups would be OK or both would be mad at us lol. Is that something we need to take care while searching for schools in future ? Like do you need to practice a particular faith to get through OR when there's a conflict between science and religion, religion wins (happened a lot in schools I attended back home - was borderline crazy) !

[..] factor in the practicality of needing to fly down to the SE [..] The trendsetters in tech have already ruled out totally remote working as standard, in general.
Great point ! Which is why I vetoed when he was too excited about settling in Orkney :D . Currently though the offers are mostly from other countries and some don't even have any presence in the UK. Proximity to job centres is thus for contingencies.

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From other really helpful replies, I get the following - Dunbar, Livingston, East Kilbride, Troon, Largs. Dumfries and Linlithgow seem lovely (street view :) ) but they are a bit awkward to travel to Glasgow/Edinburgh in-case remote jobs run dry and need to seek one there. We've been to Largs for outing and had absolutely loved it - but not sure how the travel to Glasgow would be. Same with Arran - we went atop Goatfell (IIRC the name) and heard Gaelic 1st time onboard the ferry ! But would be stranded for commutes.

There's a mention of Fife too - I suppose that's a bit far away from Edinburgh and Glasgow. Looks stunning though. How's quality of life there in general ?

Def. no seem to be for Irvine and even more so Kilmarnock :) That's a shame as we thought we would get so much house for the money, but suppose it was too good to be true ! Is the whole town bad with no good areas ? Given the recommendations, we'll avoid considering them now.

I don't work for the tourist board (promise) but Dunbar and Linlithgow are both relatively easy commutes to Edinburgh and Dunbar is on the East Coast mainline. Linlithgow is an easy commute to Glasgow too. Parts of Fife (South and West) are good commutes for Edinburgh.

I think your search area is a bit wide (Scotland in general is fab ), so you need to narrow it down then drill down to towns/villages/areas of towns in the area you have identified. If you live Troon (I've never been, but it sounds lovely!), then why not start there.

*love

I can't get over you putting Paisley next to Newton Mearns in your search.... they are polar opposites with lots of Paisley being classed as deprived.

Although I have stayed in both areas and found Paisley to be friendlier, perhaps villages nearby, Houston, bridge of weir, Howwood - close to the airport and city centre but quite rural as well.

Did you hear about the recent commotion in Kenmure Street in Glasgow...? I think that gives you a flavour of the vibe in Glasgow with regards to ethnic minorities - sure we are talking about an exceptional situation but still.

I live in Leith, Edinburgh, it's pretty diverse and at the baby and toddler groups there are mums and dads from all over and it's not an issue to be honest.

East is much drier, windier and sunnier than West.

Also the people are a bit different. Slightly more reserved in the east.

I don't think your race would be an issue anywhere.

That's my tuppence worth.

If you live Troon (I've never been, but it sounds lovely!), then why not start there.
Very logical indeed - but as you said Scotland is fab, so FOMO kicks in :) . Plus what the other comment said:
East is much drier, windier and sunnier than West.

I can't get over you putting Paisley next to Newton Mearns in your search.... they are polar opposites with lots of Paisley being classed as deprived.
Lol, didn't know that. Only heard about Newton Mearns, never been there and as for Paisley it was always Paisley station to McGill's 757 to Glasgow Airport and the reverse :D . OK so Paisley is out then if it's already classified as deprived.

Did you hear about the recent commotion in Kenmure Street in Glasgow...?
We did. It was a pleasant surprise and lots of positives to draw from there. I didn't dig into the details though (was it illegal immigration ? If so then can't blame the Govt. for doing its duty but speaks a lot about the crowd standing up for the dwellers - heartwarming. But as I said, I didn't dig into the details).

My sister lives in Eaglesham v close to Newton mearns it’s lovely (Eaglesham) close to Glasgow, on motorway to Troon. You’d fit right in it’s an absolutely lovely welcoming place. Newton Mearns is nice too.

You’ve not considered stirling, it’s quite inland but lovely and 40 mins to Glasgow, 50 to Edinburgh. Lots of lovely scenery I love it here and am from the north coast and do miss the beach but st Andrew’s and fife coast isn’t that far. I wouldn’t live in fife or Livingston - lived in Livingston too and felt it was just a load of housing estates. I didn’t feel it was home.

You need a holiday to visit all the places you are considering and decide where you’d feel most at home and comfortable & has all the things you want.

When looking at house prices in the internet remember most houses go on at "offers over". To work out what the seller expects to get you should ask to see the home report which has a valuation. At the moment the market is very busy so houses in popular areas are often going for more than home report. Often they go to closed bids. How much over the home report depends on the area and the house. Might be a few thousand or up to 20% over. The Scotsnet page has some threads on this. Just so you figure that into your calculations.

I’m from that area.

Do not move to Irvine or Kilmarknock. Especially Kilmarnock which is junkie infested shit hole. Please excuse my language. But it’s horrible. Really declined in the last few years.
Irvine is better with a bit more prosperity and some nicer bits to live in outside like Girdle Toll or Perecton. But still. I would swerve Irvine. And Ayr.

Troon is nice. Barassie is very quiet.
Largs and Fairlie are nice too.

Someone mentioned Stirling which is lovely and a small university city so a bit more diverse.

Good luck with your move

It's very sad, but yes many areas have a lot of issues with drugs and drink culture. Antisocial behaviour. It's polarised. Having antisocial neighbours wouldn't be pleasant. Check places out on a Fri or Sat night to see the vibe.

Linlithgow is a good base because it's on the train line between Edinburgh and Glasgow so opens up job possibilities in both. Likewise Stirling although it's a longer commute.
For £260k, or even £280k you'd be lucky to get a 3 bed flat in Edinburgh let alone a semi-detached house. Dunbar is lovely but it's a long way east of jobs in Glasgow and also if you might need to commute south and need access to the airport early / late.