Advice on where to live and buy house in scotland

[beatrix93]

Hello all, Me and my partner are both first time buyers in our mid 20s and are trying to get our first house currently we have a deadlock between a large house in Livingston and a new build townhouse in Carfin/Motherwell any advice would be appreciated. I work in Glasgow whilst he works in Edinburgh however I can switch offices to edinburgh very easily. We only need to go to the office 2 days a week so I dont think 1 hour commutes will be a big deal , my partner loves reading on the train anyway.

We have both moved here from london very recently so dont know a lot about all the areas

The houses themselves are similarly shaped 1200-1350 sqft. We would like to start a family at some point so any information about schools would be appreciated.

There are plenty of nice locations that aren't city centre though. If it were me, I'd be considering Stirling /Bridge of Allan / Dunblane - gorgeous countryside on your doorstep, reasonable commute, and nice town/amenities.

Budget would need to be raised in order to get a bedroom, guest bedroom, study each and a library (!!) In BofA or Dunblane. Even in Stirling a 4 bed house is more than £240k.

Loads of countryside on your doorstep depending on which part of Falkirk you live in ultimately.

It's a great place which makes it affordable compared to other places which will be unobtainable on your budget of £240k.

Doubt it. Nothing would fall within budget!

Might be worth looking at hunters meadow in auchterarder and twisting the developer’s arm. It’s a lovely wee town on the “fast bit” of the A9 - although no station, you’d need to go to gleneagles.

I know people drive to Glasgow daily from there but I personally am too old for such nonsense.

They are able to up their budget though, and can reduce their expectations of the house. The 5 bedrooms are really not needed.

Tbf @TomTraubertsBlues she wants 5 beds now and children in the future. So if we could all stop shaking our heads in disbelief, I’m sure we can find a 7-bed in the countryside (with rail links and shops) for 99p.

So what is your budget?

I think the big issue is balancing schools and the commute tbh. Neither Carfin/Motherwell/Shotts or Livingston have a reputation for good schools.

Linlithgow is full of character and has a good high school.

My friend commuted from Croy, Glasgow (mix of rural village and housing estates near the station) to Edinburgh. You could get a new build for your budget (although no library but you could convert into the loft). Croy new build

The trains from Edinburgh are notoriously unreliable so whatever the commute should be, prepare for it to double often, especially in winter with lots of time standing about stations, getting replacement buses etc.

My wildcard for you would be Portobello especially if you can move to the Edinburgh office. It has a village feel, nice beach, shops, good schools.
This is nice (although no library).

Portobello cottage

Linlithgow out of budget. Come on.

Id consider strongly what things are non negotiable and what things would be nice or could be added later. Also whether you might want to move again in a few years. Maybe a library would be nice, but not essential? A study you could have a cabin put in the garden if you have one?

Dont forget that the population of london is higher than the population of the whole of scotland, and even in the centre of glasgow you could be right in the hills in a 20 min drive.
Dont be so sure that you want to be away from the cities. In the long winters youll quite likely appreciate being able to do things that arent just walking. Some of the housing schemes might have a lot of house for your money, but theres a reason for that

They could get something like this in Linlithgow.
Linlithgow estate
I'm ignoring the 5 beds requirement because realistically you're not getting 5 beds for OP's budget anywhere I'd want to live 😄

The OP has said that the current budget £240k will only require them to spend 1/3 of one partners monthly income in repayments. So they can actually afford a lot more. They could easily go to £300k without stretching themselves, probably higher.

And as trainee actuaries their earnings are set to rise substantially. If they started out spending 1/3 of both salaries, in a few years that figure will only represent a small fraction of their income. And a 3-4 bed family home in an area with good schools will be future-proofed for them. They won't have to move unless they want to.

I am not normally someone who advocates stretching to the max for a house, but in this case it makes sense.

Yeah, I've done the same with my searches! 😂

They are better to budget with one salary, and being sensible IMO. Nothing wrong with taking this approach.

Why overstretch if they don't want to. Having more disposable income would be a wise move.

Having more disposable income doesn't compensate for hating where you live. There's a compromise between the two - they wouldn't have to borrow that much more to be somewhere a lot more future proofed.

And moving is expensive, so if they want kids then schools need to be a factor.

Also, they could get something within budget in some of the areas suggested if they dropped their 5 bedroom/library requirement!

Dunfermline over the water at Duloch. Masses of them though plus Dunfermline is a bit so so.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124220744#/?channel=RES_BUY

To get a nice 5 bed in Livingston would be over £600k. OP has to decide what's more important - nice area, good schools or 3 beds they're not going to use most of the time. Or upping their budget.

I'm not averse to being cautious over spending. And I do know actuaries who live in places like Motherwell but that wouldn't be my choice. And usually they are there because of a family connection to the area. The market is going to plummet. Tbh it's why if I was OP I wouldn't buy anything just now. The market will drop again around Dec/Jan.

Yes, next spring will be interesting. It's noticeable that houses that would have sold in days a year ago are now sitting on the market for weeks and being reduced.

Terrifible place for commuting.

Not true James Young and Linlithgow HS both neck and neck in the 2022 league tableswww.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotlands-secondary-schools-ranked-best-27299635.amp (ignore the Express bit, it’s the first link that came up on my search) Bellsquarry and Williamston PSs feed into James Young and they’re both v good. Livingston is a typical mixed central belt town - some v good areas, some not v good. Linlithgow HS has a very high rate of private tutoring, so that pushes up the results.

Falkirk or surrounding villages will be your best bet as it's smack bang in the middle of Edinburgh and Glasgow. It has affordable housing, lots of countryside, canal network, and commuting times are ideal for you to any city like Glasgow Edinburgh or Stirling.

Linlithgow too pricey, as is North Berwick as a PP mentioned. Completely unrealistic. OP would be maxed out on a mortgage.

That's interesting. It's quite a shift from pre-Covid when James Young was 40 places under Linlithgow Best schools in Scotland