Relocating from England to the Scottish Highlands

[winterbabyrose]

DH and I are in the very early stages of potentially relocating to the Scottish Highlands. We love it up there, the way of life, the locals etc and want to bring our DC up with an 'outdoorsy' lifestyle. Current house valuation is booked for next week, so first of all to get an idea of what our house is worth!

Just wondering if anyone has also relocated from England to the Highlands and how did you find it? Any tips etc? We know if we did it in one go we would have to get two solicitors as the property laws in Eng vs Sco are very different. Or we might sell here and rent up there for 6mo-1y until we secure jobs and find our new house and then start the buying process when we are already up there.

Hoping to be able to continue at my current job (already WFH, so shouldn't be an issue, although too early to have the discussion). DH would need to get a new job - engineering.

I am 27, DH is nearly 31 and our DD is just over 1.

Just wondering if anyone has done anything similar and has any tips / nice areas / advice etc. Many thanks.

Hello,
We moved up 2 years ago and absolutely love it. Life seems so much more relaxed and the people seem to be friendly, helpful and straightforward.
We have a 3 bed house in Auldearn near Nairn which will be available to rent from July 23. Let me know if you'd like details.
Seems like their are engineering jobs in Inverness, Aberdeen and, to a lesser extent, points in between.
Renting before buying is a wise move in my opinion as there are so many lovely places and giving yourself some time to find your ideal spot makes sense.
We moved to Moray for the climate and the lack of midges. No regrets at all.

The problem with renting before you buy is you might have to more to a new area when buying, with new schools etc… Less of an issue if preschool age children, more so if secondary. Especially if you rent in a village - there might not be any houses for sale in the area you have established in.

There is a different cutoff for school years as well as a different school structure. I would advise looking into that side of it as well.

Following. Love the idea of moving to Scotland. I feel like I might fit in there better as a socialist who can't understand why the English still have a monarchy and voted for Brexit.

But would we be welcome as English people moving there? I know there is some dislike of England and I worry about my daughter being the English kid in school.

Moved to Scotland from England 7 years ago and it was the best move for us - we are in the central belt and our jobs only exist in Edinburgh and Glasgow, but places I would consider if our jobs were portable would be Ballater (not bad to get to Aberdeen or Inverness, and a lovely town in spectacular scenery) or most places inside the Cairngorms NP, Aviemore perhaps though it’s less picturesque- or somewhere like Forres in in Moray - close to the sea, and Inverness, and into the hills behind - we have friends who live here and they are really happy.

I did that 15 years ago. Best thing I ever did for my kids, for quality of life, for everything. The quality of community, access to nature, access to recreation, the education system, NHS everything is better. No way perfect. But it is better.

That said, it is hard to be so far from family. Do not underestimate how miserable it can feel on a wet and windy mid-week day in November. Also do not underestimate how different in rainfall terms West and East are. West has one too many letter 'S' in it....

We first moved to somewhere remote. It wears seeing kids travel an hour on a landrover to get to school, driving 25k a year just to do 'life' and seeing huge energy bills....I am now near central belt and it is much better - mountains 20 mins north, all the modern amenities you need 20 mins south.

But would we be welcome as English people moving there? I know there is some dislike of England and I worry about my daughter being the English kid in school.

As with everywhere, there can be a small minority of bigots. But they are really, really small minority. The scots diaspora is broad and welcoming. Throw yourself in to the culture and life, and the effort will be warmly and usually jovially and caringly reciprocated. Genuine community exists up here in many places - you just need to dive in.

In all the years you’ve visited - have you ever been here outside of the summer months? Don’t underestimate how long, dark, cold and utterly brutal the winters can be.

But would we be welcome as English people moving there? I know there is some dislike of England and I worry about my daughter being the English kid in school.

It’s not about being bigoted as a PP said. Many small communities have had incomers purchase houses as they can afford to put in offers way over the asking price due to selling south of the border. Houses are much cheaper in the Highlands than say London and many people are cash buyers. This pushes many people out of the housing market in their home villages. There’s a lot of locals where we live that refuse to welcome anyone outwith the area that moves here and yes, that can include children. I moved away from our home town for many years, when we came back to sort my parents house out after they died we decided to stay. We had marketed the house before we decided to stay and most of the offers were from South of the border before people had even viewed the property, all cash buyers, some offering up to 60% over the market value. We did have a few offers from locals and would never have sold to anyone outwith the community but some people stopped speaking to me in the village when they knew we were selling the house, people I’d known all my life. Some communities are very insular.

We did this 3 years ago but tongue north of Scotland ( outside Aberdeen ) . It’s the best decision I ever made and I wish I done it sooner . I like the north east more as it rains a lot less that the west , winters are also milder . I love it here , beach is 10 minutes away but so are the mountains and Forest . we still have a big city 20 m away so haven’t missed anything much .

As others said income tax is a bit higher but not hugely higher and you regain that money back probably as you don’t pay prescriptions or any child related meds , or pay for children emalamos primary school etc .
I admit I was warned about the winters but I don’t find tem as hard as everyone says and I’m rural and we do get snow etc . I think it’s a mindset , you will know November to February it’s darker sobrou kind of plan for it . On the other hand it’s still light outside at 11:30 pm right now and it’s amazing

On the other hand it’s still light outside at 11:30 pm right now and it’s amazing

Yes it doesn't really get properly dark here at this time of year. This was 2.30 this morning...

I moved to the North of Scotland a few years ago (although not from england) and I love it. Yes winter can be wet and miserable, but so can winter in England!

I'd echo those saying to rent for a year first so you get a good feel for where abouts you want to live. I think house prices are just starting to fall up here so might be worth waiting it out and see what the market does. If you're thinking inverness area, don't be afraid to look along the moray coast towards elgin as you can often get more for your money, but still commutable. Villages like Hopeman, nairn, lossiemouth are all really nice. There's army bases in kinloss and Lossiemouth so there are quite often families from England and I've never encountered any anti English feeling.

I know not everyone likes it button o love the king days so much .

Edinburgh and Highlands are very different. A friend who tried similar described mov8mg to the highlands as akin to emigrating...the place, people and culture is so very different. I would suggest you try renting first and try it out before selling up

For kids, it limits their future and many move away so be prepared for long commutes to see them

We moved from a town in England to very rural NE Scotland last year.
We love it. The tiny schools suit my children. The relaxed and simple life is perfect for us. We’ve been welcomed by everyone we’ve met. We have food deliveries and Amazon and Royal Mail. We are 45 mins from the city but have shops 15 mins away.
Other than more quite a bit more snow, I don’t find winter to be any different to England. It’s not that much darker in winter, I don’t find it depressing but I don’t suffer with SAD.

I would look very carefully at DHs job. What sort of engineering? Is he a chartered engineer or just someone who works for an engineering company? Employment might be a long way from where you want to live. Distances can be huge if you live remotely from what you need.

Schools are small and sometimes too limiting. Sometimes DC need more. Many young people cannot wait to spread their wings.

We have just met lots of Scots in Scotland who are deeply unhappy with some decisions made by the Scottish Government. Believing the sunny uplands hype might not be sensible. Lack of ferries after many years being one such issue. Healthcare was another issue and so was declining standards in education. Just have your eyes open.

I have lived in Scotland 30 years now, married for 14 to a highland scot I love Scotland but it is not Utopia compared with England education is sliding in terms of attainment, OK there are no stupid ridiculous uniform rules, or you can't walk alone until P7 but actual education is not so good in terms of Maths and English. drugs and alcohol are bigger problems than in England, affordable housing in general is better i've not experienced anti-english stuff but others have a bit

Who cannot walk alone? There’s no law about not walking alone to school. Is this what you mean @Cottagecheeseisnotcheese

@TizerorFizz there is no law but judging from other threads on MN it is common in England for schools to have strict policies about not walking to and from school alone until late Y5 or Y6, obviously this is not legally enforceable, but I mentioned it as in general schools in Scotland are more likely to give children more independence younger as for most walking to and from school is common from P3-4 ( Y2-3) most high school pupils can leave premises at lunchtime, it is not as cultivating of independence as say Germany, Switzerland or Scandinavia but more so than England

@Cottagecheeseisnotcheese I've noticed this too and always wondered if it's because in England you choose the school so they feel far more empowered to dictate rules because if you don't like it - leave and go elsewhere, whereas in Scotland you get given a school and if you don't like their rules and bend them a bit - what are the school actually going to do about it? That's their school.

Always a bit more noticeable this time of year when the uniforms are being outgrown and half the class (including my dd 😳) turns up two days a week in whatever they want. The school isn't bothered and I like it that way. I imagine if they tried to tell the parents of primary 6s that they wouldn't be released without a parent or carer there they'd have their bluff called and a class full of kids til the street lights came on. Same with logo'd jumpers and blazers etc. I don't buy them - what are they going to do? 🤷🏻‍♀️

@awimbawaaay because in Scotland you can't deprive children from education for non uniform wearing to be honest they have to accept them even if in jeans and hoodie. you can only send someone home for wearing clothing likely to be sectarian ( ie football strips) or offensive logos.Though head teachers can be a bit dogmatic I do not know any state school in Scotland with even uniform rules about bags, coats or socks or hairstyles ( apart from long hair being tied back when required like PE cookery and science)

most go something like this for high school black trousers or skirt, black jumper or cardigan, white shirt or blouse, school tie and black shoes with black tights or socks PE kit t shirt, shorts, leggings or joggers and non marking trainers

I’ve never seen this rule. Either as a parent or governor. Parents let Dc walk home if they feel confident they can. Most parents provide a uniform. Not really seen any issues with it. Dc do wear it and don’t seek to wear their own clothes. Except on a charity day. Not sure any of this makes Scottish education better.

didn't say it made it better just I preferred it to draconian rules in some ( not all) schools with pupils in isolation because of wrong coat or shoes or too short a skirt or haircut, I actually prefer the basic uniform as above without fancy logos a school tie is enough to differentiate; without logos on jumpers blazers and worse still sports kit it also makes uniform genuinely affordable as you can buy it all in Asda or tesco apart from the tie which is £4 from the school

Bizarre post.

So what if you’ve never seen it? I’m sure plenty of things happen outside the sphere if your personal experience and still manage to be true.

and literally no one said Scottish education was better - in fact if you actually read the post, the poster literally wrote that Scottish attainment was sliding compared to English.

stop imagining things to be offended by!

So i grew up in the far far north highlands from 1990, originally from lancashire was good until i hit 16/17 where i wanted more independance. Moved down to suffolk where i had siblings at the time for 5 years, then moved back ‘home’ for 2 years, i hated it, weather was rubbish, no jobs, community too small etc. i was always skint. From there i moved to kent and my life changed for the better regarding work etc (with some hiccups) met and married my wife, she had ties and family there although i hated concrete jungle (it was near london) so from highlands to near london was a huge imbalance. So i thought i wanted to move back to highlands where it was a better quality of life, everything was familiar etc. during covid lockdowns we came to a crossroads, we knew we wanted to leave the south east to go somewhere greener, places up north especially where property was cheaper, it was either derbyshire, cumbria (had sibling and his family living there at the time) or back to the highlands. We opted for the highlands as it was familiar and i knew where to get work. So we rented for the first 6 months and then we bought a nice 4 bed detached bungalow in a nice local village, getting caught up in it all - what a mistake! My wife is a settler and shes happy there if i am, but her mum is also down in kent, getting older, she also has to commute down there every 6 months for work as its in her contract. I consequently havent built up enough work, so i now have to go down to cumbria once a month for work to top up earnings. I love my house, weve recently got ultrafast broadband aswell, but the location and the travel is getting too much - over 2 hours drive to a small city, i really regret not moving to cumbria (which is a bit of everything) better located, more on offer, have some family there, but now weve got a house ive spent quite a bit of money making it ‘nice’ but i guess things change, but as a customer once told me about their new build b and b overlooking amazing sea coastline ‘its only a house, a thing’. Even gojn on holidays we have to allow another 2 days for because of the travel and its a lot more expensive and tiring.

i think we are thinking we just got to take the plunge and cut the rope, sell up and eventually move on. The a9 from wick to perth is a killer, no motorways. As we havent got loads on the mortgage left, we are thinking pay off the mortgage within next couple years and hopefully then its a strong sellers market. Location is everything, dont get caught up in the romance of it all. Be PRACTICAL. Also if you have kids, think of them when they get to teen years, social life, work etc etc. if you’re dead set on it, i wouldnt venture much more north than inverness.