Moving to Edinburgh - can I pick your brains on areas?

[CheeseAndBacon]

I know this has been done to death so I'm sorry for starting another thread about it, but I'd appreciate your wisdom.

At the moment we live in the southeast of England but unfortunately dh and I are both being made redundant. So we've been thinking of trying to turn this into a positive and making a big move. We both love Edinburgh so we are seriously considering relocating there.

We have a dd who is a year old, and a budget of about £600k. I think we'd like a 3-bed flat with its own garden within walking distance of coffee shops, playgroups, and the city centre if at all possible. At the moment, the obvious choice seems to be Stockbridge, but I'm sure there are other areas which would fit the bill too. Thanks in advance!

Stockbridge is completely fab. Fraid I can't tell you about provision for children except for two of Edinburgh's top schools (Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College) but it has everything else you could possibly want. Village atmosphere, coffee shops by the dozen, fab farmers' market in a Sunday, easy transport links to everywhere and only a mile (uphill!) to Princes Street. There's a Waitrose, Tesco at Canonmills and Sainsbury at Craigleith, plus Co-ops and smaller supermarkets. Lovely parks and gardens, the Water of Leith with great river walks and an annual duck race! Voted best place to live in Scotland last year. You will need your £600k, but you'll get something gorgeous for that.

Thank you! Makes me feel quite excited.

I would consider Bruntsfield too. I often walked into town easily when I worked there.

We live near the airport which was never where we expected to move to but we love it here.

Portobello in the East of the city is lovely. It's about 10-15 minutes on the bus to the city centre so not really a short stroll, but the fabulous, long sandy beach makes up for it.

I would consider all of new town to the west of dundas st if you are intending to state school it. But if you are not then whole of new town is wonderful. (I really miss it!)

Thanks - we will look at Bruntsfield (and probably Morningside too). I think Portobello might be too far away from the airport - we will need to travel reasonably often so probably something central or west would be better for us.

I think we'll go for state if the schools are good, so thanks for the advice about the new town.

Morningside is better than Stockbridge :) On sunny days I walk to work through the Meadows. Great schools and with your budget you can get a fab double upper villa.

I'd suggest Blackhall and Corstorphine but both need a bus into town.

I know your dc is only one but the bruntsfield/ marchmont/ grange/ morningside high schools are better than the new town/ Stockbridge schools.

Do you live in a flat now? In Edinburgh most flats mean on street parking with more permits than spaces - difficult if you have 2+ dc and shopping and are parked a few hundred metres from your house. You pay a premium for a sole use garden and they are often the basement flat with lower ceilings not the grand high ceilings you would want.

You will struggle to get a double upper (top 2 flours of a Victorian house usually) in Bruntsfield/ Morningside for under £700k, prices have rocketed recently. Friends struggling to get 3bed flat with garden in that area for £600k just now. Excellent state schools, top secondary school = v v expensive! Great area to live though.

Marchmont is lovely and is in the catchment area for Sciennes or Gillespie primary (both fab) and Gillespie or Boroughmuir (two of the best high schools in the city). You would also have the meadows (a vast park area) right on your doorstep which is great on a sunny day. Coffee shops and grocery stores aplenty and you'd only be a 20 min walk into the city centre or a 5 min bus journey

I have to admit I prefer Stockbridge and the new town over bruntsfield and Morningside but they're both lovely

Ooo fight! Northsiders versus Southsiders!

There are a lot of terrific places in Edinburgh op, hope you'll be very happy

I was going to suggest Portobello (as per usual on these threads) but I see you've already said you need quicker airport access. So I'm thinking of the Canonmills area just north of Stockbridge - you might get more for your money there, and it has good schools.

As Arkengarthdale says, there are lots of great places in Edinburgh and you've got a good budget for up here. I'm also ex-southeast-England - I moved here about 20 years ago and I haven't regretted it for a second! Good luck, OP.

I think the thing to be aware of in Edinburgh is secondary school catchments; it will seem very far away now though with a 1 year old! And while some primary schools are great, the catchment secondary isn't.

For 600K, I'd go slightly further out e.g. Blackhall, Craigleith, Greenbank, Buckstone. You'll get a lot more bang for your buck & could easily get a detached home within walking distance (or short bus ride) to these areas. When your DC gets on the move, living in a flat won't be so appealing, and even more so if you have another DC. You don't want to be stuck in a top floor tenement, with no lift, a toddler, new baby & students living above.

Thanks all. Lots of good points here. I think we will also look at areas further out. We'll come to visit soon and look around these areas and then start to try to narrow them down a bit.

Perhaps have a look at ESPC.com; it will give you an idea of prices. But remember the Scottish system of "offers over", home reports & legally-binding offers (i.e. No changing your mind a week later & pulling out).

Having just bought in your price bracket, a lot of places seem to be closing on above valuation prices. A few places we looked at went at around 10% over.

You need to sort out a solicitor who can advise you on the bid system and how much to bid. It's a totally different system to England, you need a solicitor to bid for you and once your bid is accepted you can only pull out if the mortgage company refuse to mortgage the property. Good luck.

I'm a southsider - Newington. State schools better here as others have pointed out, which is why we moved here when we relocated from London (private schools out of our price range). Lovely community atmosphere

Legally binding offers is a myth. An offer is only legally binding when missives are concluded and that takes a few weeks depending on circumstances. Until missives are concluded either side can walk away. It just doesn't happen very often.

Stockbridge is beautiful but with a child, would you not want a garden? Parking is expensive and a nightmare and driving around the centre of Edinburgh is also a headache. You might be better looking a bit further out. You have a good budget but as others have mentioned the offers over system means you get into a bidding war for anything desirable or in a good area. Places often go for silly money over the asking price.

Good family areas are Colinton/Joppa/Portobello/Cramond (but you are under the flight path). /Blackhall is great but it is in high demand and tends to be very expensive. If you are willing to buy somewhere that needs work you might have more luck. I wouldn't go for a flat with a child, but it's a personal decision obviously.

It is a myth about the legally binding thing too - only once the missives are concluded which as Daily Stuck says takes a few weeks.

I agree about the legal stuff, it is heavily frowned upon to pull out, but you are free to do so up until the missives are signed- after that point you are normally then liable for any remarketing costs and the difference if the sale price is less than your offer was. Often missives are only signed the week before completion.

another recommendation for Southside

I recommend Bruntsfield/Fountainbridge/Marchmont. The surrounding areas of Grange and Merchiston sometimes will split large houses into flats so you still end up with private parking and private garage. Gorgeous quiet leafy streets near Boroughmuir and James Gillespies. All areas surrounding the Meadows (huge park) have lovely coffee shops, 10 mins walk to city centre.

I rent so cant comment on house prices unfortunately.

I'm sorry I don't agree about penalties for pulling out of a sale in Scotland. I have done so and my relatives had someone pull out of their sale. No penalties.