Village/small town within commuting distance from Glasgow

[Scotlandbound]

Hi all,

We are moving to Scotland in the next few months. Due to my husbands work, we need to be no further than 1 hour away from Glasgow. Ideally, we would like a village/small town within easy commuting distance.

Our wish list is: Good schools, village/small town feel, easy commute to Glasgow, outdoor space (i.e. not a new build where garden space is limited), relatively large house as we need two study's (due to working at home) and at least four bedrooms.

We have considered Crieff (a little bit far from Glasgow), Dunblane (mostly new builds with little outdoor space), Bridge of Allan (few houses come up). Out budget is up to 500k.

I am Scottish and lived in a number of different places within Scotland, but I do not know the Glasgow area well. Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Strathblane?
You might to rejig the layout a bit.

No 'fixer upper'. We have two young children, I couldn't cope with the stress!

Auchterarder is also lovely it's just under an hour from Glasgow, you would get an amazing house for your budget!

I would start at high schools and work back to primaries. Based on this listwww.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/4020266/scotland-secondary-schools-results-chart-best-worst-highers/ and you need to be near Glasgow and village / small town rather than urban I would be focusing on Dunblane and Balfron HS catchments.

www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/4020266/scotland-secondary-schools-results-chart-best-worst-highers/

Here are Balfon's

Uddingston? Or the Falkirk area perhaps.

Dunblane have been desperate for placing requests for the last 6 years at least. They do seem to be in a better place for pupil numbers than they've been in a while though. McLaren and Wallace also decent and Stirling High has dropped down the rankings a little but still decent, Larbert was usually the pick of the Falkirk area schools.

This looks lovely www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60294351.html

With money left over to build a home office or side extension in the garden. Four beds with 2 offices is a difficult ask. Four with one study maybe, but i think you may have to accept you may need to develop the house for a second one - or compromise and repurpose a bedroom during the working day.

Linlithgow.

Train to Glasgow around 40 mins and about the same to drive depending on where in Glasgow you're heading. High school is in top ten. Houses probably within your budget. High street has a good selection on shops and restaurants and Linlithgow Palace and Peel is great for the kids.

Eaglesham & Thorntonhall fit the bill, as do Houston, Quarrier's Village, Kilmalcolm, Strathaven.

Dunlop is a lovely village in Ayrshire with a good community feel and great primary school. Train is 20/25 mins to Glasgow.

Cardross / Helensburgh / Dumbarton / Balfron

All in or near Loch Lomond

Balfron not on a train line though

I was going to suggest Cardross/Helensburgh/Rhu area as well. You should get a good house for your budget and it is about 40 mins from Glasgow.

Sister in eaglesham lovely wee place very friendly
Cambusbarron is lovely
Doune
Strathaven

Aberfoyle, gartmore, Callander, Doune, Thornhill, Kippen, Gargunnock, Balfron?

Decide how important good state high schools are to you and work backwards.

Your budget won't stretch to what you want in Linlithgow. Houston / Bridge of Weir are both catchment for Gryffe which is number 8 on The Herald list of top performing secondaries (5 or more highers benchmark). Think they look affordable.

The rest of the top 10 secondaries within Glasgow commute are: East Ren schools where your budget wouldn't stretch and not really village (Thorntonhall and Eaglesham would both be out of budget for what you want and actually Eaglesham is a bit in the middle of nowhere); Jordanhill which again would be out of budget for what you want and central Glasgow; and Dunblane which is lovely and looks affordable.

All that said I am not convinced there are any "bad" schools in the areas / house price ranges you are looking.

If you want to spend a lot less you could consider Beith and most of Ayrshire. Ayr itself has good schools but wouldn't give you a village feel, although bits of Alloway might.

You can definitely get a 4-bed in Linlithgow & East Renfrewshire for 500K, but more likely a more modern style than traditional/sandstone.

Thanks everyone. Slightly overwhelmed with all the choices!

Schools are important, so we will base our search around a good school. Heading up at the weekend and I think we will start with Strathaven, Bridge of Weir area and the villages in the Balfron catchment area

Originally from Orkney and still visit my family often, therefore, I would rather not be too south (i.e. Ayrshire)

Do you mind if I ask your approx budget op? 3 beds? I adore house hunting.

Honestly I'd avoid Balfron as the road to Glasgow is a nightmare.

Our wish list is: Good schools, village/small town feel, easy commute to Glasgow, outdoor space (i.e. not a new build where garden space is limited), relatively large house as we need two study's (due to working at home) and at least four bedrooms (one of them could be a study).

Budget: up to 500k

I also love house hunting, but I feel very overwhelmed at the moment. We received 7 offers for our house over the weekend and will be accepting one soon, so we need to decide on an area ASAP

You'll get what you want almost anywhere for your budget. Definitely Bridge of Weir, Strathaven etc

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/48690603
This is magnificent

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/48852511
Milngavie