Am I crazy? Move to Scotland but keeping a job in England- anyone done it?

[gemgem694]

Hi, first ever post so let’s see how this goes! There are loads of great threads on here I’ve learnt so much already.

This is the situation.

My DH and I love the out doors and dabbling in the good life, been growing veg on an ok level 8 years I.e. every weekend involves long walks or loads of time in garden which is large and given up mostly to grow veg. It’s great, but we both would like to have more than our 3bed semi in midlands, and we have run out of space of our large garden to dig up! We’d love a home with more land eg 5 acres, esp so my hubby can hobby farm a little, which he knows a bit about as he grew up on small holding. But no chance of getting that around here in our budget (£300-400k).

We therefore started a plan a couple of years ago to save up and try to find a way to move to Scotland In about 5 years, where we hoped to get a bit more property but equally as important have a sense of community which we don’t really have here (Northamptonshire) despite living 10 years (Possibly our fault time an extent not putting ourselves out there, so not a massive dig against northamptonians!). Also we hope to find a nice place to raise our DDs (now 4.5 and 1.5) but we don’t really want to wait till an age from it’s tough to pull them away from settled schools/friends. On top of that we’ve holiday’d in Scotland every year for several years (mostly cairn gorms area). I Know holiday is different read lots of comments on here about that but it still has not lost its charm. Part of our plan to move to Scotland always included visiting during winter etc to try best as we can to understand the drawn backs. So we set about saving and googling and researching until thinking we’d move around 2023 when dds are 5&8, still young enough For it not to be a huge uoheaval.

Then covid happened and I’m now in a position I’m WFH and even when we go back to the office I’m Going to be able to work from home 2 or 3 days a week. So we’re thinking of taking the plunge and moving now, but keeping my job as I’m the main breadwinner for a few years (I do aspire to do something else/retrain but not sure what I’m yet!) but we have some limbo period where I stay away from home 2/3 days a week to work. My hubby is stay at home dad and as a primary school teacher may go back when little ones older (appreciate some training needed for Scotland).

Has anyone done this? Moved to Scotland for all the positives it has to offered but perhaps the main breadwinner done a commute/spent time away from home part the week? I’m an English qualified solicitor so limited scope getting a job in Scotland although might be possible one day to work in Edinburgh, but long term like to do something completely different anyway.

We love the look of Dumfries and galloway, or just on the other side in Ayrshire but don’t know the area well so going to start exploring soon when lockdown eases. Also the borders. But either way looking at about a 6 hour drive to where my work is and so will need to spend a 2/3 nights away.

Has anyone done anything likely this and thought the benefits outweigh the cons? Or has the experience filled you with regret?

Thank you for reading! Really hope someone has a view as I’m completely torn!

I'd definitely think hard about the "community" aspect of things with winter. Obviously the further north you go, the shorter the days are. I'm in Fife and in December/January, DS gets on his school bus at sunrise (8.30am) and gets home at sunset (3.35pm). And yes, when the weather is grim and it's dark by the time people are home from school/work, there does tend to be a bit of a hibernation - I can imagine this will be more pronounced depending on how the weather is - the west coast is a lot wetter than the east.

I love living here, but having lived here since birth I'm used to the weather/seasons as we get them. My aunt is from Hertfordshire and moved here in her 30s with my uncle, they eventually moved to Reading area to get better weather for the outdoor activities they enjoy. They came back up when they retired but were back down South after one winter because they just hated it after getting used to the longer days and relatively more settled weather.

To add to my scenario I wouldn't be driving my plan would be to take the train, but I live close to the train station at this end and it's a short onward journey at the other end. Driving every week wouldn't be sustainable. The train is half the time

Plenty people commute to England regularly. Any easyJet flight from Edinburgh to London will attest to that. It's a long drive and there can often be delays. I'd definitely look in to convenient train routes, although the train can be expensive unless you can book well in advance. I'd imagine there is some sort of regular travel railcard.

Not to mention the environmental cost of basing your career on flying regularly, it’s not ideal from that pov.

Im going to play devil's advocate here. I have read property news headlines about a bouyant market stimulated by interest from London buyers. This may be welcome at first but once prices start to reach a level where local buyers are even more priced out than they already are ( as has happened in popular retirement areas) resentment may build, those who keep a foot in both camps by keeping a job in England but cashing in their property chips could be first to be resented.
My council tax is well over £3000 for fairly poor services and Scottish Education is on the slide, also higher income tax etc.
Think long and hard!

I have a friend who lives in North Berwick/Dunbar & commutes via the east coast mail line to Newcastle.

It works well for them.

All healthy, helpful advice and opinions, just the reality check I was looking for and have received. Thank you all for taking the time to comment!

I think we’ll prob end up sticking with Plan A and the long game for now.... continue to save, think about areas we’d really like to live long term, have fun visiting them, and relocate in a few years. The 12 hours a week driving does seem a stretch too far!

Meanwhile, who knows, my work may go completely or near enough 100% flexible with occasional trip to office only required, and I’ll keep an eye out on the job market in Scotland as I’m pretty sure I’ve seen in house roles advertised as either eng or Scots qualified. So another option to think about.

Loved reading all the comments! Thank you so much!

You're very welcome. Just let us know if you'd like any further advice in the future. I've lived all over Scotland and hopefully you and your family would enjoy living here.

Sounds like you have already decided, but just to give my experience:

I lived in the Scottish central belt and worked in the north of England for three years. It was doable, but there are definitely downsides. Upsides: I had a very flexible job, I would usually be in the office 2-3 days/week, work from home the rest of the time. My commute was short enough (2.5 hours door to door) that sometimes I would travel just for a day, other times I would stay overnight (if I had to be in the office on consecutive days).

The train was quicker than driving, so I always took the train. Generally it was fine, but there was the odd cancellation, significant delay, etc. Plus it means I could usually leave the office a bit early and work for another 60-90 minutes on the train.

The only way to make it affordable was to book trains a week or more in advance. Usually this was fine, but any spontaneity was out of the window: colleagues suggest going for a drink after work on Thursday? Sorry, already booked my train back.

I think living close to the border (Dumfries, Scottish Borders) and working in the North of England is doable, but I wouldn't want to commute all the way to the South of England (and the idea of flying every week would be an immediate no no for environmental reasons alone).

Finally, DH and I don't have kids, so we didn't have that to factor into the decision.

You need a PGDE to teach as a fully registered by the GTCS in Scotland so make sure your DH is well versed in what he will need to do to achieve this. It is a largely different curriculum but I am sure that at primary stage much will be consistent.
Good luck, Scotland is the best.