Renting in Ayrshire - Largs?

[lovesT]

Grateful for any advice 😊.

We (my husband, 8 month old baby and myself) are looking to move to Ayrshire from South East England to be nearer some of our family, hopefully around December time. We are hoping to rent somewhere around West Kilbride or possibly Largs.

We are familiar with West Kilbride and hope that a flat might come up for us there (one bedroom/ two bedroom would be fine) but if not then maybe would look at Largs. We have been there a few times but wouldn't know about living there. Would you say it would be a nice place for a small, young family to live? There are a few flats there at the moment that look quite nice for what we're looking for!

Budget around £450 pm.

Would love to hear from people who know more.

Thanks! 😊👍

Well if you change at Kilwinning anyway...

@IKEA888

what about kilbirnie? in my view much nicer than west kilbride . excellent transport links and good schools if need be.

I think Kilbirnie is pretty run-down, and the last time I drove through, there was a full-scale fight going on in the street!

Are you feeling ok Ikea? Kilbirnie nicer than WK? Don’t get my wrong it’s just your average Ayrshire town with not much going on but ...

Dunlop is lovely and only 20 mins from Glasgow in the train. But yes lack of available homes.

I find west kilbride a wee bit pretentious . trying to be something it's not.

I like the reality of North Ayrshire town's.
the mix of people in kilbirnie is good.

Further South, Prestwick is nice - beach, excellent high street, nice schools, good community. Ayr is slightly cheaper but not as nice. Easy access to motorway and trains from both.

@trumpisaflump (like your name btw haha). What's wrong with Beith then? To be honest a train line to Glasgow wouldn't be one of our priorities. We live in the countryside now and are close enough to London to get there on the train in about 40 minutes but hardly ever go and we're not really a fan of cities so that doesn't matter too much to us. Saying that,we did get the train to and from Glasgow to West Kilbride which was very easy which was nice, but not something we would be doing often.

@Albless that's good to know! It's very hard to know what to think 🙈. I think the biggest reason we would like to live right by our family is because at least they know that they feel happy and safe there (also with a baby) so that makes us feel more comfortable. Also, as I say, this would be temporary so it would be good to be near them for some familiarity before we then go off and find somewhere to buy (hopefully!).

Thank you @Badgerforbreakfast. We'd love a village rather than a town. We'd love to eventually be more rural. We're not fussed about new builds at all, or being by the sea - it just happens that's where our family are located. The summers in Largs wouldn't be a problem for life as we only plan to rent a flat as long as it takes us to find an area/ house we'd like to buy.

@Treesofwood - Seamill. It would be so nice to be near them. I've looked at both online but don't know much about the areas and I'm not sure if Stewarton is one of the town's that isn't recommended 😳🤷. There have been some nice places to rent there though?!

Interesting about Stewarton then, any other thoughts or info? We're really not fussed about being near the sea or town, touristy bits etc. We love an hour away from the sea at the moment and never go haha. We just want somewhere we could afford but will feel safe and happy for the time we will be renting.

@DoTheNextRightThing I don't know where I've got it from but I didn't have a good feeling about Irvine, but that could be totally wrong so again, I'm happy to hear what others think.

Sorry for the long reply! I wanted to try and reply to everyone. But I'm grateful for the responses, thank you for being helpful and not judgy as Mumsnet can sometimes be! This is a big deal for us and I just want what's best for us and our little girl! 😊

Thanks 👍

@lovesT if a train line to a city isn't a priority for you then Beith could be a good choice. I'm not sure about schooling there but most small Ayrshire towns have lovely primary schools anyway.

Sorry, I think I was getting confused with Stevenston and Stewarton. So Stewarton - could be okay?

@trumpisaflump thank you that's helpful. Having looked at Beith online it looks love a very nice town, but of course Google can't tell you everything. Schools won't be a worry for us for a while, little one is only nearly 8 months old so I'd imagine that will be on our minds for the next move, when we actually plan to buy a house. All worth knowing though! So would Beith be a fairly safe place to live? I know all areas have their less nice parts (we live in a lovely village down here but even just down the road can make a difference). But overall it looks like it could be a nice town?

I think Beith or Stewarton are both good calls for you OP.
I’d say there’s more going on in Stewarton, more nice wee shops, places to eat etc.
Doesn’t look like there’s much available for rent in Beith just now. Don’t know about Stewarton.

I can vouch for the Millhouse in Stewarton for food! Soooo nice.
OP do you mean safe in terms of crime? I stay near Stewarton and am on their local FB page (don't join-it'll put you off. None of my sensible friends post on it) and there's never anything major. I think one resident had their car stolen about two years ago and there was uproar for weeks afterwards 😱

Yeah, Stewarton and Stevenston are very different!

Stewarton is similar to Largs in terms of being a proper wee town with small independent businesses, but is rural rather than coastal. Some areas better than others, as per usual, but if you asked here we could offer advice on streets and areas.

As pp says, it’s a quiet town - there was a lost dog running about a few years ago which created a bit of a stir. You occasionally see posters in Sainsbury’s about lost peacocks!

Lots of places to go for a meal, or cakes! And you’re never far away from a hairdresser!

@Badgerforbreakfast thank you, we're always open to nice places to eat, we love our cafes etc! I've seen a few pop up in Beith but as I don't know the area I don't know if they're worth looking at. This one for example ... I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-41772912.html

@trumpisaflump yeah I suppose that is what I mean. Not because we live in a perfect crime free area! (Though it does usually feel quite safe) but because people keep mentioning drug addicts etc 😅🤷. So as long as it would feel like a safe area, especially with my daughter in mind. Obviously everywhere has crime, just recently there was a wan who was assaulted by a man in our town which is supposed to be a very nice town and it has caused "uproar" like you say ... Not nice at all so no where is perfect. But of course if there were particularly "dodgy areas" I'd like to be aware ...

Stewarton sounds pretty good then! Haha aren't most local Facebook pages like that? Stewarton is maybe a bit further than we would like to be from our family but it's not that far so if the right place came up could be a possibility. We're up for adventure. 👍

@Albless OMG that dog 😱

@lovesT I think that’s quite a busy street that that one is on unfortunately. I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable there.

What was that dog thing like. Did it not get to the point no one was actually allowed to mention it’s name? I’ve forgotten the name now anyway.

Was it Ringo?

@lovesT sorry to repeat again but Stewarton has a great train line to Glasgow. 23 mins to the city centre. I know you said that doesn't bother you but you never know how things might change. Glasgow is an amazing city with fab restaurants, museums, theatres etc so you could have the best of both worlds there.

@Albless sorry I seemed to have missed your post! Okay that sounds good. Haha I love that, sounds like a little community then! I hope the dog was okay? 😳 Oooh ... It has a Sainsbury's? I was thinking I might have to sacrifice my beloved Sainsbury's (which I will if I have to) ...

I do hope Ringo found his way home ... And all the lost peacocks!

Okay thank you @Badgerforbreakfast. We've been in contact with Ayrshire Lettings agents so hopefully we can also ask them if properties come up. But that's so helpful, thank you.

@trumpisaflump thank you, yeah that is good to know. I'm not saying we would never go (especially in these times 🙄) but it's not a priority. However, you're right it would maybe be something that is nice to have.

Basically, my maternity pay comes to an end after this month and my husband's furlough pay will also stop and then he will be "temporarily layed off" work. So for us it feels like we're either paying for rent out of savings down here, or we're doing it up on Scotland which is where we plan to move permanently anyway, so we may as well go for it. We have a few commitments up until early December but otherwise we're ready to pack up and leave!

That flat in scholars wynd could be a good stop gap until you buy somewhere. When I had a look before I just have had it set to 3 bedrooms and that’s why only one property came up.

@Badgerforbreakfast you mean this one? I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-97041362.html

No, that’s Kilbirnie.
This one here:
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/60396926#/

It’s still in the centre of the town but you’re kind of up out the way and should have parking etc I imagine. I’ve never lived there so no personal experience though.

Stewarton 2 bed end terrace not on main st £550

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/71213162#/

2 bed Beith upper cottage flat £450
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/97895990#/media?id=media1

@Badgerforbreakfast ah yeah sorry that's the only one I could see with a similar road name. Ooh yes I've seen that one it does look nice! And a second bedroom for storage and baby bits would be great.

@S00LA I like that one in Beith and have looked at it before. Only thing is it doesn't have a bath which isn't an absolute essential as that's all we have now but my daughter is getting too big for she sink and I would LOVE the luxury of a bath 😅 but I know we can't be too fussy .. the other one is nice too, just more than what we'd like to pay unfortunately ..