How is the jobs market in Edinburgh (in the long term)

[hopingforonlychild]

Hi everyone! DH and I are contemplating Edinburgh as an option to the usual London- Home Counties move. We own a flat in north london zone 3 which we bought in 2019- unfortunately the larger flats and houses in our area are extortionate and the fact we bought in recent years means that it would be difficult to capitalize on equity gains to move up the ladder.

We are attracted to edinburgh as we are fans of city life, and the many large beautiful tenement flats (and cheaper house prices). We also work in finance and Edinburgh is the second biggest finance hub in the UK. We could also afford private school in Edinburgh which is far more expensive in London.

My biggest worry about moving is that even if we find jobs there and manage to sell up in london and buy something larger, we may have to move back to London at some stage for career progress. We are still young (28 and 30) and have many years of working life. I don't have many friends in Edinburgh but the ones who did started out in good jobs but then moved to bigger cities after a few years.

Given that the main reason we want to move to edinburgh is to buy property, I don't really want to stay there for a few years and then have to move back because DH wants a better job (he is ambitious and has many years of working life ahead of him). We can't afford to keep the London flat as a BTL so we would have to start all over again (and then possibly sell the Edinburgh flat). We don't really want to be long distance commuters either, one reason why we want to move to edinburgh is because there is conceivably a chance we could get jobs in the city and work there.

Would be glad to know everyone's thoughts.

@Elvesaremagic i used to live in camden in London and loved it. I would really live there now if i could, but the schools are not to my liking. I kinda live in a suburb in london now, albeit in zone 3 but do not mind living somewhere a bit busier. Problem with london is that the majority of good state school catchments are in zone 3 and beyond except for places like kensington which are very expensive. So if you have a family and want a state school catchment, you kinda have to live further out.

I must admit, when i was saving up to buy, i guess i just never realized how many londoners had willing and able parents to help them. My dad could definitely afford to buy a house for me in london and he would never, and I wouldn't expect it either

I agree, I'm often really surprised by how much help some of my neighbours, school parents get. It's help to get the first property, help to decorate, help to move up the ladder, paid holidays etc. My parents are immigrants & it's not really a thing in their culture to financially support like that even though they could. They help with childcare & plenty of emotional support though.

It's tough I would like to leave but just really unsure about where to go.

I would have a good long look at the house prices for what you want and understand the offers over system. And are you prepared for the higher taxes you will pay here in Scotland? That might put a stick in your wheel. Also my DH has been in the finance sector in Edinburgh for 20 years and it is not what it was for career opportunities. His team is now in London. Going forward, he fully expects the finance institutions to move to Dublin. Oh, and I wouldn’t write off independence so easily.

@Parrish Thanks. Gosh what a joke the UK is going to look like after that. We have to let Northern ireland reunify with the mainland, after all. I mean, when brexit happens, traders from NI would have to complete paperwork to sell their goods on mainland UK (in any other country, this would be ridiculous- can you imagine having a business in berlin and having border checks on your goods to sell them in Munich?).

If there is scottish independence, we can be the United Kingdom of England and Wales. It sounds really sad actually.

There are some excellent state schools in Edinburgh, but there are some that struggle too so it is worthwhile checking the catchment map carefully.

What does this mean OP?

We have to let Northern ireland reunify with the mainland, after all.

Moving to Edinburgh means moving to scotland- it's a completely different nation and very, very different to living in London. I don't mean to sound patronising but do you know much about Scotland? Do you genuinely have a love for the place or are you just earmarking it as somewhere that has cheaper housing and bank jobs? It doesn't sound like the move needs to be imminent so maybe you should do some weekends and holidays there in the coming months to see what it's like over different seasons. Also, if you don't know anyone there and have no family, what would your support network be like? Edinburgh can be quite lonely, I say that from experience. Also, independence will be a huge thing post-brexit and something you will have to factor in. Would you want your children to be Scottish? I don't mean that in a bad way (I am Scottish) but more in a practical sense, if that makes any sense.

I love Edinburgh, but there's more to it than just slightly cheaper housing.

@Bloodypunkrockers i think brexit would make irish reunification more likely. there wouldn't be free trade between mainland UK and NI. I know there is the good friday agreement and we don't want to reignite the Troubles. When UK was part of the EU, NI had the best of both worlds and it was a workable arrangement.

I don't see how this is going to work out long tern with NI goods subject to checks before reaching mainland.

@AngelicaElizaAndPeggy that is true but I wanted to see whether it is viable before thinking it was even a possibility. Job prospects are important for me- otherwise how would i even pay the mortgage?!

It doesn't matter even if i love scotland, if its not the right place for us jobs wise, we can't move there.When I was 22, i moved to germany, i had just graduated from university and had very little, so was willing to rough it out. i am older now and have gotten to the stage where we have savings and a home. We have a nice life in London. We can only afford it because of our jobs, nothing else.So I am not willing to jeopardize it and spend a few amazing years in scotland, only to come back to London. If that was the case, I would rather knuckle down to get a better paid job in london so that one day i can hopefully afford the bigger flat i want.

? NI is in the UK? So leaving the EU also?

I see what you mean now and actually NI have been granted a deal which allows them access to the EU single market at the end of the transition period.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53724381

@Outsidemum1

I'm sure you could find a house within zone 3 for £500K. Look at Hither Green/Lewisham or Charlton say? Lots and f flats in that price range in Blackheath for example.

Kidbrooke Park Close Blackheath SE3
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75151359.html

Lots like this - I'm sure the prices could be negotiated to within your budget.

@Lightsabre thanks, will have a look. Problem is DH is a diehard north londoner :)This does not apply to edinburgh, however!

Generally the market is buoyant. The fund industry is, IMHO, contracting in terms of opportunities generally and I think that will hit Edinburgh - maybe more than London.

But the Edinburgh property market is generally strong and if you are going private it opens up cheaper areas with a bigger house - still a nice area but you aren’t bound by catchments.

I disagree and think Edinburgh is culturally good all year around. It’s a terrific city actually - if you like cities. It’s cold though and don’t underestimate this!!

Salaries are also much lower in Edinburgh for funds work compared to london

I think living in Scotland is far more than just the city.
It's the ability to get to a beach quickly (OK it's cold but beautiful) into the hills or skiing in winter. Definitely learn to drive if you don't!

Job wise Edinburgh is really good for positions and I would say quality of life is better. One thing to be aware of is that income tax is higher here. I pay 2k more then my London counterparts.
I grew up in London and moved to North East Scotland over a decade ago I would never move back my quality of life is far better.

As for independence yes there is more people with brexit and the pandemic who support it in theory however the Scottish government has yet to set anything of how they will fund it. The last one was based on oil industry taxation but that's not a feasible option at under 50 dollars a barrel.

So people may support it in theory but that doesn't mean that they will necessarily vote for it I think a lot of Scots are watching brexit!

@Scottishskifun Yes i know about the taxation. Spoke to DH about it and he is fine with it. I mean, if you think about it, pre pandemic, we each paid £160 per person for z1-3 tube/bus travel. the Ridacard is £56. So we are saving over £200 in transport costs per month for both of us if we move to scotland. Also i heard the nhs is better in scotland? If so, DH can give up his private medical insurance which costs over £1k per year (it proved quite essential during this pandemic because we would not be able to get a surgery that DH needed using the nhs but managed to get it privately.).

@Scottishskifun I always thought scottish voters were more sensible than English voters. 1 thing that I don't like about England is that even though I live in London, I am ruled by a goverment elected by Middle Englanders and I have little in common with them. However due to electoral math, I am stuck with a tory government for the foreseeable future, and London doesn't have its own parliament (our mayor has limited powers).

If you look at electoral history, it is a fluke whenever Labour gets into power. in some ways, I don't blame Scots for wanting to leave, because staying would mean many tory prime ministers even after BJ throws in the towel.

@hopingforonlychild voting wise for parliament it's pretty much SNP or SNP in most areas unfortunately I live in a large Tory area. But scottish Msps are more of a mix and tbh it's actually scottish MSPs which have the most effects on my day to day living.

Yes NHS is good up here, prescriptions are free and most waiting lists not too long if you do end up on a long list they offer private treatment if over a certain time period. I was still seen by surgical team during the pandemic and had scans. Many Dr's surgery's are operating online systems but if need to be seen you still are.

I still have friends who keep their private medical insurance but mostly through work.

For me coming from London a major positive is reduced commuting time it was fairly standard for each way to be over an hour and half. Up here a commute each way of an hour is often considered long!

I personally think that quality of life trumps it all, really. You get this in Scotland, without a shadow of a doubt. I couldn't live in a city where there is a lot of air pollution. No amount of money would be a pull factor.

Again, it all comes down to your priorities in life in this will determine where you settle down.

@blowinahoolie It isn't just about money though! Its the fact that we are relatively young and have many years of working ahead of us. If we lost our jobs tomorrow in London, I still think the most likely place for us to find new jobs is in London. Being in London also gives you access to jobs in the SE; i remember once my DH got to final stage interview with a job in cambridge and he was prepared to commute; a NDN of mine when I was living in Hendon commuted 2-3 times a week to guildford for a job and then he switched jobs to a town which was even further way but he still managed to commute everyday.

Of course, places like New York probably have more finance jobs than London but its also pretty competitive and there are visa restrictions, so if it was hard to find a job in London, i don't think its likely that the only job that I can find in the world would be in new york either. So if i could afford a spacious flat in London, it would probably be a smarter buy on my part (i am talking with my head and not my heart) because at least it is in a place where I could envision being able to find a job in the long term future (and pay off the mortgage!). Of course if I can envision being mortgage free in Edinburgh by the time I am 40, that would make a huge difference to my calculations (but the kind of edinburgh property I want isn't very cheap).

Its probably a different situation for a 40 or 50 year old, these recessions happen in cycles anyway so they probably only have to endure at most 2 recessions before its time for retirement. And also these projections are based on what I know in 2020, it could all very well change! I am sadly banking on the country still being London centric and the pandemic hasn't changed this.

@blowinahoolie actually reading that post, it sounds quite contradictory like i wanted the long London to home counties commute and vice versa. No the main reason why I want to move to Edinburgh is to avoid that! But if it was a choice between being jobless in a recession or commuting, i would pick the latter. And its unlikely to be the both of us commuting outside london if we live in london; however, for many home counties couples, it can mean double commuting which can be very difficult with kids due to the train delays.

I suppose being in edinburgh gives me access to the jobs in glasgow but thats about it.

Boris Johnson’s elitist refusal to grant a second referendum is why there will almost certainly be independence for Scotland within the next 5 years.
He (and the rest of this incompetent elitist govt) is the cause’s most powerful recruiting sergeant.
I am what I would describe as a reluctant but committed convert, thanks largely to Brexit.