moving to Scotland from UK

[Anamz]

Hi, we are planning to move to Scotland within next 6 months with family. I am looking for areas within 15-20 miles from Edinburgh that have affordable housing, good schools and a mixture of diverse community. Any suggestions and recommendations?

You don't feel Edinburgh is very diverse? At DD's school there are 47 different first languages spoken and it is by no way the most diverse area by a long shot. Some Edinburgh primaries are 60-70% EAL. I agree on the travel front though. At rush hours it can take over an hour just to get out of the city and even longer to get passed the crawling bypass. 20 miles doesn't sound far but it could take a very long time. One of DC's activities is 7 miles from my home, and only just outside Edinburgh boundary and a couple of weeks ago it took me 1hr and 45 minutes to get there. Busses have great links within Edinburgh city but are slow due to traffic plus that distance out might mean using 2 different bus providers so could get costly, trains aren't suitable for all uni buildings again could be costly and time consuming by the time you've taken train and bus. Also for the social aspect it's a long way for her when her friends are all out then have a short walk home. Students tend to live right in the city centre for that reason.

This gives some information on diversity in Edinburgh:

worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/edinburgh-population

I asked the OP which community as there are strong asian links to some areas within the city. I think if moving outwith the city then the chances of diversity go down a lot. I believe that overall, Scotland has something like 5% non ethnic population. Most of that will be in the central belt with the vast majority in Glasgow and surrounds and Edinburgh. University cities also have a transient ethnic population both from students and lecturer families.

That said, you could end up in a very diverse street anywhere but that would be hard to predict in advance I think.

For 200k you will struggle unless you want a flat or tiny house in a less than appealing West Lothian town.

I agree that 20 miles is a long commute for Edinburgh, unless it’s by train. For a student it would limit their social life and ability to participate in societies and sports. Outside the bypass is the back of beyond to many Edinburgh people. You can get a decent two bedroom flat in the city for that budget in some areas.

Thanks for some wonderful advice. I agree that i wasn't very clear about my query. To be honest there is no specific reason for moving to Scotland. we've been living in Birmingham from past 20 years. We visited Scotland 4/5 times and really loved it. My husband's work is very flexible and he can work from home anywhere in the world as long as he got internet connection. Regarding to free education, i had no idea if Scotland offered free university education, it would be cherry on top i guess. So would it be available to all Scottish residents? I agree with most of you regarding specifically targeting Edinburgh University, I think i was over thinking... things might change and same for kid's plan. Its just as a parent one wants to fulfil their child's dreams. Anyways so what is an average living cost in Glasgow? is it more or less expensive then Edinburgh or surroundings?

What you could do OP is either stay where you are or move somewhere cheapish and use the money saved to pay for your DDs accommodation if she goes to Uni?

If she does 4 years then you'd probably be around £20-25k plus for rent in total plus some for living costs, that way she could apply to anywhere and her student loan would fund near enough her accommodation or could be used for living costs.

At the moment resident scots (at least 3 years resident prior to starting Uni) get tuition paid directly. However this is limited to under £2k per year. The scottish government limit how many places they are willing to support, as do Universities as they get larger fees from rUK or overseas students. This means that the more prestigious universities can be harder to get into as a Scot than they are for non Scots. That said, the Unis are trying to meet targets and it can be an advantage (admission wise) to come from specific postcodes or schools etc but the policies vary from uni to uni.

The percentage of home grown students attending university is the same in England and Scotland.
The most prestigious universities always have more international students. Living costs are cheaper in Glasgow. I'm not sure why the pp is referring to money saved as if you stay in England, tuition fees will apply.

Money saved in the house move. Why must everything become a comparison with England? - sigh.

We've had many discussions about the merits and demerits of tuition fees and I don't think the OPs intention was to pay these up front regardless.

The op lives in England. One of your suggestions were that she stays there . Hence, I mentioned England!

Do a search on espc website (Edinburgh solicitors property centre), leave the location blank and put your budget and bedroom requirements in for an idea of what’s on the market in your price range and where. You can refine your search to houses only. Basically you can rule out living anywhere within the city bypass!

As mentioned maybe you shouldn’t move to country that you don’t even realise is the UK . Wow the ignorance

I'm still interested in how you know your Dd will want to live at home?
My Dd and her Bf live in commuting distance to Glasgow, he's at Glasgow Uni, she's at a Glasgow college, but they both moved in.
Very few of their school friends are at home now, even if they originally commuted.
I honestly wouldn't buy a home based on this.

No one has pointed out that an Honours Degree course in Scotland takes 4 years.
If the Op is looking for diversity Glasgow is the place. Drumchapel and Easterhouse might be suitable areas to look for reasonable prices.

Dd stays in Springburn!

Tbf, it's brilliant for them, they can afford a two bed which means they have a study, it's all on CCTV outside so very safe, great transport to town, and I'm v jealous of their JustEat, they can get every type of food delivered.
No, I wouldn't recommend it for a family, but for a 19 and 21yr old, it's fantastic.
Oh top floor of four too, so really light and the views are amazing.
Much better than my student place in Bristol back in the day.

@ThistlesandHarebells

There is a general perception that Scotland is cheap. Edinburgh is a very expensive city to live in. Property is expensive and the cost of living is more expensive than comparable English cities. 1 in 4 children (highest proportion in the country) are privately educated.
You would not get anything decent within easy commute of Edinburgh for 200k. If you intend to travel in to Edinburgh Uni, then be aware that it can take 1hr plus in rush hour just to get from the city bypass into town.

I agree with the others - 200k is a real push for a 3 bed anywhere in Edinburgh.

I'm not sure you'd get anything in a good area of Glasgow for that either, certainly not in the sought after places.

Having had a quick look on Prime Location, there are affordable properties in Musselburgh, Dalkeith, Falkirk, Linlithgow
www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/59006168/?search_identifier=7577e4da69d66f0584570d5d14638b96
Not the most diverse areas (I'm still a Falkirk fan - I like the libraries and parks and there is diversity and nice community groups for women from ethnic minority backgrounds and it has train stations) but affordable.
Quite a few of my friends who are for eg from Pakistani backgrounds have moved away from Scotland for more diverse areas though. It just depends whether you would miss proper falafel, for example. The only decent falafel I've come across in Scotland is El Falafel in Edinburgh. Dundee is a falafel desert.

Good suggestions! Thanks everyone. Yeah I would expand my search for sure not based on university only this time. As coming from a very diverse city Birmingham, I felt its good to have same level of continuity to some extent.

Honestly I’d think twice about moving. I’d love to move back to England. You don’t get the gorgeous chocolate box villages up here and it’s just not “ home.” It can be lovely here in summer but winter can feel extremely bleak and depressing. The nicer locations in Edinburgh/ the lothians are expensive and you wouldn’t get anything much for £200k at all. Musselburgh is quite rough, as is Preston pans and Tranent. Lots of poverty and drug issues. If you want a “ naice” area you’d need to look at town, or Gullane, North Berwick etc but you’d be looking at £400 k for something even half decent. At the very least. Plus you’ve got Nicola Sturgeon as Queen up here and she’s intent on destroying Scotland’s future.

@Couldyoulookafterivy

Honestly I’d think twice about moving. I’d love to move back to England. You don’t get the gorgeous chocolate box villages up here and it’s just not “ home.” It can be lovely here in summer but winter can feel extremely bleak and depressing. The nicer locations in Edinburgh/ the lothians are expensive and you wouldn’t get anything much for £200k at all. Musselburgh is quite rough, as is Preston pans and Tranent. Lots of poverty and drug issues. If you want a “ naice” area you’d need to look at town, or Gullane, North Berwick etc but you’d be looking at £400 k for something even half decent. At the very least. Plus you’ve got Nicola Sturgeon as Queen up here and she’s intent on destroying Scotland’s future.

As compared to having that absolute narcissistic psychopathic corrupt clown who is in charge in Westminster. Nicola is not perfect but separating from the politics down South and trying to rejoin the EU is not destroying Scotland’s future in my view. But this is not a political thread so why have you introduced all that.

3 years is probably how long you have to live in Scotland before qualifying for free University tuition

May I please post, without wishing to derail this thread. I am English and have just come back from a mini break to Edinburgh the Glasgow. It was 1st time in Glasgow for me. I was aware of its reputation and a bit apprehensive tbh. But I had a great time exploring, never felt threatened and found it energising and interesting. I went to Govanhill which I found attractive with the beautiful Queens park and handsome tenement houses. If I was younger I’d be thinking of moving there. I also ventured into the east end, but only as far as Cumbernauld road and the rangers pub, again no bad vibes. There seems to be a disconnect between the image and what I experienced, albeit I was only there for 4 days. Is this rose tinted glasses?