Where to live commutable to Edinburgh with family

[Treesareourfriends]

Hello, I have been offered a job in Edinburgh. I simply couldn't afford to buy there. I have two primary aged kids and am a single parent with essentially whole childcare on myself (relevant because I need to do school pick up and drop off which of course affects commute times).

Any wonderful Mumsnetters with wonderful ideas for where to look to buy a new home?

Other relevant points: I don't drive so someplace that has local fun, family things for kid and good transport. Budget for 3 bedroom would be £160k

TIA!

Whereabouts in Edinburgh is the job? It’ll affect your commuting options.

City centre x

Eek that's a small budget for the lothians!
Do hear in mind houses round here have been going for quite bit over home report value this year.

Commuting by bus can be quite lengthy so I would look at places on train line for quickest commute.
In West Lothian Livingston, Bathgate, west Calder, Uphall station have easy commutes and all good family areas.

Could also look at Midlothian Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg but I'm not quite sure where the stations are and not very familiar with the area (hopefully someone local will be able to help)

Could also look over in Fife as many commute by train from Dunfermline, Burntisland, Dalgety Bay but journey will be bit longer.
All great family areas.

Bonnyrigg is approx 45 mins by bus to the city centre at peak times. Dalkeith has a train station (Eskbank) and I think it’s about 15 mins by train into Waverley. Somewhere like Newtongrange/Gorebridge also have train stations and are on bus routes as well, but the further out you go the more difficult it is not to have a car. But the further out you go the cheaper the houses are, so you might weigh that up!

Try Musselburgh, Tranent and cockenzie . You might find something in your budget and good bus links to Edinburgh

@Treesareourfriends

City centre x

But near Waverley or not, for example?

How are you going to work in Edinburgh city centre but live up to 45 minutes commute away and still do school pick up and drop offs while not driving?

Is your job part time?

Thank you all.

I would want to avoid a lengthy commute. I currently commute but in a known area. That part of Scotland is a mystery to me.

Thankyou for responses. I could possibly up the budget. I like to have a safety net though but perhaps that's overly cautious.

I'll have a look at Livingston, Dalkeith and Musselburgh.

Dalkeith. Eskbank station is 15 mins into Edinburgh and there's a good bus service and a fair bit to do locally.
This is in budget but not the most fantastic area. Fairly central though.

espc.com/property/28-woodburn-road-dalkeith-eh22-2be/36048007?sid=828777

If you’re in those areas, it’s going to be a 45 minute commute, realistically though. By the time you’ve factored in a walk at either end and bus/train timings.
Quicker would be train, so the first thing o would do is work out how near your work is to a train station and see if train is an option.

How long a commute were you thinking about. I think 3 bedrooms on your budget will be hard to find with a shortish commute.

Musselburgh, Wallyford, Dalkeith all have train stations and are about 15 minutes from city centre.

I think you're going to struggle finding anything in a decent area with a commute of less than an hour. Even flats are outside budget.

Do bear in mind that Scotland mostly does Offers Over, and in this market you're looking at a significant mark up on the given price.

Commuting from Fife to Edinburgh is hell, not enough carriages on the trains, not enough seats, everyone rammed in like sardines. Trains often late or cancelled. In the winter if the weather is bad they can shut the rail bridge or limit the speed at which trains can go over meaning long delays and cancellations. Hard to get a parking space at/near the station at peak times. Never get the last train home on a Friday night as you might not get on it (all this pre-Covid).

Without a car you'd struggle to get to your childcare on time as bus services are limited.

You could try this feature on Rightmove to get an idea of areas:

where.rightmove.co.uk/

Essentially you might not get all your criteria so you need to prioritise the most important things which I would guess will be price and commute time/public transport. I'd maybe start looking at what schools in likely areas have breakfast and after school clubs as this will help with commute times. You'd also want school to be in easy distance of whatever travel means you need (e.g. bus stop/train station) to get the shortest commute for you as well as the one where it is closest to work. However, you might not end up the very nicest of areas or somewhere where there is lots of activities available without driving. However if you get a decent short commute, that's also available to access stuff in the city or en-route.

That's quite a tiny budget for anywhere in the Lothians

There are houses/flats on rightmove about £130k in some of these places. Hmm, perhaps they are not in desirable areas!!

Yes I think I need to accept digging into savings more or increasing the mortgage, the job will increase my salary so perhaps I am trying to contain finances far too much.

Such useful information from everyone, thank you.

It's quite difficult because often an area can have quite a poor reputation overall but it could be mostly confined to a few streets or there is a good bit or bad bit and without specific local knowledge you could be eliminating areas that otherwise look good and fit your requirements.

I used to commute into the city centre from Penicuik by bus and it was fine, the public transport was decent, local school had a good reputation, very much a family area. However, that was 20 years ago so I wouldn't necessarily know what it's like now. Plus, we sold our 1960's very ordinary 2.5 bed semi for nearly £150k back then so I'm guessing prices have moved on also and we had a car.

I presume you know about ESPC? Half the houses in Edinburgh aren’t on Rightmove.

there will some 3 bed houses in livingston in your budget, most will be ex council
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/81351510#/?channel=RES_BUY - this one is a 5 min walk from livingston north train station, 5 min walk to primary and secondary schools

There are definitely some cheaper areas in Edinburgh such as Currie (quite nice), Sighthill (okay) and Pilton (bit dodgy in parts) but I think you would want to live here for a bit before buying as it really depends on street/area. Sighthill is on the tramline which makes commuting quick and easy.

Tight budget. Remember offers over - around 10% of new build.

Much more for period.

So the house mentioned above in Dalkeith is out of your 160K budget.

I'd expect it to sell for around 180K (but don't know the Dalkeith market).

This is good for looking at dodginess.

vis.oobrien.com/booth/#

I’d class Pilton and Sighthill in the definitely dodgy I’m afraid.

There are some nice bits in both areas. But OP isn't going to get anything in a nice bit of Edinburgh on her budget.

Maybe rent for a bit OP, buy a car, and then move when you have a better idea of the job and the area?