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!

@SheWoreYellow

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

Yes, I appreciate that. I shared the Rightmove link because the tool is useful for working out areas as it will give you places that are generally within budget and within commuting/travel times to various areas even if there aren't any places for sale on their site. Once you have your areas, then ESPC probably the first target but you need to look on as many sites as you can.

It also depends on which parts of sighthill, the bit towards Longstone used to be pretty ok, that could have changed and also I grew up in pretty dodgy areas so anything slightly above those always looked posh

I grew up in Musselburgh and am very shocked at the Rightmove prices. £350k for Wallyford???

If you are interested in East Lothian, OP, I suggest you look at Prestonpans and Tranent.

You might also consider Fife. The prices there are considerably cheaper than Lothian.

Wallyford has a nice new primary school and they're building a new high school as well. There are lots of new developments going up there.

I just meant the OP and ESPC , Elephant

@ElephantOfRisk

It also depends on which parts of sighthill, the bit towards Longstone used to be pretty ok, that could have changed and also I grew up in pretty dodgy areas so anything slightly above those always looked posh

Oh yeah, the Parkheads are ok

Scotrail is a massive fucking nightmare going Fife - Edinburgh so avoid that for sure! X

Although, dalgety bay has some decent property around that price just now!

I think your brief is impossible @Treesareourfriends

Id rent as others have said, until you get a handle on things.

Wallyford, Dalkeith, West Lothian

I used to commute to Edinburgh from one of these areas and it was a 35/40 minute bus journey to the City Centre.

If you go onto espc (where most Lothian properties are advertised) @Treesareourfriends you can put in your budget, number of bedrooms, house/flat etc and put the area as Edinburgh and Lothians.
That will bring everything up in you price range across whole of the Lothians.
You could then come back on here and ask about specific areas.

But Edinburgh and places within easy striking distance are amongst the most expensive in Scotland

You'll not get anything with 3 bedrooms in Musselburgh or Wallyford for that budget any more. Anywhere with a train service into Edinburgh is at a premium. Is there any scope to increase the mortgage? Or learn to drive (which will open up areas without train services)?

I live in Dunfermline and half of the town commutes to Edinburgh as its only 30 minutes on the train.

All the schools locally are good and its a nice town.

£160K will get you a 3 bed semi detached in Dunfermline.

ESPC is the best website for houses in the Lothians and Fife.
espc.com/properties?sortby=pricedesc&locations=ky11,ky12&maxprice=175000&ptype=house,flat

[quote MajorCarolDanvers]I live in Dunfermline and half of the town commutes to Edinburgh as its only 30 minutes on the train.

All the schools locally are good and its a nice town.

£160K will get you a 3 bed semi detached in Dunfermline.

ESPC is the best website for houses in the Lothians and Fife.
espc.com/properties?sortby=pricedesc&locations=ky11,ky12&maxprice=175000&ptype=house,flat[/quote]
And that's exactly why people do the "nightmare commute" others are referring to!
They can afford a family home in s "good" area which would be £100,000 more once they crossed the Forth

We stayed in Linlithgow a few yearsago. Good rail and bus links to city centre( about 20 mins on train) lovely, historic market town with a loch and palace in the centre. Lovely country park. Lots of shops, bars and restraunts. Some very good schools and there seemed to be lots of families. I had a quick look on Rightmove and easily found a 3 bedroom mid link terrace for 160 thousand.

Clackmannanshire or Stirling

And that's exactly why people do the "nightmare commute" others are referring to!

I'd hardly call a 30 minute train journey a "nightmare commute"

@MajorCarolDanvers

And that's exactly why people do the "nightmare commute" others are referring to!

I'd hardly call a 30 minute train journey a "nightmare commute"

I was quoting previous posters!

And I think they were referring to cancelled trains and packed like sardines rather than 30 mins

I think the biggest issue will be being a single parent with kids in school and certainly initially having no support network (unless DC are older/OP has another adult coming with her) and commuting by public transport.

It's fine when everything works but when your train is cancelled, and the one after that and you can't get back before childcare closes it will be stressful and potentially unmanageable. Once you know people it's easier to be able to call and ask someone else to pick up for you but there is only so many times you can do that without returning favours etc.

How old are the DC? Do you need primary or secondary schools?

@MajorCarolDanvers

And that's exactly why people do the "nightmare commute" others are referring to!

I'd hardly call a 30 minute train journey a "nightmare commute"

But OP doesn't drive, unless she buys a property within walking distance of the station how would she get there? Bus services in Dunfermline are rubbish. I used to have a 45 minute walk to the station each way and when you get off the train you've got to walk to your place of work too making it a lot more than a simple 30 minute train ride.

This is in Riverside in Stirling - a few minutes walk from the train station, a few minutes walk to a decent primary that I am sure has an out of school care club attached. Walkable to a decent High school. Near the centre of town and all the facilities, lovely walks by the river, good playpark nearby, really mixed demographic from families to students etc but pretty quiet, parking can be an issue since it's so close to the station but wouldn't be a hardship for you. The only problem is that it can be around an hour on the train on some services, lots that are a little shorter now since the electrification of the line.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112265627#/?channel=RES_BUY

But it really depends on how far you are prepared to be from Edinburgh. Would you have any opportunity to do some working from home so you weren't travelling every day?

Polmont (25 mins by train) or Falkirk (30mins by train). You'd need to live very close to the station though.

Also try Livingston, Uphall, Armadale.

It's probably do-able but tight on that budget.

Fife a terrible suggestion as the trains are often cancelled. One or leaves on the line is all it can take 😬😱

I would suggest looking into Falkirk area for a property. You're right on the G2E main line. Trains incredibly frequent. Housing sells incredibly fast in that area of Scotland.

One or two leaves on the line*