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!

I'd not worry too much about dodgy areas, it's a little city where the areas overlap a lot and you're rarely a street or 2 away from either a nice or dodgy one. Loads of new builds going up all over regenerating the worse areas although often not cheap either. Definitely recommend Dalkeith,wallyford, Musselburgh or even fort kinnard/jewel area which might have some cheaper prices and handy for park and ride. Bonus of East/Mid Lothian is you're near beautiful countryside and the beach. West Lothian/Livingston is much more built up and urban. (Still plenty green space though) Remember any house prices you see are offers over and almost always go for significantly more. Also many stations aren't actually in the town (Dalkeith for example) so you might still need a car.

As for your question of expensive cost of living - I don't think so in comparison. There is so much to do for free here, you can never do it all. I'm a lone parent with 2 dc living in Edinburgh and although now am feeling the squeeze post covid losing tax credit too ups and petrol, food etc going up (which is nationwide) and I can't think of a better place to live. Please do contact me if you need any advice or help

@Groovee

A few of my friends live in flats where they have split the biggest bedroom in half for the children. So they go for a 2 bedroom flat.

Yes this is what I've done

Bo’ness isn’t well-connected for public transport - there is a bus to Edinburgh but think the frequency of it keeps reducing. No trains unless you bus to Linlithgow first.
Falkirk area has a crazy housing market just now - places are going for £20k over asking price and very quickly. But it’s a good place to live, and we’ll-connected to rest of central belt.
Livingston/West Lothian may be a good shout for your budget, and at least you should have bus and train options.
Good luck OP, with the search and the job!

@Treesareourfriends

I could stretch the price bracket but it will eat savings and demand a bigger mortgage (which is a worry when you're a one income family. On the other, I could lose opportunities if I'm too risk averse). I probably need to think 2 bed and kids share!

Again, thank you for the advice.

Is the cost of living ott in these places too, or just the housing?

What sort of things for cost of living? Compared to where? Supermarket and utilities will be the same as where you are. Some cafes and restaurants will be expensive, but not all. Lots of free parks, museums etc.

Which part of the city centre @Treesareourfriends ? That will make a big difference on East Lothian vs Livingston for example.

Also bare in mind that 15% over ‘offers over’ value is very common, if not more at the moment lots of things are going for well over home report value

You’ll also need to look at availability for wrap around care/after school club which is harder the closer you get to the city so definitely something to consider.

Will you be commuting every day? What type of hours?

Use some of your savings to do an intensive driving course, pass your test and and buy a car. It'll open up so much more affordable housing and commuting options to you. It'll be worth the outlay in the long run.

The position is in the New Town area. This job feels like a crossroads. I work in a niche field and where I am currently, there's no hope of progression whereas there's more of a ladder of progression in Edinburgh.

I will need wraparound care as I do now. Lots of deceased people in the family unfortunately so I've never had that network to fall on and luckily it hasn't been an issue so far.

Yes full time commute and it's not the kind of role you can work from home unfortunately.

The intensive course would have to do with some fierce driving anxiety!!!

I had bad driving anxiety (i still do to an extent) but this was many years after I passed my test but hadn't driven. I then needed to commute from south of Edinburgh to Stirling for a few months into my new job before I moved closer so I took some extra lessons. Actual sick before needing to drive but I travelled at less busy times. Then I did it again, didn't drive for a few years but then needed to do local driving for childcare. I just worked up from doing the same drive every day to expanding a little but planning ahead to the point of knowing which gear i would need to be in and most importantly, where I was going to park. I've driven locally now for years and years and actually it's fine but I still struggle to venture too far but that's when I'd get a train or bus.

Working in the new town, you are unlikely ever to drive to work, but it would help you with getting to and from a station and dropping and picking up DC at school/childcare and so make that side of your commute easier and broaden the amount of places you could buy. But that's really up to you. You could also put the savings towards upping your budget to get the right place and therefore not needing to drive and have a car as soon as you move.

Have they offered any relocation package? That might help with budget. My last move (after I was commuting), they allocated me a budget which paid for my legal fees, moving costs, marketing fees for my old house, stuff like getting new carpets and sky connected.

I’d rent in the centre. It’s easily walkable for large areas, and better schools and opportunities for dcs.

Even if you could drive you wouldn’t want to be driving into Edinburgh from most of the places that have been mentioned on this thread, the traffic is horrendous into and out of Edinburgh in a morning / evening and that’s before we get into the lack of parking unless your office happens to have staff parking.

I'm not suggesting driving into Central Edinburgh, but at the moment the op is restricted to living very near public transport links. Having a car allows you to drive to the train station and to and from childcare pick up. It opens up a lot more options.

I live 10minute walk to that train station and 20 minutes on train to Edinburgh, really easy commute, expensive though. But... I don't live near childcare, I need to drive to and from nursery and after school/ breakfast club otherwise it's just not doable.

£160k 3 bed, close to childcare and public transport within 30min on Edinburgh would be like gold dust.

I wouldn't recommend buying the linked property in Woodburn - it's definitely not the best area.

If you are considering Midlothian, check the local community facilities as the Council have closed a number of Leisure Centres recently.

I honestly think you’ll struggle to get a decent place commute that would allow you to reliably be in a Newtown office 9-5 for £160k, without it coating a fortune in travel too. What could you stretch to? If you could have minimal travel costs?

School holiday cover is another consideration.

West Lothian is great for commuting with the M8, lots of buses to Edinburgh and many towns and villages having train stations. But you'll struggle to find a 3 bedroom house in a decent area for your budget. You might get an ex council house in a less desirable area if you're open to that, or a flat in a reasonable area. Remember the offers over system in Scotland when house hunting too.
Your best bets are West Lothian, Mid Lothian and Fife, but all are similar price wise I believe. East Lothian is another option, but it's generally more expensive.

I forgot to add the Falkirk area to the list, close to the M9 and good rail links.

What would be your rental budget @Treesareourfriends?

If it's a good opportunity @Treesareourfriends I'd seriously consider renting a flat for a couple of years and getting to know the area. Lots of families do. How young are your children? How many years of childcare are left? You'll have different options for commuting once they're old enough to be at home by themselves for a short time.

The chance of missing the pick up from wrap around if you are commuting outside the city on public transport is very high.
Posters saying no one can live in the city on that budget are talking about what they cure as nice houses in nice areas. Wouldbegood has posted a couple of options. An ex council flat is a perfectly good option and you can be close to everything.
Renting while you get to know the place seems wise.

3 beds, Oxgangs, decent schools, bus ride to work.espc.com/property/14-3-oxgangs-farm-drive-edinburgh-eh13-9qq/36042107?sid=788359

Yep, I'd happily live there Mistress, in fact I grew up not far from there, Plenty of bus route options and decent schools. Flat needs a bit of work but would be more expensive if it didn't. Judging by the windows, they are possibly all owner occupied nowadays.

In my day, the Oxgangs "farm" something streets were better than the plain Oxgangs ones, and you've also got Firrhill and Colinton Mains which might be a little more expensive but all decent areas and you have the Braid burn valley where you can walk through to Morningside etc.

The Oxgangs one is good for being close to schools, supermarkets, library, the outdoors on your doorstep.

I work nearby. My children at are regularly up the pentlands and doing outdoors stuff.

I know there's a breakfast club at Pentlands. I think the after school club is at Oxgangs though. But it's closer to town.

A friend of mine used to live right on Leith Links - I genuinely wpuld never have considered it but she found a great community of young families, all living near the Leith Croft. Good primary school too. She had a 2 bed flat though, kids shared. No need for car, good links to new town and wraparound childcare.

I would be really cautious about Leith though- v easy to tip into the awful areas. I used to live on Easter Rd and some streets were v fancy, some fine and some absolute horror shows. There has been gentrification around the shore and then down along the new buildings near the docks (near Scottish government building and Ocean Terminal) but again so easy to cross the road and head into scary locations.

Another friend lived in Pilton and it wasn't v safe.