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 had a flat in leith walk many years ago and loved it. I’d live in leith again in a heartbeat

Polmont. There is a station. 25min to Haymarket. Not as pricey as Linlithgow.

@WouldBeGood

I had a flat in leith walk many years ago and loved it. I’d live in leith again in a heartbeat

Me too. Loved it.

@ParishSpinster

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.

I live on the edge of Leith and work in the middle of the worst part of pilton. It's really not that bad. Again lots of new builds and regeneration. Leith shows up on many trendiest places to live in the world charts. Yes there is one specific huge block of flats that are still a bit dodgy (but also with a massive sense of community) but unless OP is on the local housing list as a priority she won't be moving there. You're at little danger unless you are a rival gang lol

I would probably just rent for now and live closer to work.

I'm from Fife but I wouldn't recommend being dependent on the train service to live in Dunfermline - the stations aren't near the areas with housing and the local press is full of stories about multiple trains being cancelled and people being charged late fees by after school care.

Depending on how much flexibility there is in the budget I'd look at areas in Edinburgh like Carrick Knowe, Broomhall, Stenhouse - these are close enough to town that you might not even need breakfast club (depending on how old the children are). If you are in a Lothian bus commutable area that caps transport spend at £40 a month, way less than train fares to Fife or Falkirk.

Carrick Knowe has a great primary school with after school club / holiday club and you can bus, tram, or cycle into town. But a good flat will probably be around £180k and might be 2 bed.

Good luck!

I think if you would consider living in a 2 bed flat you could live close enough to work so childcare would be ok. I would try some think like this:

espc.com/property/28-7-dumbiedykes-road-holyrood-eh8-9uu/35897137?sid=648239

The area is central enough so you would not need to drive, but it's a small place. It's fixed price though 5k over budget. The area is a bit student, but I would prefer it to Slateford or Oxgangs.
You could also look into child minders
The often collect from schools and they might be a bit more flexible with pick up times?
Alternatively

Ooh, that’s nice @Callisto1!

And walkable in case of transport issues

Sorry for the typos!
I've seen several places come for sale in that area close to Holyrood Park and they always seem very cheap. I don't know if it's because they're ex council or if there's something more to it.

Dumbiedykes isn't the best of areas to be honest. A lot of drugs issues. Dh used to do work in the houses there and often felt unsafe.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=STATION%5E9815

The bottom 2 on this may be in budget. Fairly nice village location. Good primary and outstanding secondary a walk away.

Both fast train and slow train and lots of childminders etc

Dumbiedykes wouldn't be my first choice!
There's a reason the prices are that cheap for central Edinburgh

What about Berwick-upon-Tweed 45 mins on the train to central Edinburgh and houses are MUCH cheaper. Most areas are walkable to the station.

That's an expensive commute from Berwick upon tweed to Edinburgh though so OP wouldn't really be better off

I wouldn't do Berwick either.

If the OP could visit Edinburgh get a day ticket for the buses it would maybe give a feel of the areas.

Fife hands down. The trains are not as bad as everyone makes out - busy yes, but not cancelled all the time. I'd stick to the main commuting station of Kirkcaldy (35/40 mins via train) and Inverkeithing (25 mins via train) where trains to/from Edinburgh are every 10-15 mins.

You will get 3 bed properties in both areas (ex council) for less than 160k - probably around 130-145, giving you a bit of scope for going over asking price hopefully. They are decent areas on the whole (I grew up around these areas and still live nearby).

I commuted Kirkcaldy-Edinburgh for 3 years and never had major problems (peak times). I still commute from Dunfermline/Inverkeithing area and again, no major issues.

Train will be 160-260ish per month.

Plenty childcare and schools nearby to both.

I own a 2-bed house, bought this year during the crazy times everyone mentions and got it for asking price of 115k and a good area - 3 beds are in higher demand but still not Edinburgh crazy prices.

@Callisto1

Sorry for the typos! I've seen several places come for sale in that area close to Holyrood Park and they always seem very cheap. I don't know if it's because they're ex council or if there's something more to it.

There's a reason they're cheap!! I don't always feel safe in that area in daylight let alone in the dark.

That explains why the places are so cheap then! It didn't seem that different to me than somewhere like Oxgangs, but I haven't wandered through it extensively and I'm a rather recent arrival to Edinburgh.

You could get something like this in Dalgety Bay. Perfectly nice area. Walkable to the station and there's a coach into Edinburgh too.

espc.com/property/73-steeple-crescent-dalgety-bay-dunfermline-ky11-9sz/36049165?sid=320664

Maybe slightly over your budget but this looks lovely and good commuting distance

https://www.yopa.co.uk/properties/details/262703?fbclid=IwAR1RbtzHTKl0gvZKof2UirGJjjj_4nymyAktzDjfTlgcbT8MkuFoBMSbg5A

Stockbridge is accessible for the town centre IIRC. But it might be mostly flats.

The budget is the problem.
There will be nothing in Stockbridge in OPs budget
And I would imagine that house in Dalkeith will go for £200k

Stockbridge is one of the last places in Edinburgh you will find a 3 bed property in OP's budget....

PMSL at the suggestion of Stockbridge! Double that budget would barely buy you a 2 bed tenament flat.

A friend was desperate to live in Stockbridge - could have easily afforded a 3 bed flat in Portobello or similar but bought a bedsit one bedroomed flat just to be in Stockbridge. Madness