Moving from Edinburgh to Winchburgh (what do you think)

[justanotheruser1]

We are planning to buy a new build at Winchburgh and would like to know if it’s a good move considering there will be 3 new schools and a train station. My DP works from home (even after covid) and I may have to go to haymarket once a week for my work.

We have two DD ‘s - one in p4 and an infant.
This is our first house and we currently live in a flat in Edinburgh, we are moving so we have a garden and my older DD can go to a good high school in 3 years. (Current high in our catchment is not great and we don’t want to send our kids there)

Just want to know your thoughts on this

I have a few friends who've moved to Wincburgh recently, due to growing families and cheaper property. It's nice enough, very family orientated. But I get the feeling it's a bit of a 'nothing town' just a large sprawl of new build homes. Good commuter links, outdoor spaces, supermarket and a couple of takeaways. Very different lifestyle from vibrant central Edinburgh but nice enough to raise a family, if a little bland.

West Lothian has got great amenities for families. Many people move here for house with garden and easy access to work in Edinburgh. Im in WL but not winchburgh.

Wnchburgh has changed hugely over last few years with all the new housing.
It's now a very large village but there's not really any facilities there so be prepared to travel. There are loads of kids activities in Linlithgow, Broxburn and Livingston.

Don't know about primary schools but not heard anything bad.
At the moment secondary go to Linlithgow academy which is highest performing school in WL.
But I know there are plans for new secondary so that will change.

There is new junction planned onto M9 next year which will make a big difference to the traffic. At the moment it's country roads in every direction!
The train station has been spoken about for years but I don't think there are any definite timescales and many WL locals believe it will never happen so I would be cautious if that's a deal breaker. Public transport is not great as bus is very slow! But if you've cars it will be fine.
Good luck

Thank you @Invisimamma & @sartorius

This is our first ever house and would like to make the right decision as we plan to live there for at least 10-15 years.

We have a budget of 450k to buy 4 bedroom house - initially we were looking in Currie but I feel current prices are very overpriced and we may get a small semi detached house for our budget, and Currie schools are over subscribed too.

My DH work is home based and my work is also remote with one day to office a week near haymarket (after this covid is done).

we thought Winchburgh is ideal with three new schools opening in 2022 (one primary and two secondary) with adjoining sports complex and a huge district park.

I know we have to travel for kids classes and things like that (mostly to Edinburgh)

Your have a great budget, if you enjoy living in Edinburgh (you don't say if you do) I wouldn't move out when you can get somewhere with a garden closer in.
I wouldn't be confident about the standard of a brand new school, since you say your current catchment one isn't good, how can you know what an as yet unbuilt one would be?

@Tailendofsummer I agree !! We just hope it will be good and heard like the teacher to pupil ratio is around 15 in West Lothian compared to Edinburgh oversubscribed schools.(think it’s around 27)
We love Edinburgh but once thing I hate is traffic seems to have gotten worse with all the road changes.

The traffic can be awful! You need to move in the opposite direction to it wherever possible!
I don't really understand what you're saying about class size. If there aren't enough children for a normal size class they would merge classes. Schools won't be given a budget that allows them to run classes half empty. Over-subscribed means loads of children, it doesn't mean your dc wouldn't get to go to their catchment school.
What do you like doing - shops, supermarket, cinema, theatre, pub, coffee shop, soft play, trampoline centre, swimming pool, gym. Wherever you look at work out how close they or how convenient they'll be to get to. (Sorry if that's all a bit obvious but with your first purchase there's a lot to think about!)

I wouldn’t ever consider leaving Edinburgh to live in Winchburgh. I think you’d spend a large amount of your time driving around to get anywhere interesting and as you have a great budget I would look at new builds in Edinburgh such as Cammo in west Edinburgh. There are also new houses being built at Queensferry, which is technically Edinburgh - some schools with good reputations there. But definitely not Winchburgh.

You will be swapping city living for village OP (albeit one with a lot of new housing) so you need to be ok with everything that living more rurally brings.

450k is great budget for West Lothian but not for Edinburgh for 4 bed house. Things have been selling for way over the o/o price recently.

South Queensferry is a good shout (and probably where you would be heading to from Winchburgh if you were going out for lunch, coffee etc).
I have friends who live there and schools are good. Brand new High school. On train line, lots of amenities, activities for kids. You MIGHT get 4 bed house for 450k there

South Queensferry, offers over £420 so might go over budget, big house.
espc.com/property/52-stoneyflatts-south-queensferry-eh30-9xu/36048441?sid=121249

I really wouldn’t move to Winchburg - I would go somewhere with a train station. Travelling into Edinburgh by car or bus takes ages. Linlithgow is nice, as is South Queensferry. Or go in the other direction and look at Dalkeith or Lasswade.

Looking on the espc (since it's Saturday and I like houses ) could get 4 beds that seem to be in price range in silverknowes, ferryfield and one in East Craigs. Decent schools for all. And further out lots in gilmerton and Musselburgh though I wouldn't be as keen. If you're ready to move elsewhere then do it; but don't do it as you think it's impossible to get a home in Edinburgh.

Why not look at Stirling? Decent enough train links to Edinburgh but lots (depends on your viewpoint of course) of other things on your doorstep.

@AmadeustheAlpaca yes one our neighbours reserved a house at cammo for 510k and it was 1287 square feet which is small for that money in our opinion. Basically a 4 bed starts at 510/520k mark with David Wilson homes and Cala are yet to release new houses which will be more or similar price of course. It is out of our budget anyway.

@Tailendofsummer sorry if I wasn’t clear about class size, meant a teacher dealing with 15 pupil in a class is better than dealing with 30 pupil - as each pupil will get more time with their teacher when they need help.
My older DD enjoys swimming, roller skating, tennis and cycling, only classes she has is swimming and tennis. I do like shopping and cycling with family and rest (cinema, shopping, soft play) are not done regularly so no a problem. However we will miss one thing though I.e. takeaways 😀 but hey ho.
We want a decent house with a garden and both of us brought up in a village background and would be happy living in a village setting.
But sure we are still looking around to weigh pros and cons. Ta

@sartorius yes exactly current house prices are extortionate in Edinburgh. We both like living in a rural setting whilst still having easy access to nearby towns. Just working out if it’s going to be practical for us.
South Queensferry - my DH says we should avoid anything towards the forth bridge as he used to commute to Aberdeen on weekly basis and hated the bottle neck - but like the idea of train!

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar 👍

@justanotheruser1 Hadn’t realised that the new Cammo houses are so expensive, I know some people who are planning to put their names down for the three bedroom ones as they like the area and there are some good schools not too far away. I completely understand why you would want a brand new house, not a fan of older houses myself, but I love the amenities of Edinburgh and the lack of long commutes and I would always compromise if I could not get the house I wanted just to stay in the city. I believe there are new houses being built at Kirkliston, which is an area I would prefer to Winchburgh, though you would still have a longer journey to get into Edinburgh.

Oh it's different if you actually want to live in a rural setting, of course! I think some people believe living in an "on the edge of" place will be just like living in the city and it really isn't. But doesn't sound like that's what you're trying to do
I really don't believe that class sizes in West Lothian (or any state school) will be 15 in a class. That's the kind of size people pay for private to get! Maybe in a village primary, but not in a secondary except for practical classes.

You won't have class size of 15, that's not realistic if that's why you are moving.

1:15 ratio is not the norm in West Lothian .
Also wouldn't hold your breath waiting for the train station!

I don't know winchburgh but I have in the past moved to a new build estate at the edge of a smallish place and it didn't really work for us and we ended up moving again. It was quite hard to integrate into the community although we did make great friends on the estate.

We ended up moving quite quickly to another newish build estate at the edge of a bigger place and we are still here about 17 years later.

To be honest, I'm not a big West Lothian fan but I can see the advantage over the other lothians if you need haymarket. We had friends who moved to the Uphall/Broxburn area who settled there fine. You have the advantage of the train at Uphall Station.

As for schools, I think if the are sitting with 15 to a class in the area you are thinking of, they wouldn't be planning a school to service that area, though they may of course be building in the wider council area.

@Invisimamma no it’s not a reason to move, when we are looking around a local women who lives there made a comment along those lines. Maybe that’s how it was before/until loads of new houses were built.

@HadEnoughOfBears thank you

@ElephantOfRisk noted, main reason we are thinking about winchburgh is that we can buy our dream house which is within our budget and both primary/secondary schools in walkable distance.

Any particular reason why you say you are not a fan of West Lothian?

That is a big draw and to be fair, I liked the house we had in the area we didn't stay long in rather than this one - though this one is bigger.

I've never lived in WL so it could be an unfounded view, I just find it a bit soul-less, each "area" just seems to blend into the next and there are a lack of features that I look for in terms of hilly views or sea. Obviously it doesn't apply to it all though. I just think it depends on what you are looking for, it can be hard to integrate into the wider community when you are stuck on the edge in a new build estate of "incomers" It eventually gets better as more locals move into the new estates and it's less of us and them type of thing. But, you can make a nice community in the estate itself and we are still friends with a few people from the one we only lived on for 18 months and we are 17/18 years later. Everyone's experience is different I'm sure.

We are in Stirling now which someone mentioned above. It is obviously a bit further away but has direct access to Haymarket by train and plenty of local amenities and also quick access to Glasgow. We've been very happy here and you could get a lovely 4 bed in budget. I'm originally from Edinburgh and it does have a very similar feel to me.