Stress: Where to live? In Edinburgh, East Lothian relocation.

[flopseyR72]

I’m having a dither stress.
I am relocating back home to Scotland.
wfh.
I have two young primary kids ( single parent) need good state school.
Aiming for a forever move suitable for young through teenage children.
I’m quite old so not interested in night life etc.
I have around £700k house.
I need to move ASAP and it’s hard for me to visit view because of kids school and work.
I won’t rent ( been stuck where I am doing that) to try as kids need school place and I need to buy in the permanent area.
Where is the best place to live. It has to be Edinburgh or East Lothian no other places.

Have you looked at South Queensferry? It's pretty, growing, not nearly as dear as E Lothian, great train links into Edinburgh and a new high school. That all said, much as I don't like NB I wouldn't consider living anywhere else in East Lothian, unless you want to go super-rural.

Dunbar is another option, I hear it's on the up.

Within Edinburgh, take a look at the catchment for Portobello High - Porty itself is ££££ and the market is very hot, but there's lots of quieter nearby areas. Also around Broughton or Trinity.

Really all primaries in Edinburgh are fine, it's about high school.

Over the house price valuation I mean in cash.

Edinburgh is similar but not as bad where I was looking.

Probably as soon as I buy houses will crash but I can’t really wait any longer !

You know if you go on the espc site you can search by school catchments? As I say, primaries are mainly all fine, it's high schools you need to be thinking about.

[quote rookiemere]@MaChienEstUnDick apologies I didn't mean to denigrate any school - my state schools knowledge is a few years out of date.

@MoonOnASpoon - I'm not so sure the budget would stretch that far in Greenbank - property prices have become ridiculous over the past few months.[/quote]
Not at all, it had a terrible rep when I were a lass (and all this was fields) but they seem to be doing well now.

@flopseyR72

Over the house price valuation I mean in cash.

Edinburgh is similar but not as bad where I was looking.

Probably as soon as I buy houses will crash but I can’t really wait any longer !

This is very common in lots of Edinburgh. A friend just bought a semi for close to a million and had to pay 20% over the home report..and the stamp duty was over 6 figures.. so lots of cash needed! But, if you go a bit further out, or try a new build, you won’t have to worry about that. What about Gullane? Could be some new builds there?

Yes coming back from England i find the expectation you should pay way over valuation a bit mad. Also don’t get started on the LBTT compared to stamp duty. I think Edinburgh and East Lothian are a bit overvalued tbh it’s not like their is the wealth of jobs or income.

Not Gullane I think too small

I'd probably go for Dunbar or Morningside/Colinton.

This recent post might help you too: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/scotsnet/4508543-Edinburgh-suburb-v-NB

@flopseyR72

I think 30 minutes is a long bus commute to school

I wouldn't be happy with that either. Ten minutes is about average. 30 minutes each way a bit excessive 😬

Colinton is a good shout.

Well to be fair it was probably a bit of an overestimate to say the Fairmilehead- Morningside bus takes 30 minutes, that's if you go at the absolute peak time, leave earlier than 8 and it may be more around 20 mins.

It's only 3 miles, it's just the road is busy , particularly because half of it has been made into completely unnecessary cycle lanes ( and I can say this as a cyclist) and spaces for people.

There are many students on the bus, as they are with their friends they seem pretty unbothered by the trip.

I don’t think 30minutes to a high school is particularly long or unusual? Even my local primary school probably takes 20min to walk with small kids.

Primary school is a two minute walk from front door, but high school 20 minute walk away for the DC where we are. I wouldn't be impressed with that length of a journey on a bus. The day is tiring as it is. Each to their own. Can see OP feels the same though.

What about going private for secondary? A lot of people seem to do that in Edinburgh and that way you have so much more flexibility about where you live. The trouble with wanting to live detached is that anywhere nice and central will be eyewateringly expensive so you will probably have to live a bit further out.

Are you planning to stay in the state system or looking at independent sector for secondary?

Lots of people in the 700K property bracket pay for education and it affects the catchment state schools in a negative way.

If you are thinking state all the way through then North Berwick is probably a good shout as it is far enough out of town for the private education bubble to not extend that far - most people don't want their kids to have that kind of daily commute.

If you are thinking private for secondary then look at some of the areas with less desirable secondary schools as you often get more house for your buck!

I'm a North West edinburgh person and would say the noise from the airport isn't that bad.
But do think about public transport as your teenagers will thank you when they need to get around! it improves dramatically if you can get to Queensferry Road easily so Blackhall/ D'Mains/ Barnton Park all much better than Cramond. From Blackhall you can also walk home at a push from town but it really is quite a long way to Cramond (been there, done that!)

However in Cramond the housing stock is such that you often get more house for your money (modern villas vs. 30s bungalow with loft conversion).

I think state school.
The trouble with north Berwick is the lack of housing. Nothing comes up at there is a bun fight
For any slim picking. EA try to encourage to overbid the valuation. Locals more concerned with houses for house martins than locals!

It's no different in my part of Edinburgh. The competition is insane in general and even worse for a 3-4 bed with garden. Even garden flats go for 20% over home report.
Our friends who have sold and are renting haven't been able to get a 4 bed place in the area since last August and I think their budget is close to a million. They just keep getting outbid by even more insane offers.

It’s madness really! Where in Edinburgh are you roughly ?

Must admit I've given up my fantasy lottery house searches in Morningside, there's nowt here at any price.

I live here already, in a flat.

There was shortage of 4 bed family homes in Edinburgh before the pandemic, hence all the new build estates out on the outskirts.

Then covid hit and everyone needed more space to work from home and wanted a garden.
A perfect storm!

I don't think kids mind about their bus journey as they are generally with their friends. It took me an hour to get home - from school bell to walking in the back door - from Newington to Musselburgh. It's just what I did.

I guess but I hate commuting myself and feel like it’s something you don’t have to ideally do if it can be avoided until you are a grown up.

Brand spanking new secondary being built in Wallyford. Will attract brilliant teachers. Opening 2024. Is being built as a learning campus.

Perhaps you could consider the catchment area for there? Some lovely properties near the racecourse and lagoons in Musselburgh. Also handy for train into Edinburgh can be there in 10 minutes.

I would second Blackhall/Davidsons Mains. Easy commute into town and schools, near airport but not on flight path so no noise. Very residential but with decent shopping nearby (Craigleith). Good local amenities re dentists, doctors, hairdressers, library, green space, bike trails, near the sea.