Relocating to Scotland - middle-age & fed up with London life - looking for quiet, ''horsey'' place

[Whitehorsegirl]

I want to move from London to Scotland. Flexible about locations which is probably making things more difficult...

Has to be: safe and quiet (I will be living alone & one of my reasons for leaving London is being the victim of an assault by a former partner) but still within commuting distance of either Edinburgh or Glasgow so not more than one hour away and with a train station.

Interests: I took up riding recently as an adult beginner and would love to be continue to take riding lessons. I don't need to worry about schools or nightlife . I am quite arty though so would like somewhere that is not too conservative and has some nice cafes and independent shops.

I don't need a lot of space so a 2 bed flat or small 2 bed house would be great. I can take on somewhere that needs basic renovation an it doesn't need to look ''pretty''. I just need somewhere they I can have a spare room to use as a small artist studio :). Budget not big: £250,000 absolute max.

I love Scotland. I am British but originally from an EU country and I just can't cope with London anymore: the noise, the crowds, the heat, Brexit and the Tory madness. It really has affected me badly and my health has suffered so I need to get out and find a better quality of life and somewhere where I can be more outdoorsy (lived in the countryside as a child and teenager).

Any suggestions much much welcome!

Job-wise I am likely to continue to work remotely but I have a background in working for charities (comms, fundraising, marketing, website management) and running projects and services for people with complex needs and homeless people.

watching with interest

I’d say the Perthshire would tick pretty much every box, lots of small villages and towns, definitely horsey type places and house prices which would be very affordable for you. Dele ding on where you go, definitely within an hour of both Edinburgh and Glasgow if you need a city “fix”
Have a look on tspc.co.Uk to get an idea of property prices -other property site are available!

I was going to say Perthshire too. Or maybe somewhere like Dunblane?
Or how about Melrose in the Scottish Borders ?

I'd suggest having a look at somewhere like Kelso? Or one of the other small border towns / villages. A £250k budget there is actually very decent (unless the market has changed unimaginably in the last couple of years). I used to commute Kelso - Edinburgh and passed through a tiny little horsey hamlet called Nenthorne on the way. It wasn't a bad drive either and loads of opportunities for car sharing, but I'm pretty sure there are rail links now (poss Galashields?) and WFH a couple days a week is pretty common as are half day Fridays due to all schools finishing at 12ish.

My plan has always been to get out of Edinburgh eventually and move somewhere less busy with more of a community spirit and the country side on my doorstep. Even better if there's a place for my horses and some land for an archery range £250k is about my goal to make it happen.

What about somewhere in Fife? Cupar and the surrounding areas are in very quiet countryside and there is a station with trains to Edinburgh. I imagine there are plenty of stables around.

I was going to suggest Cupar too!

Thank you so much everyone!! I really appreciate the feedback and I am so glad to hear that my plans are feasible in term of budget/commute. I will check out all the places suggested :)

still within commuting distance of either Edinburgh or Glasgow so not more than one hour away and with a train station

That gives you a lot of flexibility. Scottish Borders, Ayrshire, Fife, Stirlingshire, Argyll, Perthshire - all within and an hour, all with stations and all beautiful and rural.

Look at towns along those rail routes.

Job-wise I am likely to continue to work remotely but I have a background in working for charities (comms, fundraising, marketing, website management)

To add the best sites for you to look for these kinds of jobs in Scotland are:

goodmoves.com
brucetaitassociates.net
s1jobs.com
charityjob.com
aspenpeople.co.uk

One of the best things about Scotland is that you can live in a wide variety of places and be an hour from Glasgow or Edinburgh. Another good thing is that for a two bedroomed property £250K is a decent budget.

Perthshire - north of Central Belt
Fife - east
Borders- south
Ayrshire- west

Will all give you countryside near market towns with access to Glasgow or Edinburgh.

There are lovely villages to the north of Glasgow like Killearn and Strathblane or Fintry and Kippen (Stirlingshire). You would have easy access to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs from here but would need a car as no train stations.

I have no personal knowledge about horse riding but I would imagine most rural locations would have stables near by.

Do you drive? There was a similar thread yesterday but the poster didn't not drive which was limiting but still doable for stable access. The Scottish Borders is hugely horsey each town in turn has its festival week throughout the sunset with big horse back ride outs. Galashiels specifically has good riding facilities near by and a direct train to Edinburgh although it's also a direct easy drive. House prices are still relatively low there (the schools aren't the best which won't affect you). It's maybe a bit less arty than some of the other border towns but it's still present and the likes of Melrose very close by that has more of that not is more expensive to buy.

Around Ayr. Lots of stables for you on the bus routes. Train to Glasgow and Edinburgh for city stuff and airports.

still within commuting distance of either Edinburgh or Glasgow so not more than one hour away and with a train station

Somewhere in the Forth Valley - Stirlingshire or Clackmannanshire. Perth is a bit more of a commute to either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

With £250,000 to play with, you could get somewhere very nice in either of these places.

Dunbar? Lots of nice cafes and quite arty. Direct train to Edinburgh and stables reasonably close by.

Yep as others have said Fife, Scottish Borders, Stirlingshire, East Lothian, Perthshire, Ayrshire will all tick your boxes. These areas are all generally considered very "safe".

2 things to be aware of (apologies if you know this already) -

There's quite an east west weather difference in Scotland. West is wetter but milder. East coast much drier but cooler.
Also for house buying there is an "offers over" system and you should expect to pay at least 10% over the offers over price but in popular areas as much as 20% over at the moment. So if your top budget is 250k you need to adjust the price bracket you're looking in accordingly

Helensburgh ?

Thank you again everyone. More locations to add to my list!

@PinkPair Yes I have read up on the ''offer over'' so I will take that into account.
I don't mind rain at all, It is the heat and sun that I struggle with but that is a good point in term of some parts being colder that others (mainly thinking about the heating bill). Another reason why I want to stick to a smaller property so it doesn't become too hard to keep warm. I was in the middle of nowhere in the deep Dutch countryside when it was snowing earlier this year and incredibly windy and that was quite something!

Dunbar, Dunblane and Helensburgh were already on my list :) good to hear them confirmed as good options.

I have read mixed things about Galashiels on some threads (but it looks quite good to me) and some comments about Melrose (which again looks rather lovely to me...) and the Scottish Bordesr in general not always being welcoming of newcomers but I assume everyone has a different experience and you hopefully get back what you put it.

I was looking at Stirling too but again some people warned that because of the student population you can end up with neighbours who do like a party!

@MajorCarolDanvers thank you for the job sites recommendations! really useful.

Can confirm the borders is VERY horsey, the big towns have a yearly common riding festival. Melrose is quite sweet, Gala not so much, but it is cheap!

I wouldn't say we're unwelcoming to newcomers, Christ half the borders population is made up of newcomers.

You probably read mixed things about Galashiels due to the schools as mentioned earlier. They aren't the best and even in saying that it doesn't mean they are bad, it's just that some of the others locally are very good. Being the bigger town it obviously has that bit more anti social behaviour/ petty crime but to be honest it's still absolutely nothing comparing it to a city. Most of the borders is pretty inclusive these days and the bigger the town the bigger the diversity generally. I was a Youth worker in the borders 25 years ago and they already had an established polish community in Galashiels then. English accents are common and barely noted anymore.

Gala not so much, but it is cheap!

And it has a railway now too. Choo choo! 🚂

Alloa is amazing and way cheaper than many other places. Lots of incredible homes, a station and lots of cafes.
Dunbar is lovely but pricier.
Good luck and welcome to Scotland!

Dunbar is lovely and it's got an amazing beach for riding but I wouldn't class it as especially horsey. There are stables and private yards of course but mostly for hacking as far as I know. For a riding school you'd have to travel to far side of Edinburgh, mid/West Lothian or the Borders plus it's more expensive to live

Fife, north east, lots of braw wee villages, near the coast but also loads of hills, countryside etc.
I'm prob biased though. 😃

Borders, definitely. Lots of horsey, outdoors stuff, property is reasonable, there's actually quite a big artist community, musicians, painters, textile artists etc. Gala has the trains, obviously, but you could look at Peebles, Kelsi, Melrose. There are a lot of English people living in the region, lots moving down after being priced out of Edinburgh. It's a beautiful part of Scotland and so quiet because everybody shoots through on their way to Edinburgh and the Highlands.

Kelso, not Kelsi.....