Edinburgh questions about particular areas

[modernrubbish]

We decided to relocate to Edinburgh to be near a family member with a long term condition. DP was raised here but moved away long ago.

Specifics: we're looking for a 4 bed house with garden for under £1m. Ideally semi-detached period but we have looked at bungalows given the market. Will do state school starting at primary. I would not want to live in suburban fringes -- in a calmer market I would live in Morningside or (without DC) maybe Stockbridge. Clearly I'm very mumsnet "naice"

Questions:

• A friend recommended The Grange/Mayfield/Marchmont but when I visited I couldn't tell if it would feel too "studenty" -- any insight?

• It seems like we might be able to get a semi in Portobello or Trinity for our budget -- what's the local community feel there? (My husband's childhood neighbourhood was considered rough in the 80s and he witnessed frequent antisocial behaviour, which he is eager to avoid.)

• Are there any family areas (and not massive 7 bed detached houses) around the botanic gardens?

Thank you for any advice

Look at comely bank, trinity, hillside, bruntsfield and broughton.

joppa if you don’t mind being a bit further out

grange is very residential but definitely more students in the marchmont area (though still lots of residential housing.)

Barnton is nice.

Sorry just realised that's more a suburban fringe!

Trinity is lovely, and Trinity primary school has a very committed and longstanding head teacher. It's a very family friendly area with a nice community. Are you planning on keeping your DC in state school in secondary too? Edinburgh is quite weird in that quite a lot of folks that can afford houses in 'naice' areas use the state primary schools and then put their kids into private for secondary, I think it's something like 25% of Edinburgh kids go into private schools. Probably a lot more in areas like The Grange! So you might want to check out the state secondary schools in any areas you like and make sure you're happy with them. Trinity Academy is good and lots of kids go there and do really well but it's not as highly regarded as some other Edinburgh secondaries, if you only go by exam results. But we know fabulous kids who have gone there and done really well.

thank you for your kind messages!

For secondary ideally state would be a good option. It's many years away for us (both DC are nursery age) so I can't guess what our financial situation would be then, but if we were making the decision today we could not afford private secondary for two at the same time.

Yep, Trinity and Broughton but really go and get a feel for the place. The issue with Broughton and anywhere in north Edinburgh is it takes a while to get out of the city if you're driving south.

Ravelston? Blackford?

The housing stock is really mixed, so you have to search out the houses sometimes.

I was looking for a bungalow in Corstorphine and ended up in a small house somewhere else completely. It was actually quicker to get into the centre from there, so keep an open mind on areas and look at travel times.

I'd be avoiding the really touristy/studenty areas myself, for reasons to do with maintenance, upkeep of communual areas and noise.

The grange isn’t studenty- it’s mega bucks!
marchmont can be studenty but if you find the kind of house you are looking for there then it will more likely be a family bit. There are family pockets throughout there, plus Bruntsfield and viewforth (hood school catchment).
we’re at the unfashionable end of morningside where you might find what you’re looking for.
porty & Joppa are pretty naice now. Only see teens drinking at the far west end of the prom, the rest is very much a community (a little bit hipster).

to be honest in this market you’re best keeping an open mind and casting your net side than being too focussed on one perfect area.

Agree Trinity is a good fit for you.
Comely Bank, Portobello, Newington, Polwarth, Corstorphine. Maybe Murrayfield will have something in budget.
Marchmont is very studenty but the Grange isn't (but v expensive)

As PP has mentioned think carefully about secondary schools. I'm sure your DH will know if he grew up in Edinburgh, there is a peculiarity you don't get in other cities. 25% of secondary children are in private sector, meaning the state schools don't have a particularly good social mix.

Property market across the Lothians has been on fire recently but hopefully calming down a bit now

Trinity is probably your best bet as PP have said. Round the botanics will far exceed your budget and tbh, trinity is not that far on foot or by bus from that area anyway. School catchment for stage school decent too, as well as access to town via public transport.

The Dudley’s in Trinity sound exactly what you’re looking for, so have a look in and around that area.

Nursery recommendation: it's not the closest but lots of Trinity parents send their little ones to Forbes nursery near Leith Links, it's brilliant but has a waiting list.

Willowbrae is a nice area but not in the catchment for Boroughmuir and Gillespie's which are the popular state schools.

The Dudleys are gorgeous but mostly terraced, so something to keep in mind if you're set on semi-detached.

I'd look at the best secondary school catchment areas - Boroughmuir, James Gillespie's & Royal High, plus Craigmount.

Most of these are fairly suburban but there are parts closer to the city than others.

Exactly as some have suggested we are looking online at every house that fits our wider criteria given there are so few family homes right now. But as we live a flight away in Cornwall, I want to be able to rule out or prioritise based on neighbourhood and school as it's not practical to fly up to see every option and I don't want to buy without seeing!

The family health issue is new and quite stressful so while I'm excited to live in Edinburgh I am not delighted to find a house in this market. Thank you ever so much for your ideas.

Just in case you didn't know this, the Scottish market is 'offers over' and houses can go for quite a bit over that, esp in recent times. So if your budget was £1m, search for property in the £800 - £900k range as a max. Property sells for 10-20% over as a rule.

Just wanted to check you are looking online at ESPC. I had friends in England who were just looking on Rightmove and missing suitable houses.

Unless it's changed - that was a while ago - but ESPC was the place to look.

Craigleith rather than Comely Bank might be better if you want a house rather than a flat - the "Orchard" and "Craigleith" Roads which i think are all zoned for Flora Stevenson primary and Broughton High. You're still walking distance from Stockbridge and even the west end of town.
Barnton is under the flight path and the bus service isn't great. If you like Stockbridge and Morningside for the "naice" shops, cafes etc then I think it would feel very suburban.
I'd definitely consider Portobello although a lot of the houses are at the Duddingston end rather than closer to the beach.

Thank you -- I just looked at a place that is on for £895 iirc and was told it received an offer over £1m.

An estate agent told me that family houses are going for 20-30% over asking and I didn't know if that was an exaggeration but sounds like no!

Sorry another basic question -- when I'm looking at a house, how will I know which secondary school catchment it is in?

If I wanted to concentrate on Boroughmuir and Gillespie for example.

Trinity is lovely and v family friendly.
Newington/Blackford - Southside
Not as familiar with Barnton etc. Royal High is a good school but the area feels a bit suburban to me.

on the espc website listing they usually specify the school catchments (although I would double check, i think they're on the council website) and you can also do a search by school catchment on there.

The school catchments are on Edinburgh council's website & you are allocated a school place once in catchment- schools are generally full, if not oversubscribed so please don't think you can move outside of your desired one & request a place elsewhere- this is rarely successful.

change your search to the "schools" tab rather than "buy".
If your kids are so little though I would bear in mind that reputations and catchment areas change. espc.com/#schools

Yes, you can also search by school catchment on the ESPC app.

That's not an exaggeration, no. It used to be 10% but it's just gone off the scale recently.

Marchmont is studenty (but less so than it used to be) but you're unlikely to find a semi there - it's largely tenement flats with a few exceptions near the old sick kids.

Grange is very not studenty but expensive - your budget might get you an upper villa flat.

Stockbridge is quite chichi but also busy and expensive. Orchard and craigleith bungalows are walking distance but not right there, if you don't want a suburban feel.

Trinity has the right housing stock but not the naice local shop/amenity thing going on.

Edinburgh council catchment area maps are your friend for schools - double check as they can change midstreet.

Morningside, bruntsfield, Blackford and Grange primary school catchments have just changed to accommodate the new school on Canaan lane.

If you end up in catchment for boroughmuir, be aware that the school isn't actually in its own catchment (it's a bus ride away for a lot of kids in e.g. South Morningside).

Greenbank might suit you - 10 minute walk down to Morningside, good schools and in budget.

I think you're going to struggle for what you want (4 bed period semi) where your want it (in town with vibe) as that just isn't the prevalent housing stock where you're looking. Consider terraces and flats/upper/lower villas and you might have more joy.

Also, seems daft but if you're going to be spending years in and out of hospitals your North/South decision might want to factor in whether you're traveling to the Western or the ERI.

Good luck.