Buying in the highland

[scotlandcountry]

I want to buy a house in the countryside, ideally away from all other houses and as cheap as I can get that for. Please can anyone offer advice on locations and houses? I want to be in the countryside and I work from home so travel isn't a worry

Travel may not be a worry but broadband might

How remote ? How many hours drive from a supermarket?

Exactly. I’m highland. Semi rural and my superfast broadband gets me 6mb. It’s also off in crap weather. You will notice my lack of posting Sunday/Monday - no house phone, no internet, no telly, no mobile signal. We don’t have cable so you’re stuck with overhead drop lines battered by weather.
You might work from home but travel is still an issue especially with kids. We have limited bus services, no bus on a Sunday at all, no trains at all. Waitrose don’t deliver here (you’ve no idea how many tourists go NO OCADO!). Asdas and Tescos might but limited availability. It’s a no in bad weather especially when the snow gates get shut. How’s your car suspension? Mine is wrecked coz it’s not a defender or a pickup and I’ve got too many ‘in the sticks’ clients. It had two strut mounts and a spring and a shocky done in February and it’s wrecked again. I’ve been on mat leave since July. How are you with isolation? Coz whatever you think about it being right or wrong we’re not renowned for being great with ‘incomers’ and your house will be known as the person who lived in it before you’s house for at least three years. I bloody grew up here. I was born here and the house I’m in is still ‘Tom Wilson’s hoosie’ coz I had the audacity to leave and come back when I had kids. You need to think a bit more on what you need

There's miles and miles of Scotland that fit your criteria but it really depends just how remote you want to be and what your budget is.

You can get Starlink satellite Internet these days so no worry about broadband!

I currently live in the countryside, I have a 4x4 and I'm used to the extreme weather. I'd like to be within 30 mins to an hour of a supermarket. What budget would be feesable as low as possible? And would I be accepted as I'm English

Have you ever been to the Highlands? Do you know they close some of the main roads when it snows in winter? Do you know the temperature, rainfall and daylight are very different to elsewhere? Do you know about the midges? Or what you would do if you needed a hospital? Or what the soil is like for growing plants? Not trying to put you off but this is a move to make with very open eyes.

Ah X post.

Try Angus. Beautiful but not quite so remote!

We have just come back from a Highlands holiday. We stayed in a place called Glenelg where there is one very twisty turny road in and out and a car ferry across to Skye. Getting the ferry across to Skye is the quickest route to get to a large Co Op, but the ferry is £18 one way or £25 return. If the weather is bad the ferry doesn't run and you have to use the Skye bridge to get across, though there is a large CoOp in Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland.
The internet was hit and miss, but it didn't bother us too much as it was a holiday except when my dh had a couple of work calls.
The village itself has one shop which closes at 5pm and all day Sunday and has limited stock.
But, I guess if you lived more inland then you wouldn't have some of these issues. It is a stunning area, but there are things to really think about. Also, if you have pets vets are quite far away and not that many in the area we were in. Most villages seem to have medical centres though.

I think you need to set a budget rather than "as low as possible". I've just done a search on Zoopla within 40miles of Lairg, Inverness, Aviemore and Lochgilphead which covers most of the Highlands, parts of Aberdeenshire and Argyll & Bute and there's hardly any remote properties, let alone ones on a low budget.

I think you would be better in Highland Perthshire rather than The Highlands.

Look north of Dunkeld.

OP the Highlands is pretty big so it really depends on what you need. In Inverness or on the outskirts you will have very little issues with broadband etc. However we do get bad snow, my kids have been known to sledge to school as schools and work places rarely if ever close, it gets dark in the winter at 3pm sometimes it doesn't get light. The summer nights are long and bright though the midges can be a pain. We have fantastic beaches with shops. If you go further north road closures, poor shops and heavy snow fall are common. The summer has a lot of tourist's but in general the Highlands are clean, friendly and nice to live in

And would I be accepted as I'm English

OP I've seen people on Mumsnet getting angry when people suggest that there's any anti-English sentiment in Scotland.

I'm Scottish and I thought there wasn't any either, until I witnessed it first hand with an English ex of mine. So yes, there's some, but by not means everybody is like that.

But there's definitely, like a pp mentioned, issues with "newcomers". It can be confused with being English, or xenophobic or racist, but it's not (not saying those other things to occur, but that's outside this). It's the same for white born and bred Scots moving into similar communities. And it doesn't mean you'll be totally isolated, just that some people will always see you as a newcomer ie someone who wasn't born and raised there.

But given that you're simply looking for somewhere remote in The Highlands, I'm wondering how much you're actually wanting to feel part of a community (you didn't mention you wanted to).

Re incomers - My PiL are still considered incomers after living in their village for 50 years 🙄

The highlands can have severe weather in winter , when you'll require snow tyres. You still need access to food shops , goods deliveries, and medical and dental services and I strongly recommend you NOT to live where those essentials are 25 miles away down a single track road. Where the TV signal or phone signal is very poor.

I'd recommend the Black Isle. Rural, beautiful countryside, easy reach to coast and city services in Inverness.

Otherwise, the outskirts of small attractive towns like Nairn. Or Beauly. Both on rail links, good bus services, good local medical facilities.

The N west coast o S cotland is a lot wetter and stormier (and a very long drive to anywhere else). The East side of the Highlands are drier and sunnier.

Prepare for very short day length in winter, high petrol prices, a very different mindset from SE England.

I think you're going to come up with a better set of criteria than "remote", "cheap" and "Highland".

By some definitions the Highlands is everything north of Aberfoyle - 2/3 of the country. 1 bed? 2 bed? land? Within 30 minutes of a big Tesco superstore, or a wee Co-Op? There are just as many "remote" locations in the Borders or Galloway. Are you prepared to do work to a house or are you looking for something perfect? Do you need access to schools for children, or a station, or to be within X distance of a station/airport etc?

Or is the one of those "I live inside the M25 and OMG look at how cheap Scotland is" posts?

Honestly, coming from the SE you’re going to get the shock of your life. Next-day-delivery doesn’t exist here and you often pay extra delivery north of Perth.

if you’re going north you need to have a “prepper mentality” for every day life.

im in a “cheap” place, but it’s 2 hours from Tesco and frankly we’ve had enough of incomers flinging their cash about pricing out locals and whining about the lack of Ocado.

Tjhe absolute bottom budget (under 100K) would be one of thse lodges.

pdf.hspc.co.uk/58945.pdf?rev=5619

Or, a very tiny flat.

I am English and have never encountered any anti-ness in 50 years. That's not to say it doesn't exist.. just, not round me.

Try HSPC website to search for properties. HSPC stands for Highland Solicitors Property Centre; its a large association of different firms.
You will need to employ a Scottish solicitor as the property market and conveyance system is very unlike England's. Most lawyers websites have a section explaining the system.

I'd advise avoiding any properties on West Coast islands, as the ferry fiasco is set to run for years yet :-(

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126499814#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126758972#/?channel=COM_BUY

I was going to say this.

It’s nothing to do with being English, it’s to do with not being from there. Like I said, I was born here and my house is still Wilson’s. Folk like to know not only you but who your family are, who your grandparents were, great grandparents etc. like someone said they’ve been here fifty years and are still incomers. If you’re buying a place to live in you’ll fair better than a holiday let landlord though you will get some pissed off if you’re in a big house on your tod when their kids and grandkids can’t get a house nearby. Ferries on the west coast aren’t really that bad. Try the Shetland run without a cabin and 90moh gusts. Wouldn’t recommend Nairn or tain because the drugs are rife there just now and only getting worse. You say you’re used to extreme weather but I don’t think so. We shut main roads with big metal gates chained shut because it can and regularly does get that bad. I’ve seen the scaffies wagon buried under it.

I moved to Skye from Glasgow at the end of August. Remote and cheap doesn't really exist unless you have the means to renovate or want to stay in a caravan. I love it here but the nearest supermarket is fort william which is 78 miles or inverness which is 85 miles. The coop is extortionate.
We get deliveries from asda to our houe but its just within the catchment otherwise you collect at a local car park.
I absolutely love it her and we are building a new life but be prepared.
We have no kids. My husband works from home and hasn't had any issues with broadband, sky seems to be the preferred provider.
It's not easy to buy in the highlands, the Facebook groups are full of people with jobs that can't get accomodation, thats generally where the anger comes from, it's not usually about your nationality. Covid has brought a lot of people up here that are now working from home and thats pushed the prices up.
A lot of people have 2 homes or holiday homes too but if you want to integrate into the community you will be made very welcome.
I work with a lot of people from England.
Good luck! Its an amazing lifestyle but it can be a shock to the system if you're not used to it.

Have a look at a place called thurso/caithness. And set you miles too 30 miles radius. Lots of little villages dotted about. Cheaper than most places.

Also Helmsdale is gorgeous