Moving to Stirling & need advice on where to live!

[Zebrazo]

Hello! I am relocating to Stirling with my husband and two boys (5 & 8). My husband and i are both Scottish but we’ve lived in London / Surrey for the past 17 years. We’ve struggled to settle where we are and have decided to move back up north to be closer to family and friends. My husband has secured a job in Stirling and will have to move up on his own while we sell our house here.

We love what we’ve seen of Stirling. We really like Bridge of Allan but I’m unsure if we’ll be able to find a house within our budget there. We’d like a 4 bed house and have around 550k - max 600k. My husband really wants to be within walking distance of a train station so that we’re well connected. Are the people nice in Bridge of Allan? We don’t want anywhere too snobby! Alternatively, should we consider Kings Park / Torbrex? We’d ideally like to be close to a high street with a few nice pubs / cafes. The problem is the lack of properties on the market at the moment. It’s impossible to get a grasp of what we can afford. The new-builds in Cambusbarron look perfect but how well connected is it to Stirling?

Thanks so much for any help!

Sorry can't help specifically with Stirling as I'm further east but there are several Sotsnetters in that area who'll hopefully be along shortly.

If you haven't bought in Scotland before just wanted to remind you of the offers over system. The housing market has been crazy in Scotland over last couple of years. Houses in popular areas have been going for 10-20% over o/o price so you need to factor this into price bracket you're looking at. It's important to get a solicitor who knows the local market and can advise you on offers. Obviously if you go for a new build then you'll know the exact price.
Check Zoopla for actual sold prices (think it lags about 3 months behind house sale)

Thank you Bannman! Yes, we’re aware of the offers over situation. 20% over the asking price is pretty significant! If anyone knows of a good solicitor in Stirling, we’d appreciate a recommendation.

I live in Stirling.

You are right, there in not much for sale in BofA or Kings Park at the moment. Have you thought of Dunblane?

From the development in Cambusbarron you mention you could walk to Stirling in about 20mins, 25 to the station. The site is within walking distance of two primary schools, although Cambusbarron would be the catchment area school. Cambusbarron itself has a post office/general store, butchers, pharmacy and Co-op. There is also a well used community centre and library. Public transport is poor, with I think a couple of buses a day, but you would need to walk into the village to catch the bus.

BofA is a very pleasant town with some nice shops/restaurants and obviously the train station. I think your budget would limit your housing options though. You could look at the area down by the Allan Water? BofA primary used to be well regarded, but I’m not sure of its reputation now. In terms of senior school there is Dunblane and St Modans. There is also a bus through to Dollar Academy if you were thinking of private school.

The new David Wilson homes in Cambusbarron look lovely but not handy for walking to the train station or driving to the A9.

Kings Park or Causewayhead (the BofA side of the railway) are popular. I would avoid Causewayhead area near to the prison, we looked at a house just in BofA boundaries but by the prison and it was a very reasonable price but just felt too close to the fence.

Dunblane is great, houses scarce right now though. Not sure if BofA is snobby, it is lovely though.

Also don't rely on placement requests. Stirling was previously good at granting placement requests but Dunblane, St Modans and Stirling are reaching capacity.

Stirling is a great place to bring up a family. Our DDs had access to so many sports and activities growing up. Now they have graduated or are students they still like coming back home to escape a big city for a wee compact one.

Dunblane is nice with train station, shops and pubs etc, but as others have said there isn’t much on the market. I’ve been watching it closely recently as I’m about to sell (my house would be too small for you). And houses are on the market for 2 or 3 days then Sold!

Good luck though … hope you find the perfect house 😊

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to comment. This info is really helpful!

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for new properties coming on the market in Bridge of Allan (although probably out of our budget), Causewayhead (avoiding the prison), Kings Park and Dunblane. It’s good to know that it’s possible to walk from Cambusbarron to the station, even though it’s a 25 min walk (we’re used to a 20 min walk currently). This could still be an option but my main concern is how close those houses are to the motorway. But with the lack of property on the market, we’re keeping options open. Alternatively we’ll have to rent first, but it’ll have to be where we buy so we don’t have to move school again. This move will already be unsettling for my boys.

Hi there. We moved to Stirling, (Bannockburn more specifically) from
Edinburgh in 2019 and have loved it. Bannockburn I feel has changed quite a bit in the last the years or so...used to get more a bad rap that I think it deserves.

We bought a lovely 'B' listed (grade 2 in England) property in the Old Town of Bannockburn, right next to a fantastic river walk, waterfall and hugeee park if you have a dog and direct access to the countryside from our front door. We can see the cows from our window on the hill (again the views at the top!) but can be to the shops in five minutes.


There's also Bannockburn House, a 17th century mansion house that was bought out by the community as a land asset transfer in 2017 that really is transforming the community through social enterprise and volunteering with an aim of restoring the house itself and developing the local area.

School-wise the secondary school in BB doesn't get a very good write up, but both primaries - Bannockburn PS and St Mary's I'm told are very good (St Mary's is the feeder school for St Modan's)


There's also Bannockburn House, a 17th century mansion house that was bought out by the community as a land asset transfer in 2017 that really is transforming the community through social enterprise and volunteering with an aim of restoring the house itself and developing the local area.


There is a lot going on in the community and everyone is extremely friendly with quite a few young families who have also moved here. DH and I lived all over the UK and have never really been in a situation where my neighbours are friends but I would say that is the case here.

Thank you ‘InScotland12’ for sharing this. It does sound as if Bannockburn has an unfair reputation. We’ll certainly keep this in mind and will keep an eye out for properties coming up in the area. It sounds like it’s a friendly place, which is one of the top things on our hit list. It’s a shame that the secondary isn’t so good. I need to research this more.

A few more properties have come on to the market in the last few weeks so hopefully things are picking up. We obviously need to sell our place in England first before we will be able to view and offer on any houses up north. Hopefully it’ll all come together.

Keep an eye out for Cambuskenneth and Riverside, both quieter neighborhood within walking distance of the station ( well Cambuskenneth is technically a separate village but it's just over the Forth with a pedestrian bridge linking it to Stirling and still an easy walk to town).
My cousin's went to Bannockburn High ( admittedly decades ago), they moved away and went to great effort to send their kids to Grammar and private schools as they wanted to avoid schools similar to BH which they did not rate at all. Bit of an overcorrection in my opinion but then I went to Dunblane High so had a higher opinion of state provision...