Possible move to Scotland

[DanceBeneathADiamondSky]

DH is submitting a flex working request as we want to move away from the area we live in.

One option is that he moves and works from the Aberdeen office. We have lived in Aberdeen before and would not want to live within the city again. We have little children now and would rather be somewhere with a bit more space and zen.

We also loved in Edinburgh before and loved it there but know it's £££££ now. Aberdeen used to be more expensive than Edinburgh but I think that's changed now?

Anyway, any ideas where we could move to. Somewhere with decent secondary schools would be the ideal as our eldest will be moving up in a few years. Just somewhere we'd be welcomed and have some more space. Were currently just outside London and property prices are just insane here.

Budget would be £500k-ish. We'd need 3 bedrooms minimum. Happy to move anywhere up to 2 hours drive from Aberdeen.

We are not Scottish and don't have family there, but some of my family are in NI so we will be more able to travel there by ferry from Scotland than we are currently. This isn't why Scotland though. We just love it there and miss it!

I live in the Highlands, but have family who live and have lived in Aberdeen and surrounding area. There are lots of nice little towns and villages in Aberdeenshire, I particularly like Inverurie and Ellon, both very nice. With a move to Scotland, I think one thing to consider is that you will pay more tax, and you definitely won't see the benefit of that extra tax. Practically everything is underfunded. Also, perhaps look at how education compares with other parts of the country.

What interests do you all have? I was thinking Deeside e.g. Ballater, which would be lovely if you like outdoorsy stuff? Does it make sense to be between Aberdeen and Cairnryan if you’re wanting to get the ferry?

Perth? St Andrews? Not lived in either but both nice cities and within 2 hours

You will pay more tax but I am not sure that you don't see the benefits. Free prescriptions for all is a definite benefit for us. And possibly no uni fees (although issues about Scots students getting into Scots unis)

I liked the look of Broughty Ferry - just outside Dundee - when I lived up there. On the banks of the Tay. 90 mins from Aberdeen. This is under offer but should be within range soon.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132903821#/?channel=RES_BUY

Yes, DH said about tax!

If we could get a cheaper house, we could possibly swing for private school? Obviously hospitals and police etc are out of our control though

Perth is a good shout. Lovely small city and straight onto motorway network for easy access to anywhere else in Scotland.
Or if you want more rural then some of the villages in Perthshire or Aberdeenshire.
You should get 3 bed in your budget in most areas of Scotland (apart from the expensive parts of Edinburgh). Remember the offers over system though when you're looking at prices.

We've been to Perth and really liked it. DH used to have a colleague who lived there when we were in Edinburgh.

Will reply properly later. Just sitting down to start work.

Thanks for responses!

If it says offers over £575,000 my experiences of the Scottish system is they will expect to get significantly more than that..

I'm saying that it'll be within budget in a year or two's time. Prices are going down and there's only a few people who could afford to heat and maintain that.

Sorry that’s in response to the right move listing. We were up in St Andrews/Dundee over half term and it was gorgeous. As others have said there are nice bits outside Aberdeen- further north and close to the beach is Moray. Lots of beautiful coastline (Lossiemouth ect).

That’s really interesting and not my current experiences at the moment (Glasgow area). But it is good to know that you are seeing a softening of the prices.

Isn’t the extra tax about £100 year though? Last time I worked it out for a slightly above average income it was.

I'm saying that it'll be within budget in a year or two's time. Prices are going down and there's only a few people who could afford to heat and maintain that.

Im near Edinburgh and family houses still flying off the shelves, going to closing date within 2 weeks.
If house prices are falling then presumably OP will also get less for her house

@BeerBot my experiences as well.

Perth and Dundee could be an option, might be as far south as I'd want to go. Stonehaven is v close to Aberdeen and I know people who love it there.

Road from Aberdeen to Inverness is now pretty good along the coast so any of the coastal towns and villages there may be an option. They were, a good 10 years ago, suffering economically but I don't know if there was an upswing during covid that I saw in a lot of small towns elsewhere in Scotland due to the cpvid travelling restrictions keeping people local. Beautiful part of the world, moray coast, but not sure about services.

Offes over- normally price is less than home report valuation with the vendor wanting to achieve valuation price or near enough. The home report survey should be online so easy enough to find out the valuation plus survey details.

dpeemds if you want rural or coastal, close to Aberdeen/Edinburgh/Dundee or not?
i wouldn’t move to Aberdeen I always found it very depressing even as a kid - was our closest big city. Perth or Dundee maybe? Stirling?

Aberdeen as a jobs market is still very energy/oil&gas sector dependent although more diverse these days with the move to renewable energy etc. The towns and villages around are nice but driving into the city takes forever during rush hour. Stonehaven and Portlethen on the train line are both commuter options, Stonehaven is further out but much less dominated by newbuild estates. Deeside (e.g. Banchory) is lovely for outdoorsy stuff and nice houses but is expensive and not very diverse.

I'd look at Perth, maybe Broughty Ferry, or Stirling. Big town/small city with easy transport links across all of Scotland and good schools in the area. Strathallan is a highly rated private school near Perth if you want that option.

Income tax can be calculated here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tax-calculator/

do it clicking the ‘I live in Scotland’ button and do it without to see the difference.

i pay £2k more a year to live in Scotland and my husband pays £3.5k more. A significant difference!

Median income around 31/32k and then I think it's less than £50 more in tax ?

Which once you take off an eye test or few prescriptions ...

Ha, you must be earning a lot then. I figure very high earners can pay a bit more 😃

We'd be paying something like £2000 more in tax I think. I can live with that if property is better and we have easier access to the outdoors

We are earning quite a bit yeh, but our jobs are also very flexible and we can work from anywhere. We plan to move to Forest as soon as the kids have left school and the financial saving we’ll make us a big part of that.

Part of my role is helping companies restructure. If the restructuring will involve moving jobs income tax rates are a big reason why companies are keener to set up in England rather than Scotland. Post the Brexit vote a lot of finance jobs had to move from the UK to elsewhere in the EU and France for instance was a big no due to its high income tax rates. These things matter.

Dorset not forest, but a forest in Dorset would be nice!

Banchory ticks all your boxes. There are three access roads into Aberdeen and with the new bypass, traffic is much lighter now.

I remember Banchory and it was lovely (we were in the city centre so didn't go out there much). I remember it was expensive though. Will have a look and see if anything is within budget