Relocating to Stenhousemuir from Cambridge, EN - advice on areas needed

[AlexandraMil]

Hi all! I Happy New Year!

I and my husband are relocating to Stenhousemuir - currently buying a property there and will make the move around March 2024.

Our first choice was Stirling followed by Linlithgow but not many properties coming up in these areas (and when they do, they can be expensive) so we decided Larbert / Stenhousemuir would be a good option.

We don’t have children yet but this is planned for later in the year. Our jobs are flexible so we could choose almost anywhere in Scotland but we love Stirling, plus wanted an easy access to airports for flying to England so Larbert / Stenhousemuir sounds good!

We’re not into pubs, etc. so I’m not too bothered by the lack of amenities in this area - we just want a quiet and safe area with green spaces to raise a family.

My question - I read in some other threads that we should avoid the area behind Asda called The Valley because of the social housing… The house we’re buying is 56 McLachlan Street which doesn’t seem close to the Valley but I’m a bit uneasy and wanted to double check with someone more local! We did only an online viewing before making the offer so have never visited Stenhousemuir (but the reviews are good enough to know we’re not making a mistake.)

Can someone local please help with advice about this particular street?

Also, we’re in the catchment of a few primary schools - is anyone better than the other?

Many thanks ☺️

I think more ex council houses come on the market as they are popular with landlords and first time buyers who don't always retain them long term. There is a problem with availability in places like Dunblane because lots of people buy and stay put for ever ( as it's nice!) in my parents street in Dunblane there are lots of 70 and 80 year olds who all moved in when they had young families 40 years ago.
It's definitely getting harder to find good value housing in the area. When we moved back we bought a large flat with garden, much cheaper than a house, but these are now often bought to rent out as Airbnb in nice areas ( at least in my area).
Good luck, we were in your position 20 years ago and had to be flexible about property type and location, didn't manage to get anything in Dunblane or BofA due to not enough properties coming on the market.

It's really common in the towns and cities in Scotland to be far more mixed with rough areas next to super-posh ones. Look at Glasgow and you'll see what I mean.

I used to live in Edinburgh and it always amazed me how rough some bits are when you walk a short amount and you're in a leafy area.

I would go and look and get a feel for where you might live, not buy straight off. Will save you money in the long run.

If you haven't signed the missives, you can walk away. I know to my cost! If you have signed the missives, you should speak to your lawyer as soon as possible.

Thanks. You can see from the thread that we’re not pulling out of a transaction that’s completed. My lender didn’t approve the property as suitable for a mortgage so there’s no legal obligation on either side to proceed with the transaction. No missives have been exchanged. Thanks for the caution though. I’m familiar with the system 😉

Thank you - the situation hasn’t changed much. Very few properties come on to the market and they are snatched as hot bread before buyers even have a chance to react😉That’s why we started looking at other areas as well but our hearts remains with Dunblane especially. Stirling is also a gem but again, one needs to be lucky with the area and timing (and the divide is flagrant.)

Thanks, yes, indeed!! It seems we haven’t learned our lesson yet… Last year at some point we traveled to Livingston to see the houses there - our budget was quite large at the time so we were not even viewing the cheaper properties… It all looked great in the pics but once we went there, we simply didn’t connect to the ‘energy’ of the place… It’s very sprawled out, etc… just didn’t click for us…

We made the same mistake with this area of Stenhousemuir 😅 Yes, it was a true blessing the sale didn’t go through as it didn’t meet the mortgage criteria.