Relocating to Scotland

[CraftyKit]

Hi
I am originally a Glasgow Girl but moved away when l was little but looking to move back to Scotland but, not a big town like Glasgow as l currently live in a village and prefer the peace and quiet.

My OH and l are looking to move to Scotland and have been looking at areas but can't seem to settle on any.

We like Largs as it is near the water but we also like Thornhill (sadly there isn't much coming up for sale there). We also like Dumfries and Galloway but wouldn't like to live in the town.

What other areas would you recommend we look at?

Many thanks

I don't know Troon or Prestwick very well. I used to visit Ayr with my Grandparents many years ago but only for the beach so may have to have a look that way too.

I haven't heard of Lennoxtown so will have to have a look at that one.

Yes, we have looked at West Kilbride and Fairlie but like you say there isn't that much coming up. This is why we thought it might be better to look in other areas but not knowing other places as well as we know Largs and West Kilbride it is hard to know what they are like.

NosnowontheScottishhills

We have just started to look at Castle Douglas as it isn't somewhere we have visited but from what l can see online it looks a nice little place.

I should have said we don't have children so schools etc aren't a problem. We are looking to downsize into a nice area where we can retire.

No an area l know but will have a look.

Many thanks

Aberdeen is maybe a little too far but might be worth a look.

I was only looking at property in Stonehaven yesterday but with not knowing the area l wasn't sure what it was like. Thank you for mentioning it.

I forgot to say in my post (and l couldn't work out how to edit it). We don't have children so schools etc aren't a problem.

I agree the 3 towns aren't somewhere we would be looking (Saltcoats has changed so much since l visited as a child). Gourock seems nice as does Wemyss Bay but haven't seem many properties in Wemyss Bay lately. Cumbrae is appealing but not sure what it would be like in the winter and wouldn't want to be stranded if they stopped the ferry.

Haven't been to Dunoon but it is on our list of places to visit so may be worth a look.

@CraftyKit I’ve read you other replies too. I really would recommend Largs as somewhere to retire 😊 There are many activities and groups if that’s your thing 😊 There is a local Largs Property Facebook group that is pretty active. People regularly post about properties before they go on the open market so could definitely be worth keeping an eye on there 😊

Do you have a budget that you’re working to?

I second others posts about avoiding the 3 towns. And Cumbrae wouldn’t be top of my list due to issues with the ferry. It is off pretty regularly over the winter. Skelmorlie/Wemyss Bay/Inverkip could be other options, although I personally would opt for Largs/Fairlie/WestKilbride

The scenery around Dunoon is lovely but the town itself feels very run down IMO.

Also re Dunoon if the ferries are off its a long way by road to Dumbarton or Glasgow and the A83 and A82 are challenging !

Stonehaven is a decent town with quite a lot going on and decent transport links. We looked there when we moved to Aberdeenshire but it was out of our price range as having the train station made it a little more expensive. Not sure if that's still the case as people not commuting to Aberdeen quite so much and the new AWPR has made driving from Stonehaven to Dyce much easier

And given the challenges with ferrries would be very careful about Arran or Cumbrae

If you’re looking for a nice place to retire then I would recommend Kirkudbright and surrounding areas. Kirkudbright itself has a very active retirement community lots of activities to suit all tastes it’s a pretty town very friendly, lovely scenery very close to the sea there’s a small Tesco/coop butchers newsagents petrol stations post office library swimming pool museum with some interesting exhibitions, restaurants dentist GP etc. there’s an annual Jazz festival and it’s known to be very arty it’s called the “ artists town”. It’s about 35 mins to Dumfries 15 mins to useful Castle Douglas (it’s a designated food town) that has a biggish Tesco and a wide variety of shops: flooring shop small clothes shops pet supplies artisan bakers delicatessen artisan beer craft shop etc. Glasgow would be a 2 hour journey by car.

Kirkcudbright, prestwick, Troon,

A bit of a derail for one mo - but am curious, why do people prefer to be out of towns? I’m asking because we are in a village and I struggle for things to do apart from walks, and actually sometimes feel a bit isolated. What am I doing wrong?!
p.s. good luck with the hunt, it’s hard! Fwiw, west coast is lovely, but can’t offer guidance, we’re on the east.

I live in a small village population 160 in a stunning location. We have a surprising number of activities organised here, we’ve amazing walks, a village shop and an everyone is friendly. Within 12 miles I have two small towns one has a very useful range of shops and I believe a variety of activities, the other is a little more touristy and this reflects in the shops but lots of activities to suit all tastes. So I feel I have the best of both worlds (obviously it’s dependent on being able to drive).
In contrast a friend lives in a similar size village 3 miles away and there’s nothing going on in her village and she doesn’t find it very friendly and even with the R2R she doesn’t feel she has great walks on her doorstep. She finds having to drive all the time to do anything tedious.
So I guess it very much depends on the individual village you live in and its location.

Lockerbie/ Moffat areas a great option.
Nice new very small 16 home private estate LIP homes just underway Lockerbie your money will go lot further than SB.
Plus excellent links North and south and west coast railway direct Manchester/ London
Plenty people moved here since COVID and love it , crime very low and people welcoming.

Moffat nice tourist town similar to Pebbles but cheaper slightly small for some but beautiful place.

Police say Moffat Lockerbie pretty boring lol so that's a good thing.. they and community well on top any small scale crime.

Annan /Eastriggs area are ok , 10 % cheaper probably slightly rougher in places but not as nice Lockerbie / Moffat

Young people move for Uni ,but quite a lot seem to return to bring up kids .

Dumfries actually ok not as bad as central belt towns same size plus some decent private houses especially outskirts roughly 10 % cheaper than Lockerbie. 15/20% than Moffat .

Castle Douglas area very nice but alittle too far away transport links but very friendly folk half Irish out that way and that definitely shows in the people talk for Scotland lol.

DFS Town centre bit neglected but its getting regeneration £25 million was recently allocated.
Some say it was a sop to buy votes local Tory MP as neck a neck in Dumfries with SNP but that's another story..

Sorry for the late reply. We managed to get to look around Kirkcudbright a few weeks ago and agree that it seems a lovely place. Not too many houses coming up for sale there but will keep looking.

I have lived in big cities including Glasgow (born there) and then moved to Cambridgeshire to a smaller town and then into the village where we live now and l don't think l could go back to a large town. Much too busy and not as many nice places for walks out and about.

Thank you for the information. We did think about Moffat as we often pass through on our way to Largs and find it a lovely little town. Haven't seen much for sale there yet but will add it to my keep looking list.
I did find Dumfries a little big and as you say a little run down but the areas further out may also be worth looking at.
Didn't know that about Castle Douglas, maybe it was easier to get to from the boat back in the day (my parents headed to Glasgow).

Thank you everyone for your great advice. We have been to look at a few of the towns/ villages you recommended (still have a few more areas to look at).
Kirkcudbright area and Moffat are both lovely areas so am keeping a eye on what's coming onto the market.

Castle Douglas in 15 mins max from Kirkudbright it has better shops but is less picturesque. Personally I think Lockerbie is a bit of a dump it looks run down although it has faster trains than Dumfries and it is much cheaper than Kirkudbright. Dumfries is very run down although good size houses are again surprisingly cheap. Maybe consider New Galloway lots going on although friends say midges are a problem there, New Abbey and Gatehouse of Fleet again small towns/big villages with shops and an active community. Someone was telling Monieve also has an active community as well.

Definitely look into Stonehaven. It's lovely.

If you don’t mind being inland then look around Strathaven or Strathblane. The clyde valley around about Crossford might be another option. All about an hour or less drive from Largs and the west coast too