Scottish Borders or Dumfries and Galloway for move from England?

[KievLoverTwo]

Hi all,

I am picking the brain of my almost Glasgow resident friend for opinions, but I thought I'd better ask more folks.

The OH and I would like to move to Scotland. We had kind of settled on the Borders as location (after seeing it on the telly - how very original of us) - firstly, because my OH has always been absolutely infatuated with Scotland, and secondly because we don't really have anything tying us to England anymore. We've been looking at houses for 14 months as well, the English prices are just still far too high for our needs (400-450k for something half decent - due to disability we need around 1200+ sq ft and at least three bedrooms, two of which have to be large doubles).

So, I just wanted to get some opinions on some pros and cons of either location, really, please.

We don't need schools, nor public transport. We don't need a massive town for shopping near us, I'd actually prefer somewhere with a decent butcher, fishmonger, grocer etc, or access to a really decent farm shop within an hour. As long as we can have freezers in a garage they don't even really need to be all that close to us. I think I'd prefer not to be desperately isolated and remote at this point. We've spent 2.5 years being remote in rentals and I do miss people a little bit. His office is in Manchester but he's not all that fussed about what sort of faff it takes him to go in, because it's so infrequent (he tells me Lockerbie has a direct train to Manchester though).

It would be nice to have a little garden but nothing vast.

We're trying to keep costs down because a) we're old and this is our first house, we need to seriously work on our pensions - ages 48 and 42). I don't and can't work, so whilst he earns high, there's one income for retirement planning. We will move with a small amount of savings above 10% deposit*. He's going to get whacked hard for extra tax in moving to Scotland (which I've no problem with, I'm just trying to be pragmatic about the future).

*not moving is not an option; the pair of us are borderline going postal in our current rental and he absolutely will not rent again

We found a house we like in Peebles, I've seen a house I quite like in Coldstream, and one that would just about do for a few years in Kelso (which would have a v low mortgage, but also zero garden and the ground floor is maybe a bit too snug). Then we happened upon D&G whilst looking at where my mate lives, and I can't believe how much cheaper it is than Borders.

So I guess I'm really looking at views of why one location might be better or worse than another and opinions on locations please, really.

I'd happily go further North (and we might end up in the highlands in 10 years' time), but I'm trying to be realistic: there are vast weather differences (we're in NW England), and we should probably ease ourselves into the cold gently! Plus he can always say to work 'well I can get to work quicker from X than I can from our rental' if they object to him moving to Scotland. Which sort of has to be a semi consideration for now, because his industry lost 300k people last year, and are due to lose 150k this year.

Thanks for any and all thoughts.

(I suppose I would be most comfortable with a max budget of 300k due to the tax differences)

Oh, and I loathe new builds with a passion, if that's of any relevance at all :)

(not very good at being brief, am I? Sorry! Thanks again)

How many of these places have your visited? I think a road trip holiday would be in order to get a feel for where you do and don't like, which you can factor in alongside all the info on practicalities.

Something very lovely indeed is out there for you.
The Scottish conveyancing system I grant you is tighter to wriggle out of but the offers over is not the easiest way to win properties.
The road trip is the best suggestion.
Have huge fun finding your next location!

Not a single one of them.

But then - we didn't know either of the last two areas we moved to either (trying to think of how that worked out for us.... err... err... yeah, that's not great re: current location)

As soon as we find one we want to view, we'll start doing long weekend visits, say three nights and four days at a time. Luckily he still has 25 days leave left (and we're only a couple of hours away as it stands).

We were in Peebles yesterday, it’s lovely. Don’t know Dumfries and G. Having made the major move to Scotland a couple of years ago, watch out for the much higher stamp duty, the much higher council tax and the higher income tax. Sadly I can’t say we see any sign of better services for all this extra tax. Still the usual pain getting a doctors appointment, potholes in every road etc. school here seems just as strapped for cash, if not more so, than my kids previous one in London. Beautiful scenery though!

It's not how I'd house hunt, I'd need to know that I definitely wanted to move to an area or town before viewing a house there.
However, I know people who did something very similar, the right house came before the area (up to a point).

You very much need to see the areas. Scotland is so different: journeys on country roads can take a lot longer than the mileage would indicate, for example. And the borders and d&g have very different vibes.

Liking the look of Berwick-on-Tweed and the house linked. Don't know the area at all.

journeys on country roads can take a lot longer than the mileage would indicate, for example

Oh we know. Not only are we deep countryside now but we spent 2 years looking in N Yorkshire, where the journey times are often x2 what google tells you, and breaking a second two late will see you go off a cliff edge!

He's very familiar with driving in Scotland.

It's not how I'd house hunt, I'd need to know that I definitely wanted to move to an area or town beforeviewing a house there.

We don't really have a choice. Because we're not rooted to anywhere, we have to consider everywhere (within reason).

I must admit it's not my preferred option of moving house, but we've been doing it for so long now (4 rentals in 4 years, looking for a house purchase across a dozen counties since Jan 22) that we're now just used to the grind of it.

We did 5,500 miles in the car to find our last RENTAL.

If you think the freedom of not being rooted to a particular location for friends, work and family is idyllic, think again. It's a major pain in the arse when there is too MUCH choice!

No I definitely don't think it's idyllic, having seen friends struggle with the same recently. I would just want to visit a few locations before seeing a house I fell in love with that turned out to be in the wrong area.

It’s obviously not worked though! Take a proper look this time, maybe

Well yeah, that's part of the point of this thread! Get others give their thoughts on places before finding properties we like and then hitting the road.

Also, we didn't get a choice last time. The rental market was absolutely insane. We ended up moving five counties away.

You see I'd say that about SB too. I know it better than D&G maybe that's worse!
Healthcare is very poor. Transport is poor. Taxes are HIGH (services are poor). some areas are welcoming (Peebles, prob, Melrose if you've money) but many are not. You might be lucky & find nice neighbours but, ime, if 'your face doesn't fit' straight away then it never will. The phrase I've heard for 20 years is: 'it's eye been' ie we've always done it this way'. It can be quite confrontational. So, when you move in, keep schtum & try to blend. Especially if you are not Scottish.

I can't believe there is no where in England as cheap as the borders and its certainly not that cheap near Edinburgh or by the coast

Wooler in England is cheaper than Kelso , and there will be plenty of areas in County Durham cheaper although you need to choose not too cheap as there is poverty also , parts of east anglia even will have stuff you can afford , there will be areas of East Yorkshire cheap enough - it's a lot easier to get to Manchester from Hull than Peebles ( which isn't that cheap ) Hull is marmite but it's by no means all bad

I think people moving in to get cheap housing won't fit in as well as someone moving there because they love it

I can't believe there is no where in England as cheap as the borders and its certainly not that cheap near Edinburgh or by the coast

Wooler in England is cheaper than Kelso ,

I'm not ruling out Northumberland completely, but Scotland is preferable because:

'firstly, because my OH has always been absolutely infatuated with Scotland'

and there will be plenty of areas in County Durham cheaper although you need to choose not too cheap as there is poverty also

I know, I've got my eye on Darlington, and to an extent, Bishop Auckland, but these are both places we could live, rather than actively want to move to, and I've still yet to find a house I'd really like to buy in Darlington, despite keeping my eye on it for a year now.

, parts of east anglia even will have stuff you can afford ,

I'm from the South, I've no interest in going further South again, not even a tiny little bit. There's nothing that would draw me to that county anyway. Not even house prices.

there will be areas of East Yorkshire cheap enough

Neither of us like the East Riding of Yorkshire AT all; we've spent a lot of time there.

it's a lot easier to get to Manchester from Hull than Peebles ( which isn't that cheap ) Hull is marmite but it's by no means all bad

Don't want to live in Hull; like you say, Marmite - I'd rather be more rural, I don't want to be anywhere near any big cities.

He's been into the Manchester office 4 times in 2.5 years.

I think people moving in to get cheap housing won't fit in as well as someone moving there because they love it

I'm sure you're right, but we're moving to Scotland because HE loves it.

North Yorkshire was always my first choice, but we've been looking there for two years and I've simply had enough of the housing stock and prices. The sort of housing catching my eye in the Borders (in the decent condition that they're in) are 350k in Scotland; you'd be lucky to pay under 550k for an identical property in North Yorkshire.

What's stopped us moving straight to Scotland for much of this time is his work. What's changed is that he now cares an awful lot less about what they think of where he lives than he did two years ago.

So, when you move in, keep schtum & try to blend. Especially if you are not Scottish.

Noted, thanks. It's no walk in the park with people being friendly-a-plenty in England either, fyi. We've lived in enough locations between us to know it's the exception rather than the rule; cliques are gonna clique :)

I live in Berwickshire and would highly recommend. Stunning coastline and countryside, east coast mainline runs through it, affordable houses, lovely towns and villages. Lots of English living here as so close to the border.

Out of interest, what exactly is it about Scotland that he loves so much?

I ask because I’m Scottish but the Borders area looks and feels very different to the part where I grew up. I’m really curious to know what aspect of Scottishness attracts him!

I can’t agree at all with this. We moved to the Borders 3 years ago from East Lothian and have not regretted it at all. Healthcare is fantastic (we’ve had a couple of emergencies necessitating a first stop to the GP and on to hospital which were dealt with promptly and courteously). The Borders General Hospital is fabulous; I had my daughter in Edinburgh 24 years ago and was pretty much kicked out immediately, whereas I had my son 3 years later in a private, en-suite room at the Borders where the staff were asking when I would like to go home - they were in no hurry and the care was exemplary. Transport isn’t great I’ll grant you and we have definitely needed a car. We found the locals very welcoming indeed. OP - I’d highly recommend Duns - our village is a couple of miles outside, and Duns has pretty much everything you could want from a county town - the bakers and butchers here are especially lovely!

Topography, landscapes, lochs, rivers, and he's crazy for the wildlife. Wherever you go it's pretty breathtaking.

North Yorkshire is similar, but in parts, and on a far, far smaller scale.

If we didn't have to bear access to humanity in mind, he'd be wanting to move to Aviemore, I imagine.

(but he also gets bitten by all the things, so we have to be a bit midge wary)

But you don’t get the typical lochs and highland topography in the Borders? It’s the Lowlands.

Midges worst on the west by far

What about you - how do you see your life panning out whilst he spots wildlife ? What do you need for hobbies , fulfilment ?

No, but it's two or three counties further up towards what he loves, and the Borders are also very scenic.

Time without him in the house!!!

I like most of those things too.

How about St Boswells? I fantasy house hunt there all the time! Only 10 mins or so from Tweedbank.