Relocating to Edinburgh with young family

[Lottemarine]

Hi,
We are thinking of relocating from Western Australia to Edinburgh to be closer to ageing parents. We are a family of four with two young kids (2 & 4).

I’ve been looking at enrolling them at the Edinburgh Steiner School (as my eldest currently goes to Steiner school) and just wondered how you found life for young families there? What areas would you recommend moving to?

We are looking for somewhere that is quite leafy with a bit space, so happy to move further out with an active local community. Our budget is up to 700k. From what I’ve seen housing is very expensive, but I dont know really what suburbs to look at that are safe and family oriented.

The school is in north Merchiston so not looking for more than a 30 mins commute each way. Thanks

For that school I'd definitely want to be on the south side of the city. Anywhere around Shandon, Polwarth, Morningside, Bruntsfield, Merchiston, Greenbank, Comiston, Fairmilehead and the Braids is all "naice" suburb and popular with families. If you're likely to move into the state sector for secondary school then I would look at the school catchments (you can search for properties on the espc website by catchment).
Edinburgh is great for families, it has all the benefits of a major city but with a lot of green space, a great bus service and the sea to one side and hills to the other!

Agree South would be ideal. I would add Marchmont, Sciennes, Grange and Blackford to @MiddleAgedDread’s list.

All really nice areas.

South Edinburgh as a whole feels very safe. You may want to look at buying in the catchment area of Boroughmuir or James Gillespies if you’re thinking of state secondary.

You have a good budget but those areas are quite expensive. It would be worth thinking about whether you want a house or would be happy in a tenement or house conversion.

Bruntsfield, Shandon, Polwarth tend to be more tenements. Lovely areas and with your budget you could look for a large ground floor flat with direct access to a garden. Some have private gardens.

Grange or Morningside you may be looking at a flat in a large house conversion, but you may get a garage and garden too.

Merchiston is some tenements and some conversions.

All of those areas are walkable to town (or short bus ride) and have good green spaces on your doorstep.

For a house you’d be looking more at Braids, Blackford and so on, and even then that might be a bit tricky at your budget. Those areas are just a little further out of town.

Sort of things you’d be looking at:

Marchmont:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151460873

The Grange:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152066690

Blackford:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146768876

Also factor in the Scottish “offers over” system when browsing property. It’s not uncommon for things to go for 10-20% over the listed offers over price but you’d need to take to solicitors about the current state of the market.

Agree with places mentioned in south Edinburgh but also Colinton and Bonaly.
ESPC is where most properties in Edinburgh are listed for sale.
A local solicitor will guide you on what to offer as it's an "offers over" system

For the Steiner School, Colinton is right at the Pentland hills with a lot of woods nearby. Craiglockhart can have some nice areas within walking distance too.

Thank you this is really helpful. Also do you know of any villages with an active community and families outside of Edinburgh which would be commutable to the school? Just thinking in terms of space and having a house with a bit of land. Thanks

Thanks so much for this, really helpful to know areas and what you can get for our budget. I’m wondering if moving further out would be better in terms of having a house as opposed to an apartment. Do you know any nice villages outside with a community spirit but still commutable?

Thank you, good to know.

Honestly, traffic outside the bypass coming into the city centre at rush hour is pretty hideous. In theory parts of midlothian around Dalkeith are within 30min but probably not at rush hour.

Ok thank you, good to know really appreciate it.