Relocating to Scotland

[saladfingers90]

Hi!
we are hoping to relocate to Scotland in 12-18 month time, give ourselves time to sort things out here in Kent and spend time in an area in all seasons too before the big move.
i have visited on numerous occasions, done the nc500, spent time in Inverness, Skye, Glasgow and Edinburgh, husband works from home, I run my own dog walking buisness for the last three years, although I’m not sure on the demand up there so it may be that I’ll need to find part time work in the area.
im from a semi rural village in Kent, no takeaways deliver to us so that’s not a big deal and we only have one shop in the village so that’s all stuff I’m used to.
im looking for similar I guess but within a reasonable proximity to a city, about an hour, as even though I like rural living we do like to go out to cinemas and concerts etc my daughter loves a hot chocolate and a Waterstones book shop too 😅
we have been looking at a lot of areas around Moray coast area like Lossiemouth and Elgin also looked at Keith and then back down towards the borders such as Coldstream.
I would love any locals insights on some good areas to look, I am slightly wary of some villages because as is the same in our village, you get clicky villagers who dislike outsiders? My confidence has been severely knocked due to years of physical and verbal abuse by my male sibling (hence the move) and I’m so very desperate to find somewhere relatively friendly where I can fit in, I am keen to get involved in stuff locally. My daughter would be just starting secondary here in England when we plan to move, but I believe in Scotland she would need to go to primary there for another year? Is this correct?

sorry for such a long post!

my daughter is in year 5 here currently. She was born in September 2014.
budget would be about 250k maybe a tad more, but would need a garden as we have dogs

Exactly same age as my daughter. So she’d be starting p7 (final year of primary) in August 2025, and S1 (first year of high school) in August 2026.

(Worth noting that it is middle of August in Scotland, not start September! Have seen a few people moving up and getting caught up by that).

Your daughter would start P7 in August 2025 and S1 in August 2026 as a September born there is no real debate about deferring etc she is in the middle age wise for school year roughly half will be older the other half younger. Children generally go to local catchment school but you can make a placement request for elsewhere

If you like rural, and on that budget, then my vote is still Borders with good access to railway so your daughter can get train to Edinburgh with pals as she gets older.
Scotsnet is a huge fan of East Lothian but you’re paying a lot to be in what is (in my view) a pretty commuter belt for Edinburgh not properly rural.

I think you’ll struggle to find anywhere nice and with good schools with that budget tbh

Nothing to add
Other than I'm very envious! Go for it OP

And to disagree with some other posters, I think you’ll be fine with that budget. It might not be a detached period property in the catchment for James Gillespies 😆 but you can find a well built, maybe ex-council house near one of the perfectly good schools in the Borders.

Clackmannanshire worth a look for that budget. Not the prettiest towns and villages, but you’d get a house in budget with the hills behind you and there’s lots of community activity - Highland Games committee might be a novelty for you! Good links to Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Ayrshire, of course!

No extra advice at the moment but wanted to say welcome for when you get here, how exciting! You will love it! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I just think it will be a stretch to get a house with a garden in a rural village within easy striking distance of a city, and with a good school for that money.

i think it’s different if you’re making a big move: you need to think of everything!

Lanarkshire might be an option

Thank you, it’s a stepping stone home for us to escape and a cautious budget as to not end up drowning in mortgage repayments when my work will be up on the air for a while. My husband works from home so he’s sorted for himself

I mentioned Elgin in a previous post. I can see others have addressed your daughter's age, so there's no need to say anything there. However, in terms of housing, 265k can get you a four bed detached with garden and garage. I know of at least two for sale.

I agree much of Dumfries and Galloway is a significant schlep to cinemas concerts etc although Dumfries has a Waterstones most towns will have a wide range of coffee shops. Glasgow to Lockerbie is 1 hour but the service is notoriously unreliable. To add to all of this it rains a lot although generally it’s less cold especially along the coast.
But it’s very unspoilt, currently not a popular tourist destination although a new National Park is being seriously discussed so this might change, miles of stunning coast line, woodland upland lochs pasture we’ve got it all so fantastic walks. Also a good mix of Scottish and English my village is approx a 50% split so no “clicky villagers who dislike outsiders”. Having said this every Scot across much of the country I ever met have never been anything but friendly.
im not sure about the demand for a dog walker I want one but they are like hens teeth so I’m asssuming there’s little demand but that’s because I suspect that the majority of the population are either involved in farming or the retired. Glasgow and surrounding areas would probably be different.
It’s not Kent I know it IMO its a million times better. Yes the days are a bit shorter but the spring summer the days are significantly longer (and wetter), there’s space and peace and quiet here (if that’s what you’re looking for). I like the Scots a lot in fact prefer them to the people we mixed with in SE England this may be a generalisation but I find them friendlier and significantly less pretentious.

We're moving to Scotland around next Easter. In the end we're moving to the East Neuk of Fife for various reasons, but if I could have picked anywhere I would have chosen East Lothian for its proximity to Edinburgh and being a couple of hours closer to England for trips back down south to see family. Coastline is gorgeous, from what I read the schools seem quite good, and it should be less cold/rainy than many places further north/west. I only have experience of the East Neuk but I can tell you that dog walking/sitting services were massively in demand in that area. Wherever you end up, best of luck with your new life!

Hello ☺️ I have popped you a PM

What about somewhere like Callander - you can go to Stirling for cinema etc. The high school seems to be well regarded, thus would be in your budget (depending on offers over) www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155191733

I'm in Dumfriesshire, pretty much equidistant from both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Glasgow is less than an hour because of the motorway but I use Edinburgh more. I like art exhibitions, ballet, opera, music and do all these things and more. There are hills, countryside, access to the coast and historic towns and villages. Lots of English so no horror stories about anti-English sentiment. Everybody has dogs.
And that would (with some looking) get you a reasonable property in these parts.

Wishing you the best of luck. I really wish we had returned to Scotland when our kids were young but we had to go South for work.

I moved to the central belt from the SW last year and have no regrets. It took a while to feel settled but like you my OH works from home so I had time to get us all settled in. I've done a year now and it is cold but also it's incredibly sunny a lot of the time too! PM me if you'd like to chat.