Linlithgow houses - help!

[Stilts]

We've been hoping to move to Linlithgow from East Ren for months because I now have a job in Edinburgh. Only problem is there seems to be absolutely nothing coming on the market and starting to lose a bit of hope - we really don't want to compromise on the area.

Out budget is about £430k max for a minimum two bed family home. We offered on one recently, and were the joint top buyer along with a cash buyer from London wanting a second home. Guess whose bid was accepted? :(

Anyone who knows the area know if this lack of available houses to purchase is an ongoing problem? I.e. given our budget and the general availability, should we try to be a bit less rigid and consider other areas? Our last two moves we stupidly prioritised the property over the area and I'm just really determined to get the right area this time.

We also considered Dunblane but I think it's just a bit far from Edinburgh and worry about the lack of frequency of evening trains/ also mebbe a bit parochial?

There’s a few in Linlithgow in your price range on rightmove. Linlithgow is a lovely area

Thanks @StrongTea, we've viewed everything sitting on there and there's pretty significant issues with a few of the properties on there which is I suspect why they've sat on the market for a long while.

Just wondering if the rate of properties coming on (one every three weeks at most) is typical for this area?

We looked at Linlithgow a while ago and it was the same then, with quite a slow drip of houses coming to the market. I think the school is a big draw for people in the area so people probably stay put. We were looking at slightly bigger homes and only a couple came up during the period we looked. They were building some Cala houses there recently but maybe that’s finished now? If you are yet to sell that’s probably another hindrance when you do offer. It’s tough.

Dunblane is lovely, an hour train to Edinburgh running til after 11pm. Larbert is also worth looking at, nice area with direct trains running regularly.

What about Falkirk? I'm in Rumford which is one of the Falkirk areas on the further away side towards linlithgow. It's actually quicker for me to go to B and m in linlithgow than in Falkirk if that helps 🤣

Thanks everyone for your messages. I lived in Falkirk for three years and it wasn't for me, although the Larbert end is definitely a possibility, we decided to move out of the area because it wasn't a good fit and we were spending all our time in Linlithgow! We will keep our fingers crossed and keep looking.

Anyone else live in the Dunblane/BofA area and commute to Edinburgh? Bit worried we'd feel too cut off from culture and civilization but I think the balance is different for everyone.

Only other place on my list is South Queensferry but that's not exactly more realistic in terms of house prices and availability....

It’s easy to commute from Dunblane to Edinburgh, lots of locals do it. House buying in Dunblane probably isn’t any easier than Linlithgow, prices are high and it’s highly sought after. It took us about 2 years to find and get what we wanted.

I’m also in East Ren @Stilts and commute to Edinburgh a couple of times a month so I feel your pain.

It’s worth noting though that the trains from Dunblane actually take longer to get to Waverley than the service from Queen St.

I usually catch the 6am train, leave the house at 5:30 and in Waverley by quarter to seven.

I wouldn’t do it every day though for obvious reasons.

Linlithgow’s a great option, it’s well within your budget.

I think East Ren has went downhill over the past decade anyway, I can see us making a similar move at one point.

Linlithgow is a town that more people want to move into than there is people moving out of the town, so the rate that houses go on the market is quite slow. Would you consider buying for less than your max budget and spending the difference to create the home you want in the town you want ?

The Linlithgow property market has always been hot. It's very sought after.

Have you considered Polmont? 3 miles along the road and you'll get much more for your budget. It's the next stop on the train, about 4 minutes.

Have you considered East Lothian such as Dunbar? It is a beautiful place, regular trains and more affordable than N Berwick. East Linton also a possibility?
Theres also Juniper Green/Balerno/Currie which are nestled next to the pentlands.

all of the above places I have seen houses within your price range and have done the journey from Edinburgh and it’s not too bad (30-45 mins depending where you are)

The market in Linlithgow has been like this for a long time. It took us 18 months and making offers on 16 houses before we were able to buy a family home here recently. That was after living just outside for about 10 years. The combination of schooling, the train station and a town centre that is still pleasant makes it very difficult to buy a family home in Linlithgow we’ve found. Saying that however, the market has been slower over the last six months than usual. There isn’t an abundance that comes on the market usually, but it’s been really quiet since about Oct, more so than the 18 months prior to that I think.
We also had similar experience with being outbid well over the asking price or being in line with cash buyers who could move quicker than we could.
Would you consider somewhere like Dunfermline or Stirling? Both have good reputations re schooling and I have colleagues who commute into Edinburgh from both that find the commute doable. Otherwise, Polmont or Muiravonside are so close to Linlithgow and may be worth a look.

Wow @Navigatingchaos 16 offers?! Okay that's given me a bit more of a dose of reality.

We put our own house on the market yesterday so that we are in the best position to buy and are hoping for a miracle!

Did anyone who moved to any of these places just nearby end up getting a placing request for the school? Don't know how easy that is in W Lothian usually.

I assume you are meaning Linlithgow Academy? It's a very popular school, placing requests are usually only granted for the statutory reasons. A placing request from another local authority area would be quite unusual.

Any particular reason you're ruling out Edinburgh itself? You'd easily get a property on the outskirts for that.

@Stilts, we probably started with offers below what we needed with that; as in 10k over the asking price but that gets you nowhere in Linlithgow in our experience. Our budget is very similar to yours; we started out looking for a 4/5 bed semi detached home with decent living and garden space. We had two offers accepted that fit most of that, but the sellers withdrew in the first one as they decided not to sell and we withdrew in the second situation due to a family situation that meant we would have been mucking around the sellers time wise. We only put ours on the market to sell once we’d had an offer accepted, and it sold within a week, but we were going to put it on the market this spring regardless anyway and rent if necessary. From what we have seen, you need to be ready to go and prepared to pay well over the asking price if you can. (We’ve bought a 3 bed semi detached with a lot of living space and garden in the centre of town so although we had to compromise on bedroom space, there is room to add on to make it what we will. We had to pay 50k over the home report value to get here though, and that is very much what similar properties seemed to go for with our other offers.

Are you talking about Linlithgow Academy, or primary school? We moved for high school catchment basically, our eldest is approaching high school age currently. We lived outside Linlithgow, near Polmont, which is Falkirk Council, and our children have all attended primary school in Linlithgow through placing requests. There are a number of their friends who have done the same, primary doesn’t seem to be an issue with out of catchment. We’ve heard a lot of talk about there being no chance of getting into high school with out of catchment placing requests, but I am aware of a number of children who lived near us who attend, or are set to attend, Linlithgow Academy through placing requests starting in Aug so it is possible. I think it’s the worry of the guaranteed space that is the issue. You also wouldn’t get the option of school transport for placing requests out of catchment which may or may not be an issue for you.

Good luck with the sale of your current house. That will certainly help with the move. I’m happy to chat further if I can be of any help.

Numbers at Linlithgow Academy have dropped since the new schools in Winchburgh opened (so at the moment it's very top heavy although that will even out over the next few years). I'm not sure what that does to placing requests, but I informally know that every child from out of catchment who was at my children's primary school got into what is now S3, and there were a fair few of them. Don't know whether any were out of local authority though, but given we get a number from the Bo'ness side I imagine some were. The process seems pretty stressful - a friend's son got in but only on appeal (and I think maybe they turned down all/most requests and dealt with them on appeal).

Thanks so much @Navigatingchaos this is a really helpful reply. It's good to have more context and all we can really do is wait and see. Our house is on the market now and we'll keep looking out in Polmont, Muiravonside and Bo'ness as well as Linlithgow as things come onto the market. Hoping that it picks up a bit after the Easter holidays.

Sorry yes I wasn't clear about schools - we are talking about primary schools at the moment, we've got one who is currently in P3 and the other will start in August 2026.

Thanks also @StickChildNumberTwo for that insight - worth us keeping in mind although I very much hope by the time high school comes around we'll be living in Linlithgow itself.

@Stilts, that makes things easier re primary age at this point. Our experience of primary here has been really positive and our children attended nursery in Linlithgow and are all at Primary there now, we had no issues with out of catchment requests despite living within Falkirk Council. They are however closing one of the school nurseries in Linlithgow this year which may or may not be an issue if you want to apply to school nursery for your youngest.

Things should open up more after Easter I think. They did last year quite a bit. Fingers crossed for you.

How are you going to be commuting? If you're working in the city centre then I'd want to be on a train line rather than in somewhere like Bo'ness. But if you're on one of the business parks or outskirts and are going to be driving then those places would be fine (but expect to spend a lot of your commute sitting in traffic queues).
South Queensferry is definitely within your budget, these are all walking distance to the station:
4 bed house for sale South Queensferry | 52 Lawson Crescent EH30 | ESPC
3 bed house for sale South Queensferry | 3 Queen Margaret Drive EH30 | ESPC
3 bed house for sale South Queensferry | 46 Station Road EH30 | ESPC

Is there a family / friends link that's drawing you to Linlithgow because your budget could also get you 2-3 beds within the city bypass or into Midlothian around Dalkeith / Bonnyrigg area.

There will be a small flurry between now and June.
Linlithgow is a tough market, things sell well

Get yourself onto the local Facebook groups, Linlithgow and The Real Linlithgow Page (Official) as some folk will post there first and sell without listing.

I don't live in Linlithgow but can see the attraction folk have, don't be talked into Polmont, Bo'ness, Dalkeith or any other places mentioned if you have your heart set on it or you be disappointed. Good luck!

Just saw this posted https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161224613?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

Have you thought about Musselburgh, on the other side of Edinburgh. Its a nice little town, some nice houses and a little bit cheaper than Edinburgh?

https://espc.com/property/10-springfield-steading-carberry-eh21-8pf/36308694

Or this one?

https://espc.com/property/6-windsor-park-musselburgh-eh21-7qs/36304075

or are you definitely set on Linlithgow? we have family there and it took nearly 2 years when they were looking for a bigger house.

There are a lot of new developments in S Queensferry at the moment, there's 2 Cala Developments and a Lovell Development amongst others. I know new build isn't for everyone but they will be energy efficient and probably worth a look.