Relocating to Aberdeen - anything I should take into account?

[MadAdopter]

I am hoping to relocate from Wiltshire to NE Scotland in the next 12 months or so with my 6 year old daughter. School choices (private) all seem to be in the city so need advice on commuting from villages as we don't want to live in the city, looking for a rural property as we have lots of animals.

Research seems to suggest driving into central Aberdeen is easy, but is this true?

Are there any areas that are better for commuting by car from?

All suggestions welcome as it feels a bit overwhelming at first not knowing the area well yet.

Thanks!

Indeed. My work is crofting-adjacent and a few months ago we had the new owner (from down south, purchased for carbon credits) of a 5,000ha+ estate call to ask what crofting is because about half of the land falls under crofting tenure. Bonkers. Rewilding is not so popular with locals I have to say, with many calling it Clearances 2.0.

Anyway, keeping to the point of the thread, if you don’t know the area it’s so helpful to spend a few days or even weeks driving round and staying in different areas before you move. I would also go for Perth over Aberdeen if possible, but maybe it will depend on your job.

You might need to double check the school year your daughter is going into as the system is different. Also familiarise yourself with our daft ‘offers over’ way of house buying! If you wanted to rent first it’s easier to end a tenancy, in Scotland you aren’t tied into 6 months/a year like England, you just need to give a months notice!

Aberdeen does have a really bitterly cold wind though, quite unlike any other city in the UK.

To be fair, my (north) Scottish husband will be going the furthest south he's ever been in the UK in July.

He's convinced it's going to be tropical!

A friend of mine took her Scottish husband to England in the summer and he was convinced he had heatstroke after an hour outside. He hated it, said he was never going back.The difference is very real.

I'm English and in 22 years of living in Scotland across two different stats and three locations across Highlands, Galloway and Stirling I've never had any 'anti English' sentiments.
The few folk I've met who claim this struck me as people that a few of us would find 'difficult'.

I think there was one...Battlestar galactica maybe? It's not one I watch so I can't remember. But some of the kobra kai lot (hawk and creese), a guy from Wednesday (the one that didn't come back for series 2) and the lead guy and lady from 'grimm'. And joyce, tera and glory from buffy the vampire slayer.

But often people pull out about 2 or 3 weeks before so that's worth baring in mind.

It is noticeably warmer - I remember going to the south west on holiday and experiencing it, whilst seeing locals wrap up as they didn’t think the weather was great and I was going about half dressed!

That’s another thing to consider- many rural houses are heated by oil with its price uncertainty, and obviously heating is on more so overall heating costs are higher than the warmer parts of the uk.

Talking of accents, people who hail from Peterhead.. it's like a foreign language and needs translation if English is your first language.

A lot of people would trade shopping for peace and quiet. I am in Essex and would move to rural Scotland in a heartbeat if I could. It is just unbearably crowded here now. The villages are all being destroyed by new housing estates, and the country lanes, which were built for the odd tractor, now have the kind of traffic you’d expect on a motorway. In fact, as I type I can hear some little idiot racing around in a souped up car with an exhaust that screeches and crackles and explodes. I sometimes feel like I’m suffocating.

BBC Scotland did a series about the fishing boats out of Peterhead, and ran it with subtitles. In Scotland.

I had a client who spoke in broad Doric. I think I picked up about one word in three.

Thanks!

Love a bit of Buffy too.... Must get myself organised.

Speaking of accents and the Doric I recently heard: “every meikle makes a muckle” by A Path Less Known Well worth a wee listen!

And that is NOT rewilding. It's sustainable community development.

Rewilding is a load of pretentious wank.

And as for saying there are no decent schools in the Highlands, I really don't think it's the place for you with that attitude.

Speaking as a Highlander here who lived in Aberdeen for 10 years i can assure you there is such a thing as bad weather.

Snow is fine as you can wrap up against it and wear snow gear. Freezing cold days again fine just put on extra layers including 2 sets of socks and gloves.

However howling wind with freezing cold rain that hits your face in a way it feels like hard belts you cant cover up from. The umbrella gets broken in seconds, jackets soaked through, your face ends up frozen cold and you can barely walk in it.

Please don't believe the "there is no such thing as cold only bad clothes" because the north of Scotland its beyond freezing sometimes. This is written by someone who climbs hills in deep snow so is not bothered to much by cold.

As for schools most public schools in Aberdeen are fine particularly around about cults area.

OP I have read your update that you want to be in the Highlands but there are "not good schools there". If you are basing this on inspection reports ignore them. They are pretty much nonsense. Go and speak to head teachers and get a feel for schools.

There are some fantastic schools in Inverness. I am unsure if you are looking for a primary or secondary school but thr best primary schools are Ness castle and Drakies Primary. They are both fantastic schools.

The English school system is totally different and not comparable at all to the Scottish system. Private primary schools in Scotland are not generally much better than a good local primary school. If you want your child to mix, meet friends and integrate do not send them to a private school if you move to Northern scotland. Private school children rarely become part of the community in this area.

Scottish people are down to earth, enjoy a laugh, a friendly banter at the school gates and if your child goes to a private school neither of you will get to know the local community.

If your child has been to 3 different schools in 3 years have a long hard think about how to help them make friends and to integrate in there new school. Be honest with yourself about trengths and weaknesses they may have that make it more or less tricky to do that and work on those. No school private or public is perfect but some are better than others.

Sorry to OP for the tangent.

Looking at the website the OP linked, it looks to be full on corporate with lots of high level staff, mentions of "monetising", " investment", "capital accountancy" and... ahem... pretty much nothing about anything nature specific. No info on what is being done for nature. Just stuff about how profit can maybe be made from it.

This statement from their site: " We are helping tackle the inequality of land ownership, as well as employing a number of local people to implement our targets for rewilding the Highlands, providing rural green new jobs to communities", does not tally very well against the corporate investor feel of the whole thing.

I would have thought the community buy out route would be better for nature, rather than another "financial mechanism" that reminds me a lot of the plantation tax dodge we had years ago.

I totally get the reference to clearances 2.0.

There's loads of new housing estates round Aberdeen. Same problems with lack of increase in GPs & schools for the new houses.

Personally I think commuting in from Stonehaven or similar distance for school would be miserable. I went to school in Aberdeen (private) and the furthest folk came in from was Cults & Milltimber - which are nice areas (not so sure about Milltimber post bypass, I've not really been there) but hardly rural.

This is atypical but snow has been crazy this year - schools shut & supermarket deliveries off in Aberdeen city.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0keg2713lvo

I stay in Banchory and there are buses that pick up kids that go to private schools. Even Lathallan has a bus that leaves Banchory but it must be a long day for the kids. My kids went to the local Academy and did really well academically (one ended up at Oxbridge) so don’t dismiss the local state schools. We love it here.

For many years Banchory Academy was the best state school in Scotland.
OP, Banchory would be a very good fit for you in terms of schools, proximity to some beautiful, wild, outdoor areas, and although small, Banchory community is very organised and has much to offer in terms of interests and hobbies.

Heave ava' - another one of Path Less Travelled songs came on my Discover Weekly spotify playlist so have been listening to them. They're fab. I was laughing out loud on packed train. Furry Boots is another one!

OP have you been up for a week in the cold winter? January is pretty bleak compared to spring. Winters are long, cold and dark and sometimes it doesn't get properly light all day. Summer nights are fantastic especially if they are warm.

Thanks @PickleSarnie I’m planning to listen to the others. I agree, great sound as well as the lyrics. It reminds me a bit of when I first heard Peat n Diesel.

Right I’m now off to do my messages and might treat myself to a funcy piece whilst I’m at it

Re the accent, there is a very funny French film called Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis about a bureaucrat transferred from Provence to Northern France, that I think would be well suited to be re-made for Aberdeen.

Not pricy compared to England. You can buy a decent 4 bed house in Lossie for £400k

Check out road deaths in Scotland per head of population and an increase in the last recorded year 2024.