House hunting in Dunfermline

[Chickenmum89]

Hello 👋🏻
Hoping to buy a 2 bedroom house in Dunfermline. Our budget is in the region of £150,000.
Are there are areas to steer clear of ?
Thank you 😊

I think you’d want avoid Abbeyview, but there’s plenty of choice of decent areas - most of Duloch is nice, with good facilities & transport.

As far as I know the worst part of Dunfermline is Touch so avoid that.
Abbeyview used to be bad but has improved. It's still not particularly nice so I would avoid as well.

Any where else should be fine. I don't think you will get a 2 bed house for £150K in Duloch anymore (prices have skyrocketed in the last 5 years) but there are definately areas of council houses in dunfermline which are fine and mostly private. Those would fall within your budget.

Just having a look on rightmove for you. This one (SSTC) is in a private area but right at top of your budget and it probably went for a bit more (as they usually do). It is in Pitcorthie.
2 bedroom end of terrace house for sale in Glen Fruin Grove, Dunfermline, KY11

As I suspected there are none in Duloch in that price bracket. This one is in Duloch and sold recently but as you can see it was on at £180,000.
2 bedroom terraced house for sale in Lapwing Drive, Dunfermline, KY11

If your budget is less than 150K (remember you might have to offer a few thousand over) then I think you are looking at an ex council house (but avoid Abbeyview and Touch).
If you can stretch to 150K to 170K then Pitcorthie is a nice private area which borders duloch.

If you can go to 170k to 190K then Duloch will be affordable for a 2 bed house.

Alternatively you could get a 2 bed flat in Duloch for under or around 150K but obviously you wouldn't have a garden then (well just a shared one)

Hope that helps

Source - I live in Dunfermline

Duloch is a typical new build estate,its a bit soulless. If you wander an older area try down by Pittencrieff Park ( known as the Glen), or the streets off Townhill Road/ Pilmuir Street

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. It's truly appreciated 🤗

Yes I agree with this post. Duloch is nice but like most new build areas the houses are close together and the gardens are small and often overlooked. However that is the same for all new build areas and of course you get the convenience of the houses being fairly new so no reroofing to be done etc.

Pitcorthie was built in the sixties (I think) and so it does feel more spacious there. The downsides are you might need to spend more on renovating ie new roof and the houses are somewhat 'plain' outside as was the fashion around that time.

The areas suggested above are nice (Pittencrieff Park etc) but not sure if you would get a house for your budget rather than a flat. If you can then yes consider this area. I'm not too familiar with it apart from i take my dog to the park there and yes it is nice.

There are also houses that are newish looking (well I'd say they were built in the eighties) near the hospital. They have a mixture of detached and smaller and they would fine nice to live in too.

To be honest Dunfermline is mostly all fine apart from Touch and perhaps Abbeyview. You can get a good idea of the area by driving around and see if people are being loud and if the gardens are tidy etc. Duloch now has a proportion of social houses being built in the newer estates so watch out for them if it bothers you. The older estates in Duloch are fine as they were not required to have them. You will usually be able to identify them by the untidy front gardens and smell of weed.

Again the ex council areas vary. Some houses are well looked after and others look a bit run down and they are often next to each other.

Thank you so much for the insights 🤗

Everything that everyone above has said.

Can I ask if you are set on Dunfermline only? Some of the areas just a bit outside but still with good transport are a bit cheaper so you will get more for your money.

We'd consider areas outside Dunfermline😁. The daily commute will be to Currie EH14 4BE

That opens things up a wee bit. Are you driving to Currie or public transport.

Driving 🚙🚗

Oh gosh - a commute across the bridge in rush hour traffic is not for the faint-hearted!

But the cost of property is way more expensive south of the bridge.

I’d say to have a look at Kirkliston, Winchburgh, Balerno, Ratho, and maybe further out along the A71/M8 corridor. But I have a feeling this will be out of budget 😕

That’s quite a commute. Do you work shifts? If not have you done the run over the bridge and through newbridge at rush hour?

Is there any way your budget can stretch to something the south side of the Forth? Maybe West Lothian?
With the current petrol costs it may make more sense to try and invest in a property nearer to work than spend a lot on commuting

I couldn’t face a daily commute over the bridge; it’s such a frustrating journey through Newbridge at peak times. I would suggest looking at West Lothian. You would get somewhere in Midlothian, probably but then you would be stuck (literally) on the bypass at rush hour.

Given the update on where the commute is to, I would be looking at somewhere along the A71/M8 corridor in West Lothian or even as far over as Shotts. I know people who commute from the Motherwell and Wishaw area to Livingston and Penicuik and they use the A71 rather than the M8.
The Queensferry Crossing is horrendous in rush hour and can be just as bad at other times.

I wouldn't even consider commuting south by car, Queensferry Crossing is horrendous even at times you would expect it to be quieter outside the usual rush hour e.g 7pm on a Sunday evening. When I say horrendous, the M90 will literally be at a standstill for miles as 100's people jump the queue by bailing off the motorway then rejoin just before the bridge. Inverkeithing has a great train service into Waverley station but no guarantees you will get parked anywhere near it.

(I can't for the life of me remember how to spell Inverkeithing!)

I think you need to reconsider your location if you are commuting to Currie. Or look at public transport options. The crossing is a nightmare.....and then you will be stuck in commuter traffic to glasgow on the motorways or Edinburgh commuter traffic on bypass

OP, I know it’s nit what you asked but is it worth considering West Lothian along the train line so Kirknewton, West Calder, Mid Calder etc, so you can get the train to Currie? Not sure how far you are from Currie Hill station but possibly easier than Fife, the Bridge and the bypass in rush hour.