Single mum facing redundancy and possible move to Scotland. Practical advice needed

[BrickSquid]

I’m posting anonymously because this all still feels quite raw and I’m trying to think clearly. I'm hoping others may have had similar experiences and can help.

I’m a single mum to a primary school-aged child (9) and work as a Senior Lecturer in a popular degree at a university in England. I relocated for this role a 6 years ago, bought a house here, built a life here and genuinely thought I’d found some stability after a very difficult few years personally and professionally. I worked hard to finish my PhD and committed to a small institution whose values I really loved, particularly their widening participation values.

Unfortunately, the university is now restructuring due to financial issues and our very small department is losing a member of staff. There are essentially two of us in the selection pool and it’s become increasingly clear that I will likely be the one taking the voluntary redundancy package. I’ve spoken with HR and there’s no enhancement available beyond the standard package (roughly £8.5k redundancy plus holiday pay), despite me previously being denied a much more generous voluntary severance scheme less than a year ago because my “skills and expertise couldn’t be covered.”

Emotionally I feel exhausted and overwhelmed. I’m disabled, the only adult in my household, have a mortgage, a child, a dog, and no real financial safety net beyond some small savings (less than 1k) and freelance work I do alongside academia (small hustle to clear debt and because after tax and student finance and in the current cost of living crisis I was struggling to afrord the bills).

The thing is, I also don’t think staying long-term is the right answer either. The department feels unstable and I suspect if I stayed I’d be left carrying an enormous workload with more uncertainty down the line anyway.

I’ve started applying elsewhere and there are very few suitable roles locally, so I’m now seriously considering Scotland. I’ve identified a couple of opportunities but the job market is so vauge currently as all universities are struggling. The wages from the two I've explored are much better than my current wages. My new boyfriend (who has been my friend for years but we have been dating for around a year) lives in Scotland but not near the opportunities I've described and its a relatively new relationship, not one I feel I can readily depend on.

But I’m terrified too. I’d potentially be moving 300 miles away with a child. I worry about losing the little support system I currently have, uprooting my son, and making the wrong decision. I’m also scared about the practicalities if I don’t secure another role quickly enough especially in the current job market.

The other candidate who is up for potential redundancy moved back to this city and is local. I do not think they will take the vls. They have much more of a life here than me. There are currently no opportunities within 50 miles of my current location so relocation seems essential. I'm gutted at the thought of selling my first home (its just a small 2 bed but it means something) so I've been looking at consent to let if relocation is necessary.

I suppose I’m looking for:
practical advice from anyone who has rebuilt after redundancy, experiences of moving somewhere completely new as a single parent, thoughts on Dundee/Paisley areas
reassurance that I’m not completely insane for considering this, and maybe just perspective from people outside my own head right now.

At the moment I feel like my whole life has been flipped upside down in the space of a week.

Thank you, this is actually really helpful and grounding. I think because everything has happened so suddenly my brain has been jumping ahead trying to build “solutions” and long-term security out of what feels like a very unstable situation.

You’ve raised some really valid points, particularly around the realities of long-distance landlording and the financial risks of trying to hold onto the house if I’m still in a precarious position myself. I think emotionally I’ve probably been seeing the house as both security and proof that I’ve built something stable after a difficult few years, so the idea of letting go of it (or even risking it) feels quite loaded. I do need to properly think through whether keeping it would genuinely be sensible financially versus emotionally reassuring. I suspect part of me likes the idea of having a “way back” if things didn’t work out elsewhere.

I'm hoping that a temporary consent to let could help in assessing the move viability and in not having to try to align all the timings perfectly.

Career-l wise, I am trying to widen my thinking beyond traditional university lecturing and have started looking at policy, remote and public-sector-adjacent roles too. I'm not a teacher though, HE lecturing doesn't easily translate to schools and I lack qualifications for that. I think part of the difficulty is that my current role and research area are quite specialised, and locally there just aren’t many equivalent opportunities, which is why Scotland has suddenly become more realistic in my mind.

I really appreciate the perspective though as I need people to challenge me a bit and stop me spiralling too far into either catastrophe or fantasy planning!

Ah another thing to look into! Thank you I'll try to check that out.

What’s your subject? Could you teach? Loads of shortage subjects in Scotland (home economics, CDT, maths, sciences). You’d need to do a PGCE.

As above, you could sell your property and buy something cheaper in Scotland and use your redundancy money to do a teacher training course then you will have more job opportunities than if you focus only on universities. You could also transfer your skills and experience to apply for roles in the charity sector.

There is some good advice here. I agree that Dundee might be a better fit if you don’t drive. The east coast of Scotland is beautiful and Dundee is very affordable.

Paisley also has lovely Victorian heritage, but I would probably prefer to live outside the town - Barrhead or Bishopton - but you would need to commute.

One other practicality is that there is no minimum rental term in Scotland for tenants - so you can sign a lease and give 28 days notice to quit at any time. This really helps if you need to move towns and enrol your DC in school before you have sold and bought a house.

It must seem overwhelming at the moment but could be a real opportunity longer-term.

@BrickSquid the bio father situation makes things a lot easier.

You mentioned PR. In my view, your ex and your son's stand-in dad does not need PR for your son - but if you want him to care for your son if you pass away then you need to appoint him as a testamentary guardian in your Will. If you move to Scotland, you need to check what the law says in Scotland.

I echo what others have said about renting your house out because of the Renters Right Act reforms - if your tenants don't pay their rent you will still have to pay your rent in Scotland and your mortgage payments in the uk - it can take 6-9 months to get a possession order and evict the uk tenants - and you don't have the savings to cover this type of eventuality or to pay for house repairs etc as your redundancy pay will no doubt be earmarked for your Scottish rental deposit.

If you are determined to rent your house out, check out taking insurance out so the insurance pays the rent if the tenant fails to pay - it's expensive but in your situation if your tenant did not pay their rent your good credit rating would be lost meaning you may struggle to get a mortgage when you decide that you want to buy in Scotland.

One thing more thing was you don’t mention your ethnicity, if this might be a factor to your choice of place to live.
Generally communities are more ethnically mixed in Glasgow. Dundee doesn’t have as much diversity as the Central Belt (and unfortunately there have been some racist attacks recently)but if you plan to live /send your DC to school near the university this should be less of an issue.

No experience of Scotland but I have moved.

I was a lone parent, I moved myself, child and dog hundreds of miles. I found a job first and then relocated. I rented the best house I could find near a school.

but I’m not sure I’d recommend this to anyone.

Plus your ds has a supportive step dad , if mine had had that I’d never have moved us away.

where are your family op? Or where was your home town where you grew up? I’d personally move back to that area or stay where you are as you’ve moved already.

also forget about latest boyfriend they come and go. Think of yourself, dog, ds and the support you have where you are.

If I had a choice I wouldn't be considering a move currently. I've been aggressively paying off debt and working an additional freelance thing to do so (not earning enough to live on and of course but helping to pay off the debt when there's no extra after my wages).

Despite the support from the step dad he does not of course contribute financially and didn't when he lived with us either. He is my ex and though hes been there a few times when needed his support can be unreliable at times. He is the only support I have locally. Long story short, I don't wish to depend on his support and I must consider the financial viability of staying where I am.

Unfortunately, my family are not close to me. My parents retired and moved, my older brothers (1 I am estranged from and the other I dont see often and lives a good distance away). I have a few friends who live good distances away and non have kids. The town I grew up in I long moved away from and I would not wish to raise a child there.

I left home at 14 which indicates my upbringing. Despite some help from the ex, I've very much done this solo up to this point whilst battling some long term conditions and more recent problematic health conditions. The stress you spoke about in your move echos very much how I feel. I don't wish to move but job security here isn't viable and it feels as though I may have little choice but to move. If I don't offer myself up for this voluntary scheme I will get very little as a security net (i.e. to cover the move, desposits or just buy me some time until I can land a job). How did you manage your relocation, though stressful, was it worth it?

Oh and certainly no intentions on relying on the new boyfriend. Its been around a year but I refuse to rely on any man after previous relationships. I only mentioned it in terms of the only practical support I may likely have that way and he's at least an hour or two from the opportunities I am exploring.

I'm also here to advise not to rent out your house. Partly because the uncertainty could cause additional stress for you and your son. What if the house is empty? What if your ex is no longer available or willing to help? What if you have to go to court to get a possession order to evict tenants who don't pay their rent, which is reported to take over a year, meanwhile councils advise them to stay put until they're evicted, otherwise they are "making themselves intentionally homeless". These are all expensive options that you have little control over. Just search for how many landlords are selling up due to the renter's reforms. And forget trying to sell a tenanted property to buy in Scotland if you settle there. You'd be looking at paying an additional 8% of the purchase price in additional dwelling tax, which needs to be paid immediately on completion. Yes you can reclaim it if you sell the other house within 3 years but it's tens of thousands of pounds vs hoping that the dates of buying and selling marry up, which realistically mean getting the tenants out and having a void period... If you really want to stay where you are (or would want to return eventually) then try to get career advice on alternate careers now. Can the university help with this?