Possibly Moving to Scotland

Hello all,

After living in West Sussex for just under 7 years, our family has decided a change of scenery is in order so we're looking to relocate.

In the next month my husband is going to be applying for jobs in Scotland, and other than reading online about Edinburgh, I'd like to hear from some of you who have decided to live there.

We're looking to gravitate more towards Edinburgh. Quiet village live doesn't hugely appeal to us. We'd like to live about 20 minutes or less from the town centre if possible.

Our daughter is 3, so I have been reading about the schools in the area. So far the information I have found is largely positive.

Does anyone have any real life information or suggestions where I can further my research?

We're all quite excited about this new adventure!

Cheers,

Laura

Oh, you're so lucky to be moving to Edinburgh.  It's my home town and I moved away just over a year ago and really miss it.

I guess budget is the main thing.  Edinburgh is like a village in that it's a smaller city than most so everywhere is pretty close to the city centre.  If you had an idea of what you wanted to pay (rent or buy?) that would really focus you in on certain areas (some of which would be good, some back).

The Southside would be my first choice - Marchmont, Merchiston and even Morningside - but it really does depend on what you can afford property wise.

Have a looks at the ESPC.Com website - that gives you listings for homes to buy as well as to rent, might be a good starting point?

Thanks for the reply.

I have looked at the website you suggested extensively already, and know the rents are much, much cheaper in Edinburgh than where we are living now.

At the moment we're renting a 3 bedroom house for £950 a month, and it hasn't been updated in 30 years. Much nicer looking houses on ESPC.Com are available for £200 or more less than what we're currently paying. So budget isn't a huge issue.

For the first six months or so we'd be renting, until we can zero in on a place to possibly buy.

Thank you for the suggestions of areas, I'll check them out.

Laura

Marchmont, Merchiston both nice. Stockbridge if you can afford it. These areas you have to buy a residential parking permit, so street parking you _will_ be able to find. I'm guessing you'll want to avoid Gorgie, Craigmillar. Leith and Restalrig may be too low for your price range.

Morningside has good access but parts are crowded. You start to get into unregulated parking, so street parking can be tough.

The Steiner School on the southwest side, too. I think kids can start when they are 4 or 5 years old. A few friends have sent their kids there and rave about it. The area immediately around it is nice, but not sure what they call it. Maybe Polworth.

Check out Portobello, actually very close to the city centre. Though access going out of town is not great.

A bit farther afield on the south side you have quick access into the city from towns like Penicuik or Roslin. Plus good access to the bypass.

Liberton and Mortonhall are both nice areas and near main access routes in and out of the City.

Oh, you're so lucky to be moving to Edinburgh.  It's my home town and I moved away just over a year ago and really miss it.

Well, it's DH's hometown and the girls', all his family are still there, and I lived there for 6 years, but I can't say I really miss it and he doesn't much, either.

It's pretty enough, but we've come to prefer Glasgow and the West more.  There's more flexibility in housing in the West, in our experience, it's easier to commute into for work from the surrounding areas and it's just got a different flavour.

We always lived in the North because that's where DH's family are from. 

When we left we were living in Leith.

It was nice but quite built out.  MOST of Edinburgh's housing stock is in teh form of flats and keep in mind that the offers over system is different from England in that you bid OVER that and not under as with asking price.

Best of luck in your move!