Essex to Edinburgh (4 weeks post c-section)

Hello all,

My husband has been offered a post doc at the University of Edinburgh. We are currently living in Colchester, Essex and have been for 4 years now. ( I am from California) I am very happy for him as he is getting a job he is very excited about. I am really looking forward to living in Edinburgh although I haven't been there before. The catch is this job is meant to start in 6-8 weeks and I am booked in for a c-section in 3 weeks time.

Due to the fact that my husband hasn't had a paycheck since May and we are now living on my meager maternity pay we really are in need for him to take this job, and also it is exactly what he wants to be doing his post-doc in.

I guess why  I am posting here is to ask about Edinburgh and all that involves moving there. As we have a 2.5 year old and a soon to be newborn I think it will best for us to hire a moving company to do it all for us especially since I will not be able to help whatsoever.

I am also interested in hearing from anyone who lives/has lived in Edinburgh. We'd like to live near enough to the university and close enough to a good school (Montessori?), parks, public transport and a decent enough neighbourhood. We'd hopefully like to rent a 3+2 house. I have my provisional licence, but not my full licence but my husband has his drivers licence and we have a car.

There is so much to think about and ask that I don't even know where to begin. I think there is really no opportunity in the next few weeks to go up there and check things out myself so I am really going to have to rely on people's advice and opinions and then send my husband up there for a few days by himself to make the final desicion on where to live, etc.

If any of you can offer advice about moving companies, neighbourhoods, etc. I will be very grateful. This has the potential to be extremely stressful so I am trying to be as practical and well informed as possible. Thank you in advance for your help! 

You MUST hire a moving company.  Please don't even think about doing it yourself.  You owe this to yourself and your family.

It's a gorgeous city and you will enjoy it.  I lived in New Town which is a bit further from the uni, but not really that far as nothing's very far in Edinburgh.  You might look at Old Town.  Are you wanting to live in town itself or in the suburbs?  I can't really help with the suburbs but others on here can. 

We'd hopefully like to rent a 3+2 house.

what's 3+2 mean?

Q-G, I meant a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. I haven't looked at the cost of reantals so hopefully we can afford that. We've been in a 2 up, 2 down mid-terrace and would love something a bit bigger.

Geeta- Thanks! We have to get a moving company. I think there is just no other safe option. We'll just be begging our family for lots of $, too bad the exchange rate isn't great. I think I'd prefer more town than suburb though. What do you think about old town/new town. We don't have to be too close to the university, but hopefully within 20-30 minutes driving distance.

I like New Town better, but you won't get as much for your money as you will in other areas.  I also liked Morningside, and it's close to the university.  Maybe WestHighlandWay will have more info as she lived in Edinburgh with her family.  

We left for good a couple of years ago because for us it was too dear to rent (much less buy) suitable family-sized property with good schools.

The problem with his driving in is that he'll have no place to park if he's working at Edinburgh University.

Might be more feasible to maybe find a house to rent in an outlying village like Balerno, Musselburgh, Bonnyrigg or Dalkeith or Prestonpans which are on bus routes.

Because near the university or anywhere around town centre you're going to be looking to rent a flat rather than a house unless your budget is very, very generous.

We never lived in any place outside of Edinburgh, though, so don't have any experience of these villages.

Newhaven is nice but you have to be careful about the schools and again, renting an actual house will be a tricky one if you're not dealing with a generous budget.

Edinburgh is VERY expensive.

Thanks for the info WestHighlandway. I really appreciate it, As you can imagine I am beyond clueless and starting from scratch with not much time to plan and prepare. We don't know what my husband's salary will be but I don't expect it to be huge as a post doc.

I stupidly thought that Edinburgh would be cheaper because it is so far away from London We pay £600 pcm for a 2 up, 2 down mid terrance in the Colchester town centre and that is not including council tax. I will look more into the villages that you mentioned because haiving a garden is more important to me than living near the the city centre. Please don't hesitate to tell me anything else you can think of.

All in all, did you enjoy living in Edinburgh?

I stupidly thought that Edinburgh would be cheaper because it is so far away from London We pay £600 pcm for a 2 up, 2 down mid terrance in the Colchester town centre and that is not including council tax.

A 2-bedroom flat in Edinburgh will cost more than £600 pcm, im afraid.
I paid £500 pcm for a 1 bedroom flat with a small garden, which was nice, but nothing special.

A 2-bedroom flat in Edinburgh will cost more than £600 pcm.

We didn't pay too much less for our place than we did in London.  Edinburgh is very expensive, as WestHighlandWay said.

The council tax is extortionate, too.  When we left in 2007, we were paying £151/month.  For Band C!

We enjoyed living there.  My husband and our two eldest children are from Edinburgh.

It does have a lot of good things to offer for kids culturally and there are so many very beautiful places not a far drive away.

It's just that it was too expensive, especially if you were looking to be in a good school catchment.

The school would be over-subscribed and then even if you were in the catchment area you still weren't guaranteed a place and that was such a nightmare to us.

Also for us, now we have a basis for comparison, in our experience the people are friendlier through here.  It's been far easier for the girls to make close friends and for me to make good friends even in just the schoolyard.  I know it's stereotyping and may not be true for everyone, but it was just soooo easy here.

I do miss shops and museums and all the cultural stuff that goes with living in a beautiful city like Edinburgh, because Glasgow is a ways away, but just having the security of a good flat to rent (which is HA so never worried about getting turfed out), being walking distance from a good school and no worries about secondary school (there's only one around for a large geographical area) and everyday having a good craic and a laugh it had to be Argyll for us.

 

Wow!! After 4 years of being a student's wife I guess I still won't be in the lap of luxury anytime soon.  The flat and council tax prices that you've shared with me are shocking! I guess we'll still be in a 2 up, 2 down.

I can't believe how quick this is all going to happen. My husband has applied for 12 post-docs and only got one interview, not even shortlisted for the other 11 and now he has a job offer doing exactly what he wants to do. The timing could have been better though!

I'll keep researching and listening.....

Thanks all

I can't believe how quick this is all going to happen. My husband has applied for 12 post-docs and only got one interview, not even shortlisted for the other 11 and now he has a job offer doing exactly what he wants to do.

That's good, though! 

To help with your research:

www.espc.com
also just Google edinburgh property letting and there will be loads...

Wow, you certainly have a lot going on in your life right now. If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about finding the right place right now.  We moved to a new area with a 3 yr old and twins who were just 6 months old and rented before finally deciding on exactly where to live.  This took some of the pressure off.

From numerous visits to friends living in Edinburgh, I would say you are in for a big treat!  Edinburgh is a beautiful city with loads going on.  I am quite envious!

Can the university help at all with finding accommodation or recommending areas?

Good luck!