r/MoveToScotland

Looking to move close to Edinburgh with my partner to go back to uni for postgrad. Currently own a house in a cheap neighborhood in NE england, roughly valued at 77.5k (but I expect we may struggle to sell with a flag nonce next door). Both going to be out of work by the time we move which might make things tricky. As I see it we have three options.

1. Try and find a private rented place that accepts students, may be tricky with no references but could probably get family to act as guarantor. Feels like an expensive option, realistically looking at about 1200 pcm plus bills which would start to eat into our savings quite a lot by the time we finish a masters course and then (hopefully) find new jobs.

2. Student accommodation, share a studio apartment. Could be pretty cramped and maybe test our relationship, but probably the cheapest option with bills included, and probably reduced travel costs. Would maybe make sense to keep the house for a little bit with this option.

3. Have about 55k savings, maybe 35k equity in the house, and theoretically we could get a mortgage of around 50k on the basis of benefits (PIP and carer's allowance). All combined is just about at the borderline where we start to see properties listed for sale in the areas we've been looking (around Livingston, maybe just out into Fife). Obviously timescales could be an issue, but if we could make it work I feel like it's probably better to own "something" rather than to be burning through 15k savings in rent, time in the market is better than time out of the market and all.

What would you do?

Has anyone moved from the US to Scotland with 1/+ kid(s) who then started high school (S1-6) there? Curious about the experience, how they adjusted socially, how the academics compared to the US system, what surprised you, whether you’d do it again, and any advice you’d give to someone considering this.

If you’re open to sharing where in the US you came from and where in Scotland you ended up, that context would be really helpful.

Honest takes much appreciated, good and bad. Thanks!

My wife and I live in Maidenhead presently. We’ve just finished a two week Scotland: Glasgow, Fort William, Skye and Raasay, Inverness, Ballater, Aberfeldy, Dundee, and Edinburgh.

For my part, put me in a stone cottage in the Cairngorms and let me rot there. I absolutely love Ballater. But my wife isn’t the same in that regard, she’s looking for something specific.

I work in philosophy, and I works from home.

My wife is English NHS but isn’t necessarily set of remaining with the NHS if we move.

Here’s what she’s looking for:

1. A “cozy” home with modern features. By which she seems to mean: C or better EPC, car charging port (which of course we could always have installed). Beyond this she can’t be specific. 🤷‍♂️
2. Within driving distance of “everything you need” she defined “within driving distance” of the time it took to get from Perth to Dundee. So, not exceptionally close.
3. That the place that has “everything you need” is centralised. She didn’t care for Dundee’s high street and downtown area because it felt too spread out. She sited Newcastle upon Tyne as having a great centralised downtown.

And that’s the scope of her “ideal.”

My motivations are bringing my UK born son (I’m and immigrant from America) to Scotland to live with knowledge of his heritage. I’m especially keen to get him into a GME (he’s just turned two). My family left Renfrewshire in 1890 and I’ve always wanted to return. There’s a bit of whimsy about it, of course, I romanticise it a bit, as most Americans with even a drop of Scottish blood tend to, but the desire to live there is not limited to it having beautiful landscapes and moody weather. I do want to live there. We both do.

With all this in mind. Could you suggest some places that may fit?

Edit: I should have noted, were more familiar with Scotland than just this 2 week trip. Having previously lived in Newcastle, we’ve made many trips up to the Speyside and Lowland areas.

Does anyone have recommendations for schools in the Stirling catchment area that has excellent support for an autistic/adhd child?

Thank you!