Moving to Edinburgh
 

My boyfriend and I are moving to Edinburgh sometime mid-September 2007. What I'm wondering is: what are the good ares of town to move to? I'm 21 and he's 23 (he is English, I'm Canadian on an Ancestral Citizenship Visa), we're not into clubbing or nightlife, we just want a safe area with nice neighbours and either right downtown or with good access to the bus. :) We're a bit fussy about accommodations, meaning we don't want anything with bugs (ugh) or run-down ramshackle appearances (outside is ok, I just want the inside to be well-kept). I can afford an alright place, I just need to know where's good and where isn't! I was thinking Old Town and New Town among a few others .... any suggestions? Also I would like to know - where would you suggest I STAY AWAY from, if all else fails?

Also, anyone know of any resources or where to look for listings for letting agents/apartments/jobs?

Cheers!

Rach

Look at the estate agents listings. The areas in any town where the prices are higher tend to be the better ones. Also, I suggest you phone a couple of estate agents and ask them what the most desirable areas (and least desirable areas) are. If that fails, do a search for school ratings. The areas with good state schools tend to be the best to live in.
Carolena

Hi,
You don't mention whether you are looking for a house or a flat, as this could have some bearing on the area. Anyway, have a look at areas like Morningside (traditionally bourgeois area of town but with good bus connections, lots of shops, etc., very safe), also Bruntsfield (near Morningside, more students and more flats than houses), Marchmont, Stockbridge, Newington. All these areas are within easy striking distance of the centre of the city.
The New Town is safe but expensive!! Personally I wouldn't look for anywhere in the Old Town as it gets so busy with tourists, etc., but it depends where, I suppose... I guess I just don't think of it as a residential area.
Hope that helps a bit. :)

<<< The areas with good state schools tend to be the best to live in. >>>

The areas with good state schools tend to be the most expensive to buy / rent - for people without children they represent an avoidable expense.

Old Town, especially at the bottom of the Royal Mile (near Holyrood) is surprisingly cheap but isn't for anyone who has a car, hates crowds / lots of noise

Either a flat or a house would be fine - I know you can find some houses at good prices. Thanks for your input!

Good prices in Edinburgh ? My friend Alina who lives there is paying 500 pounds a month for a little flat with just one room, no lift and no heating in Costhorpine area(very good access to buses, that's the best thing). I don't remember the exact spelling, sorry !!! I find outrageouly expensive... I helped her to look for rentals and it was a difficult task, good luck !!
For what I saw as a tourist, I wouldn't like to be in the Old Town. It is very expensive to renovate buildings and sometimes impossible to do it, so if you find one you will be paying too much money only to have heating in your house or flat...

I'm amazed that you think you can get a house at a good price. For the most part, house prices in Edinburgh are ridiculous-about 2.5 to 3 times the cost of a house in Canada. You will have to rent unless you have a great deal of money to spend. If you buy a house and the housing bubble bursts, as it could do very easily, you will lose money.

<<< I know you can find some houses at good prices. >>>

Compared to London prices perhaps - or in areas where even I wouldn't want to live (Wester Hails, Sighthill)

Otherwise houses tend to be expensive for the simple fact that there are so few of them in Edinburgh.

Not quite sure where you got the idea prices were good in Edinburgh. Maybe give us an idea of what you want to spend. Because Edinburgh is a VERY expensive property market . . .

Rachclem,
You can get good and bad sections even in the supposedly good residential areas so I would suggest that you rent initially and during the rental period have a good look round the city and choose an area / streets which appeal to you.

The Old Town and the New Town are popular as basically you do not need a car, can walk anywhere you wish and do not need to spend money or time waiting on buses etc. They also tend to have reasonable access to and a good choice of cafes, restaurants, entertainment, bars etc. Obviously such areas are in demand and prices tend to be higher but the cost of housing outwith the city centre is now rising at such a pace that it is beneficial to live in the city centre and save on transportation. It would also mean that if you are staying for a reasonable amount of time you will make more money as the value of such properties continues to rise more than the outlying areas. You will have to put up with more people and traffic but as you will know that goes with any downtown area.
To get some ideas as to sale and rental prices have a look through the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (George Street) website www.espc.co.uk That website will list all properties being offered for sale / rented by lawyers etc.
There are also Estate Agents with properties for sale and rent http://www.primelocation.com/uk-prop...ian/edinburgh/
but there are others and you may wish to do an Edinburgh Estate agents web search.
To get an idea as to prices achieved in any area or street in Edinburgh and elsewhere or to ascertain what price an individual house made when sold have a look at www.nethouseprices.com
To learn more about Edinburgh and look around at some of the features etc www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/tour/edintour

<<< The Old Town and the New Town are popular as basically you do not need a car, >>>
In reality having a car in the Old & New towns is a PITA because parking is a) extremely limited, b) extremely expensive requiring either a residents permit or access to vast quantities of small change

AlanRow,
If you live in the city centre and have a car then you can get a residents parking permit and from all reports there are more spaces available as less people in these areas now use / own a car. It is when you move to the more populated residential areas outwith the city centre i.e Marchmont / Brunstfield etc that you get the problems as in such areas the City Council have deliberately sold more permits than there are residents parking spaces and this is causing major problems for these residents. For non city centre residents, city centre parking is problematic as parking is scarce, restricted and expensive.

When I said "houses at good prices" I didn't mean paying it all ourselves! I only meant that for the amount of bedrooms, therefore paying tenants splitting the cost, it might turn out to be a good deal. And yes, I was comparing these prices to London, which was where I was going to move orginally.

We're thinking no more than 550 per month, if that helps at all.

Thanks all for your input.

And jsut reading through it all again -just wanted to repeat, I'm looking to rent... not buy a house.

For £550 per month you'll get a one or (if you're very lucky) two bedroom flat in the Old Town or a nice area not too far out like Marchmont or Morningside. You won't even get a garage in the New Town for that.

Houses in areas near the city centre are *very* expensive and quite scarce - you can get houses quite cheaply further out, but not anywhere I'd want to live.

Also beware the curse of HMO. In order for a house or large flat to be occupied by > 2 non-related adults it needs a HMO (house in multiple occupation) licence. Such places tend to be aimed at students (not the wealthy public school ones either) so are mostly really grotty. You'd probably be more likely to get somewhere nice if you get a 1 or 2 bedroom flat than a larger flat or house with the idea of sharing it with others.

Will you need a car ? It is a big consideration as others have warned.

A good agency I rented from twice is www.albaresidential.co.uk. Avoid Grant Management like the plague as they are crooks.

Having a look at the Alba site just now for properties between £500 & £600pm, out of the first 10 I'd only consider the one in New Street (Old Town) - to me the rest are too far out & most are grotty areas.

When I read your initial &quot;<i>We're a bit fussy about accommodations . . . . I can afford an alright place</i>&quot; I wondered if you actually understood how expensive Edinburgh is.

You are in good hands now that Caroline_edinburgh has seen your thread. She lives right there and can help you. But - 550GBP I'm pretty certain won't get you anything fancy/centrally located.

I had, until recently, a 2 (well 1.5) bedroomed flat in Morningside which was &pound;565 pcm.

From the looks of it it hadn't been modernised since the late 1970's but it was &quot;cheap&quot; and satisfied my needs - a modernised flat in the area goes for at least &pound;100 pcm more

Rachclem,
There are one bedroom and two bedroom apartments available in the city centre for &pound;500 upwards. I was just on http://www.lettingweb.com/Dir_Proper..._Edinburgh.htm and see that there is a one bedroom new apartment in Lady Lawson Street - just at the side of the Novotel for &pound;500 and nearby in Castle Street there are two flats available each with one bedroom - one has castle views for &pound;550 - &pound;570.
I am sure that Caroline will also come up with some suggestions but try to make sure that the letting agents and owners are accredited under the recent regulations. At least that way you should ensure that you have a good property.

BTW watch out for properties that are advertised as &quot;white meter&quot; heating - it means the property is all electric and will cost a fortune to run

The last flat I rented was a nice one in Morningside &amp; it was &pound;875pm.

I know the new flats in Lady Lawson Street - they are aimed at students and so could be noisy, but since they are new they should be nicely done out &amp; it is a great location.

Janis, you are too kind !

meks, the Letting Web is a good idea, I'd forgotten about that.

Rach, you could also consider Leith which I moved to last year, as a lot of property there is still cheaper than Edinburgh. It's 2 miles from the centre so about the same as Morningside but in the opposite direction. It has the best bus service going, the 22, which runs all night &amp; is every 5-10 minutes during the daytime. The thing is you'd need to be very careful about exactly where in Leith - some parts are still quite grotty &amp; I wouldn't fancy walking home from the bus stop on my own to them. On or around the Shore is nice (although I know I'm biased !().

BTW will you be wanting a furnished property ? Furnished are easier to come by.