moving to fife ??

newbiemum05

my hubby, me, and 8mth old ds are moving to fife from Yorkshire and will be looking for properties next thurs and friday.

Any advice on areas to avoid, or that are up and coming (esp for those with a baby/small child would be gratefully received !!

Thanks

Dumyat

depends what you are looking for...rural..town?...near the sea?....and the old chestnut..lol...how much?
do you have to commute anywhere?

newbiemum05

my hubby has new job with fife council and could be working out of one of many offices, he will be studying at dundee uni too (but gets mileage paid so not too much of a prob if not close).

We are loking to spend around £70K (could borrow more but would prefer lower payments if poss) - this includes offering over (as i believe this is how buying a house is done in Scotland).

We have several areas in mind : Ballingry, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Methil, Dunfermline, Oakley, Crombie, Blairhall (these are just areas where properties have come up online within our budget)

I prefer somewhere a bit quieter but with at least some bus links.

Would need at least 2 bedrooms of a good size (prefer 3 or 4 - dare to dream)

Would also like gardens, or nearby allotments so rural may be better.


AM I ASKING FAR TOO MUCH lol ????

gigif30

if you go less than 10 miles from the large towns kirkcaldy and dunfermline you can save quite a large amount of money when buying a house the transport system is quite good but there is some areas you should avoid at all costs

Dumyat

I would avoid ballingry and methil....and I say that at the risk of people from there being offended. Crombie is quite isolated and small. Oakley and Blairhall...again quite out of the way bit rough.
Glenrothes is a new town..bit of a concrete jungle in places but it does have a lot of amenities. Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline..main areas of population in Fife, have good areas and bad.
I think at that price point you will struggle..you are realistically looking at ex-local authority homes in poor areas.

newbiemum05

unfortunately my husband will be on a low income for two years until he finishes his masters - we figured it was better to but than to do a council swap as we may have a little more control over the area we end up in.

I have to say I am not filled with confidence dogrose - you seem to have said all the areas we have looked at are no good.

Thank you for your honesty but a ltle positivity would be appreciated however small - is there anywhere you'd recommend (kelty, cowdenbeath, cardenden ??? - i have to be realistic with what i can afford - also we would be planning on looking for somewhere a bit better within 2-5 years when my husbands salary will rise significantly).

Please can somebody help ?

Be_Happy

As someone who lives in Fife, I would suggest Glenrothes. Your budget will get you a good ex 'local authority' house. Don't be put off by the fact that these are ex-rental houses, in some areas over 90% of these house are in private ownership now. Bus services are very good and so are facilities for younger children. Older ones moan of lack of things to do. Travel links to Dundee are very good. I don't have young children now, but our local primary school is regarded as very good. You will see a good selection of houses in https://www.your-move.co.uk and https://www.remax.com. Like all locations, there are pockets of areas to avoid, but these are usually fairly obvious when house viewing.

Hope you find something suitable. There are, of course, lots of rental properties available until you find something to buy. Best local newspaper for housing adverts in Glenrothes area is Fife Free Press.

If I can give any other information, just ask and I'll try to answer.

chrisclark

consider smaller places, auchtermuchty,strathmiglo, newburgh in north east fife. Great for getting to Dundee and brilliant places for bringing up small kids. Though teenagers will get bored. Ex-council housing in these areas is still reasonable compared with the rest of north east fife. Have just moved into muchty and found the locals very friendly.

Dumyat

right...trying to be positive Didnt mean to be a downer!! Fife is a great place to stay! Been here 15 years now!
As Silverlady said there are pockets to avoid. I didnt mean to sound I was coming down on ex council housing...they are normally good sized well built properties.

As someone said Glenrothes in particular would be a good area for travelling to Dundee. Maybe even a little further north..Ladybank etc. Prices round about Dunfermline are dearer with the Edinburgh folks moving over to cheaper housing. £70K wouldnt go far... East and north fife are more reasonable.
Would watch about travelling times too....some of the places you mention dont look far out but the roads here are quite slow and journeys can take longer than you think.
Its also difficult with the offers over system knowing how much a property is actually going to cost.
Have you tried https://www.espc.co.uk

Vital_Spark_2

newbiemum05 wrote:

my hubby has new job with fife council and could be working out of one of many offices, he will be studying at dundee uni too (but gets mileage paid so not too much of a prob if not close).

We are loking to spend around £70K (could borrow more but would prefer lower payments if poss) - this includes offering over (as i believe this is how buying a house is done in Scotland).

We have several areas in mind : Ballingry, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Methil, Dunfermline, Oakley, Crombie, Blairhall (these are just areas where properties have come up online within our budget)

I prefer somewhere a bit quieter but with at least some bus links.

Would need at least 2 bedrooms of a good size (prefer 3 or 4 - dare to dream)

Would also like gardens, or nearby allotments so rural may be better.

AM I ASKING FAR TOO MUCH lol ????

If choosing Glenrothes, I can tell you that there are a number of (3 bedroom ex council) houses for sale, probably around, possibly under that price in the Rimbleton area.

There's an empty house, (I think to let: Fife Council) in Caskieberran Drive (number 4 I think, maybe 8). I think it's a 3 bedroom house. The house lies due north/south in line with the Pole star: back door south facing with gardens back and front: small one front.

This house faces onto trees which hide the Scottish Enterprise office with a path running, fro Caskieberran Road between the office and a field, which will likely be built upon before too long although the site is not filling up too rapidly.

The Scottish Enterprise building is part of the Saltire Center, which is a nonfood retail and office park. The Saltire center boasts a really good NHS dental surgery and an excellent children's nursery (Rainbow group). The center contains a Homebase, a Focus, a Matalan, a Barantano shoe store, MFI, Carpetright, Bed Shed and I think something else, in the retail part. In the office section there's Scottish Enterprise offices, a tax office and a large block of offices which houses a call center among others and there are a number of Fife Council units (water department etc) some law firms and a housing association which I can think of off the top of my head.

This house is handy for the Glenrothes college and Boblingen (our twin town) Way: a tree lined cycle and walking path: formerly a railway line.

You should have a good chance of getting that house to rent as your hubby's going to work with FC. Then you could buy it if you like the area and decide you want to stay.

I live fairly close to that area and beleive it to be a quite friendly street: never pass any of its residents without getting a friendly greeting and I only pass by walking my beasties.

If you're interested, let me know so that I can seek more information for you. Can introduce you to some nice folk with wee ones around the age of your own, too.

Towns are not my bag but I have to say that Glenrothes, although true to "New Town" concrete jungle form is better than most. Looking down from Laxford Woods, just around the corner form that Caskieberran Drive house, you would see mostly trees and greenery with very little building certainly none intrusive on the scene. The town developers had the foresight and wisdom to leave much of the mature woodlland standing.

Glenrothes is fairly well off for amenities and I would not find better neighbours than I have here in Rimbleton Glenrothes. Anyway, Edinburgh is jsut a 40 minute train ride away trains frequent from Markinch: bus service from your door to the r/w station, I think. LOL! Look at me "your door" the door of number 4 Caskie Drive, I mean.

Hope this helps.

Vital_Spark_2

This part of the Rimbleton is always quiet and peaceful. I've never known the residents to suffer any nuisance. The windows and doors are double glazed so passing traffic, on the road out front, wouldn't be bothersome. It's also handy for the Roman Catholic and the local mixed religion primary school but not too close.