Moving from Northern Ireland to Scotland help

fadeaway94

Hello. The thread title is pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll put a bit more background info. In here. I’m a 24 year old male who lives in Northern Ireland, and I’m looking to move to Scotland next year or so. Aside from family, there’s nothing much for me here, and I’ve always loved Scotland, and I feel this is something I have to eventually do to proceed to the next step in my life. I have a friend who goes to university there over in Dundee, and she highly recommends it to me. However, I obviously have a load of questions, and I’m struggling to find answers online.

I have about £5,000 raised up for the move, and I’d be looking at renting a flat. I’d love to live in the Perth area, but is it affordable for someone like me? What is some of the more affordable areas?

I only work about 25 hours a week at the moment for a retail company in Northern Ireland in the North Coast area. In terms of experience, I only have had two previous jobs in the retail sector. I’m also going to undertake an SIA license course next month to qualify for some security work, so I guess that’s something. Would there be work for me around the Perth area? How would I find out? Do I make sure to get the job before the move, or after? (I’d be afraid incase I wouldn’t get any work). If before, how’d I explain to employers? I just have a lot of confusion over that part.

Would my driving license in NI also be valid in Scotland? I’m also prescribed to antidepressants, so I assume I’d have to register to a different doctor in Scotland too, with confirmation of my medical history from my current doctor?

Alongside this, when moving, how’d I’d move some of my personal possessions over to Scotland? i.e. record collection, guitars, television, etc.? If someone could provide some info., it’d be brilliant. Thank you.

Owain_Moneysaver

NI driving licence will be valid but you will need to update your address with DVLA.

Perth is a fairly small town and outside commuting distance by public transport from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Edinburgh/Glasgow/Aberdeen are the more economically active areas. Housing on the outskirts of Falkirk is fairly cheap and you have frequent trains to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

You can check job sites like Jobcentre, Indeed, s1jobs, myjobscotland for public sector jobs.

For moving stuff, either hire a van (and take it back to NI or pay the one-way fee) or pack stuff in boxes and then on a pallet. Pallet carriers can be fairly cheap if you're not in a hurry.

missile

Removal company will give you quote to collect, store then deliver to your new address.

Rental properties in Perth are cheap, from £350 per month, see here https://www.gumtree.com/property-to-rent/perth-and-kinross.

There are many retail outlets where you could find employment. I doubt any will consider your application until you have a local address.

After you find somewhere to stay, register with a doctor nearby.

Good luck

H1a3rt

Average flat rental price looks to be around £580
expatistan.com/cost-of-living/perth-scotland[/url]

bettyboo71

Perth is probably a good choice to start, because it is very central for exploring the rest of Scotland. There are a few out of town retail parks, and a big shopping centre in the City, as well as lots of bars and clubs, so I'd imagine that you'd stand a fair chance of getting something.
Do you want to rent a whole flat, or flat share? Sharing is obviously cheaper, and gives the chance to meet people, but it can have down sides too. There is a big college there, so probably a fair amount of flat-shares.
Do you need to bring all your belongings straight away? If there's no family who would let you store stuff in their loft/garage, etc, look at the cost of storage. That gives you a chance to get settled, and be sure that you like it here, and avoids extra costs if you decide to move again.
Registering with a GP is fairly straightforward. I am pretty sure that there is a page on NHS Scotland website which allows you to find the nearest practice, so handy once you've got an address. It might be worth asking your current GP how long the process of having your notes moved would take, as that will make having a new GP easier with your current prescriptions.
Once you have an idea of when you're likely to move, you could contact some of the bigger retailers to enqure about vacancies - even consider having a couple of nights over here and trying to arrange interviews.
And just keep asking questions. We'll do what we can to help or point you in the right direction.
Good luck.