Moving to Scotland - Cheap Flats ?

[afterparty]

Hi Gents,

Prologue: Recently realised what an idiot i am renting a Room for £480 a month (inc bills though) in a big city when I have no chance of getting a Paper Pushing job, Warehouse and delivery jobs exist everywhere so no need to live in a HCOL area to earn £8.72 an hour. I started looking at cheap flats up north but realised they are in stholes up north on rough council estates in Liverpool or similar. Found some decent newish flats for £45-50k but they have crazy Leasehold service charges of £2000 a year.

Started looking at Scotland, property seems to be very cheap.

I understand that Flats in scotland are freehold, do you still have to pay crazy (£1000+ yr) service charges ? Or are essential repair bills just split between the owners as and when required.

Renfrew https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
Glasgow https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
Aberdeen https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

Can a fellow Scottish PH advise me on if these flats are in very bad areas and would i be living next to DSS drug addicts ? or is property just generally cheap in Scotland.

TIA

[Terzo123]

Its all very subjective.

For that budget, id look at Cathcart, but avoid Govanhill.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

Parts of Springburn are also okay.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

Budhill Avenue is also worth a shout, right next to the train station, and across the road from a 24 hour Tesco.

[nblr]

Try http://simd.scot - the index of multiple deprivation. It won’t tell you everything and some of these areas will be fine but if you’re deep in the dark red then maybe a warning sign.

If you don’t need to be in a city, try towns in the central belt or outside of the reasonable commuting distance of a major city, as even houses will be cheap.

I used to live in a flat and property management was I think £500 per year, but it was brand new and had a lift so maybe not typical. I’ve read council tax is lower in Scotland though so you’ll benefit there anyway.

[malks222]

although you have mentioned glasgow/ west cost, you could also consider more central areas- banknock/ bonnybridge/ denny areas.

while not being the best location for facilities/ places to walk too, they gives a huge scope for commuting anywhere across the central belt. and although these areas will have their own issues/ problems, they maybe not a prevalent as those in the city centres. I have friends who live in these type of properties/ locations and it’s certainly not beirut/ junkie city!

Hazel Rd, Banknock, Bonnybridge, FK4 1LQ
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

Main Street, Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

Hillhouse Road, Head of Muir
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

Woodland Way, Denny, Falkirk, FK6 5NZ
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

53 Overton Crescent, , Denny, FK6 5BA
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

[Driver101]

Terzo123 said:

Its all very subjective.

For that budget, id look at Cathcart, but avoid Govanhill.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

Having a st looks a bit of a challenge.

[Macron]

nblr said:

I’ve read council tax is lower in Scotland though so you’ll benefit there anyway.

Not sure that’s consistently correct, and places like Fife your water bill is tied to your council tax bill, no meters or paying for actual use, which at the top end of the bands would make for me 5* what English water bills are. Given it’s colder too (2 weeks in!) other utilities will be more too.

I suppose it depends what the OP wants, if cheap living then shared accommodation in Scotland could be cheaper than in Eng. could be.

If you really want to buy then there are cheap places, but usually for a reason. Which is not a lot different to mid Wales.

[abzmike]

Aberdeen - Torry isn't the most upmarket neighbourhood, but Grampian Place is OK, and easily walkable into city centre.
One point ot be aware of is that Aberdeen has a high cost of living. Transport in and out, and around the city is pricy, as is 'hospitality'.

[TheJimi]

afterparty said:

Hi Gents,

Prologue: Recently realised what an idiot i am renting a Room for £480 a month (inc bills though) in a big city when I have no chance of getting a Paper Pushing job, Warehouse and delivery jobs exist everywhere so no need to live in a HCOL area to earn £8.72 an hour. I started looking at cheap flats up north but realised they are in stholes up north on rough council estates in Liverpool or similar. Found some decent newish flats for £45-50k but they have crazy Leasehold service charges of £2000 a year.

Started looking at Scotland, property seems to be very cheap.

I understand that Flats in scotland are freehold, do you still have to pay crazy (£1000+ yr) service charges ? Or are essential repair bills just split between the owners as and when required.

Renfrew https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
Glasgow https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...
Aberdeen https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prop...

Can a fellow Scottish PH advise me on if these flats are in very bad areas and would i be living next to DSS drug addicts ? or is property just generally cheap in Scotland.

TIA

You'll get a better property & location for your money if you look at the smaller provincial towns.

For example, search by KA postcode area in rightmove. That covers the whole of Ayrshire, admittedly, which is a fairly wide area but it will illustrate my point.

Edited by TheJimi on Friday 16th October 11:00

[Driver101]

abzmike said:

Aberdeen - Torry isn't the most upmarket neighbourhood, but Grampian Place is OK, and easily walkable into city centre.
One point ot be aware of is that Aberdeen has a high cost of living. Transport in and out, and around the city is pricy, as is 'hospitality'.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that. I haven't seen this big gap between Aberdeen and anywhere else I've lived.

Things like a weekly bus pass is the same(sometime less) than other Scottish cities.

Taxis are a strange one. The tariff isn't actually that bad, however I have had too many taxis that have cost far more than they should. Even the same trip can differ wildly in price. I'm told it's impossible to fiddle the meters.

Eating out is maybe a little more. Indian restaurants stand out as being more expensive, but others are ok. The place has all the usual chains that all have standard pricing.

I know there is a divide in the salaries, but I've always thought house prices in Aberdeen were good considering the salaries on offer and the employment rate. The cost of buying houses, and especially letting, had dropped in recent years.

There was another survey released the other day with similar findings to every other year. The local comments pages never agree.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eveningexpress.co...

[abzmike]

Driver101 said:

I'm not sure I'd agree with that. I haven't seen this big gap between Aberdeen and anywhere else I've lived.

Things like a weekly bus pass is the same(sometime less) than other Scottish cities.

Taxis are a strange one. The tariff isn't actually that bad, however I have had too many taxis that have cost far more than they should. Even the same trip can differ wildly in price. I'm told it's impossible to fiddle the meters.

Eating out is maybe a little more. Indian restaurants stand out as being more expensive, but others are ok. The place has all the usual chains that all have standard pricing.

I know there is a divide in the salaries, but I've always thought house prices in Aberdeen were good considering the salaries on offer and the employment rate. The cost of buying houses, and especially letting, had dropped in recent years.

There was another survey released the other day with similar findings to every other year. The local comments pages never agree.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eveningexpress.co...

From my experience of being up here 15 years, it is fine of you're on oily high salaries, but tough other wise. The edge is coming off property purchase and rentals due to the down turn but still pretty high in comparison to Glasgow at least. Eating out in a decent restaurant is more than central belt (in my view due to lack of competition) - a chain or curry house will be the same. As for busses, whever I occasionally used them felt royally ripped off - checking pass prices they are comparable but Aberdeen is much smaller than Edinburgh/Glasgow. YMMV of course.

[Driver101]

abzmike said:

From my experience of being up here 15 years, it is fine of you're on oily high salaries, but tough other wise. The edge is coming off property purchase and rentals due to the down turn but still pretty high in comparison to Glasgow at least. Eating out in a decent restaurant is more than central belt (in my view due to lack of competition) - a chain or curry house will be the same. As for busses, whever I occasionally used them felt royally ripped off - checking pass prices they are comparable but Aberdeen is much smaller than Edinburgh/Glasgow. YMMV of course.

It's tough anywhere if you're not getting a good salary. Even the living wage doesn't afford you much.

I can't find any stats, but I think more people in Aberdeen get a better wage than places like Glasgow. There feels to be more people getting the living wage rather than the minimum wage. I can't back that up though.


Bus passes in smaller places are more expensive than cities. There isn't as many customers. Edinburgh buses are used far more, but they still face plenty of moans the service is too expensive and not good enough. It is also a proper pain to get parked in Edinburgh and parking is far more expensive. It drives people on to public transport.

The backside has fallen out of the rental market in Aberdeen. Prices are way down on what they used to be. The oil drop off and all the new student accommodation have had a big impact. I just had a quick look and I'm not convinced you aren't able to get a better flat to let for the same money in Aberdeen just now. It was always rent prices that were crazy. Buying was never as bad as people made out in my opinion.

Has Aberdeen really got a lack of competition for restaurants? There is lots of Indians. They aren't as good as Glasgow.

[abzmike]

Driver101 said:

Has Aberdeen really got a lack of competition for restaurants? There is lots of Indians. They aren't as good as Glasgow.

We don’t rate many Aberdeen restaurants much. There are few that are decent, but they can be very hit and miss. Curry houses are generally ok, others tend to be variable. We live out of town now so a round trip by taxi is 100 quid, so we’re more likely to stay over in Glasgow or Edinburgh for a proper night out, where we find better variety, reliability and value.

[Polite M135 driver]

If you don’t like the dark or cold, don’t come here, it’s terrible.

[BillyWhizz888]

I'll be renting a 2 bed 4 in block house shortly in airdrie. Eith drive way ect £350 pcm