[Josie]

Looking for the seemingly impossible ?.
A detached property that is within an hour’s bus ride of Edinburgh for my non-driving partner, and also within walking distance of a shop and pub for the same reason.
With a couple of acres for my horses.
Have up to £450k maximum but £400k would be easier and stop me living off baked beans for the next year ??.
Anyone have any suggestions or, even better, properties?
Thanks

[doganjo]

Rightmove, geenshifters, country properties etc??

[Anke]

I think public transport options into Edinburgh will be severely limited until this Covid thingy calms down.... I would wait, but there is a direct train link from Tweedbank/Galashiels into Edinburgh (1h journey time), but again no idea how they will run it with "social distancing", as it is usually packed at rush hour.

In the grand scheme of things and depending on the size of house you are after you may struggle with your budget within an hour of Edinburgh in the Borders.

I would try www.bspc.co.uk but also the likes of Galbraith, Cullen/kilshaw for local(ish) estate agents in the Borders.

[Fleecewife]

Try looking to the west of the city.

[doganjo]

Try out our way - bus to Edinburgh about 45 minutes, or train from Larbert for instance is about 40 minutes.

[Josie]

I google every day, I’ve sent my requirements to Savills, Rettie etc, I’ve let all in-the-know horsey people know. One came up recently for £350k that met all the requirements except it only had 0.75 acres and another 8 as part of another lot, and unfortunately the seller wouldn’t renegotiate the lot boundaries  .
I currently pay £450 a month to keep my horses in a windy, wet and depressing field 20 minutes drive from my house with no facilities. I’d much rather have them outside and pay another £450 a month off my mortgage (or even, shocking idea.... just not be skint :p?).
I have an absolutely beautiful cottage right on the edge of Edinburgh worth about £375k and about £50k of equity I could release; my house is absolutely perfect except for the fact that every square inch of land within 5 miles has been snapped up by developers , so absolutely zero chance of getting grazing by my house which is devastating. If I could find basically my exact house with a couple of acres I’d be thrilled!
Partner absolutely will not entertain the idea of moving out of the Lothians - he’s a city boy with a city job and all he wants is to be near a Tesco and a pub and a bus stop that gets him to work easily :p. He never asked for livestock!

[Josie]

I think public transport options into Edinburgh will be severely limited until this Covid thingy calms down.... I would wait, but there is a direct train link from Tweedbank/Galashiels into Edinburgh (1h journey time), but again no idea how they will run it with "social distancing", as it is usually packed at rush hour.

In the grand scheme of things and depending on the size of house you are after you may struggle with your budget within an hour of Edinburgh in the Borders.

I would try www.bspc.co.uk but also the likes of Galbraith, Cullen/kilshaw for local(ish) estate agents in the Borders.

We will both be working from home until all this ends so it just needs to have the transport option post-Covid.
Borders is sadly too far, we are looking Mid, East and West Lothian, maaaaaybe Fife at a push.

[Fleecewife]

When we first moved to just north of Biggar 25 years ago, we thought it was a huge distance from Edinburgh, where we both worked, but the distance shrinks with familiarity (it's about 25 miles or so to the ski slope, or to the Gyle).  Also, many commuters have moved further out from the city, so a longer commute is normal now.
Around us, many farmers are diversifying by boarding horses (I'm not horsey so I don't know the terminology) - I can think of at least 3 we can see within a couple of miles of our place.  Presumably you have thought about finding a better livery (is that the word?) and remaining in your present home. It would probably have to be a distance away, then you would be the one shouldering the travel, better because your partner could well end up really resenting the bus trip every day if you move house.


There have been a couple of smallholdings advertised round here recently, but it is an extremely tedious bus ride into Edinburgh, and from where we are, it's about a 4 mile walk to the bus stop.  This area does though have the advantage of not being touristy, so light on traffic in the season, but you would be struggling to find a shop and a pub within walking distance of anywhere with land.  Maybe your partner could learn to drive? Or to ride a motorbike?

[doganjo]

Try to google 'land for sale in ..........'.    Onthemarket.com comes up regularly

There's a couple of places near me but you'd need a car to get to nearest bus stop or train station.

some of the lesser known lawyers/estate agents might be  possibility too - Gilson Gray, O'Malleys

Would you consider land with plnning consent and build your own?

[Josie]

Sadly I don’t have the capital available to self build: that would be our choice if we could!
I’ve discovered a gap in the market for people who build to spec with their own money though! If someone purchased a couple of acres and stuck a danwood home on it because they have access to the cash, we would buy it off them once it was completed for probably double what they paid to buy and build! Surprised there isn’t a market of people doing this.

[Anke]

Sadly I don’t have the capital available to self build: that would be our choice if we could!
I’ve discovered a gap in the market for people who build to spec with their own money though! If someone purchased a couple of acres and stuck a danwood home on it because they have access to the cash, we would buy it off them once it was completed for probably double what they paid to buy and build! Surprised there isn’t a market of people doing this.

Planning permission will usually be quite specific as to what has to be built..., we have done it 15 years ago - bought a building plot and the adjoining field, probably paid over the odds for the land at the time, but no regrets.

[doganjo]

Sadly I don’t have the capital available to self build: that would be our choice if we could!
I’ve discovered a gap in the market for people who build to spec with their own money though! If someone purchased a couple of acres and stuck a danwood home on it because they have access to the cash, we would buy it off them once it was completed for probably double what they paid to buy and build! Surprised there isn’t a market of people doing this.

How much do you think it costs to build a kit house - there are various options with a Danwood home? The prices on the pretty pictures are just for the basic frame, there are a lot of other considerations.

I built a house (a kit one similar to Danwood, but a local company to me) in Aberdeenshire in 2005.  It was on a plot about 11 acres that I already owned but valued without planning at about £20K. As soon as I got planning consent it's value more than doubled.

I got a quote for turnkey from Danwood but decided to go with local contractors that my late husband was friends with, so I knew I could trust them.  The Danwood quote for a turnkey house smaller than the one I finally got was about £75K more

My contractors built the house, designed to my own specifications - 4 large double bedrooms, two of them ensuite,  same size family bathroom, fully fitted modern family kitchen, 20 sq m dining room, 30 sq metre lounge with double door Charnock log burner, landscaped and fenced garden, with access to my three fields and a barn for about £140K.  I had to have two old cottages taken down and the site cleared, with the gramite and stone retained to face my new house. that cost about £5K
So the total basic cost at build was about  £200K - selling value after 2 years £310

I could have built two houses and sold one - council offered permission for that - I'd have sold it for about £400K as I would have included my project management fee. I didn't because I preferred my privacy, and as it turns out the couple who bought it when i moved near my children wantd it for that very reason.

I'm not trying to be negative, just saying that it might be cost effective fro you to self build - you are allowed to have a temporary home on site till it is built too. (with hindsight I should have done that as I took a farm cottage for the 10 months costing £1800, I could have had a second hand static caravan for that, and I was told I could have got planning to keep it afterwards)  So certainly worth thinking about.

I wouldn't consider a Danwood etc, except that you don't need to do anything if you go for the turnkey option, but it costs almost as much as a newbuild from a building company.  Instead,  find a plot, look for a local timber frame supplier, find local contractors - builder, joiner, electrician etc - they all know each other and will happily recommend their friends/relatives

[Josie]

It’s more the problem that we need upfront cash to self build, which we don’t have. Our mortgage advisor said I wouldn’t really be possible. We can probably release £60-70k of equity by selling our house, and we do have somewhere we can stay in the meanwhile whilst it’s being build (my dad owns a holiday rental nearby). However to buy land, obtain planning permission, and get the house put up we would only be able to get a 70% mortgage and I don’t think 60-70k would cover the deposits ?