The Scotsman

Moving from the city doesn’t always make sense to me

Kirsty Mcluckie on places to tempt Edinburgh dwellers

- @Scotsmanki­rsty

Areport from Zoopla stopped me in my tracks this week.

It regarded the locations that Edinburgh residents search for online when looking for a new home and the top results were set out in a table.

In the first column, it listed most-searched locations for those looking to move within the city, while in the next were the most popular search locations outside the city.

Fairly straightfo­rward stuff, but I read it while slightly jet-lagged and mistakenly thought that the two columns were supposed to tally – that those people living in the areas of the city mentioned in the first column were most keen to move to the areas outside Edinburgh mentioned in the second.

It resulted to a confusing half hour, but in my defence, some correlatio­ns seemed to make sense.

There may well be a number of people living in EH6 (Leith, Newhaven) who would like to get more for their money in KY12 (Dunfermlin­e). Moving out of the city to get more bedrooms is typical, I should think.

The same goes for those struggling to afford a place in EH7 (Leith, Restalrig, Craigentin­ny), who may well, as my reading of the table suggested, be most keen to move to TD7 (Selkirk).

Those will be the people you read about who are sick of the bustle of the city and move to work from home, grown their own vegetables and have a pony, I reasoned.

But I spent some minutes puzzling why those living in EH10 (Bruntsfiel­d, Morningsid­e, Fairmilehe­ad) would be so keen to move to G69 (Moodiesbur­n and Bailliesto­n in Renfrewshi­re).

I’m sure the latter areas have their charms, but I can’t imagine have the same density of quality coffee shops and branches of Waitrose as EH10. I may be wrong.

Equally the entry for EH3 (New Town, West End, Tollcross, Fountainbr­idge) seemed to me to suggest that the top spot residents here dreamed of for relocation was ML8 (Carluke) which befuddled me more.

Could there be that many New Town folk releasing equity by moving from an area with the average price of £415,000, to one with an average price of £151,000? It seemed unlikely.

The more I read, the more confused I became. Why would those living in Haymarket suddenly, en masse, start searching for homes in Dunoon?

And why would the good people of Cramond and Barnton be franticall­y looking for places to buy in Falkirk?

My confusion lasted long enough to think about the implicatio­ns of the results.

Edinburgh has always thought rather well of itself, in my opinion, but with good reason.

Not only is it one of the most sought-after place in the UK for young people moving from elsewhere, but its residents are justifiabl­y proud of their city, and house prices dwarf almost everywhere else in Scotland.

This could lead to some homeowners in the city, particular­ly in the very smart areas of the New Town and Morningsid­e for instance to be – how shall I put it – somewhat smug about their lot in life.

It is probably understand­able.

But the idea that such fortunate people were secretly jealous of those living in less desirable parts of the country, as most of us do,cheered me slightly, if only for the few minutes the delusion persisted.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom