Hi all,

My family and I are planning a move from Fort William to East Lothian in September/October, and are looking for some advice on where to look into.

At the moment we're looking at somewhere around the North Berwick/Haddington/Dunbar area. We're looking to rent, and want somewhere that's child friendly, as we have an 8 year old and a 9 month old.

We've been checking out houses to rent online, but were wondering if it's worth us subscribing to one of the East Lothian newspapers to see if anything comes up in those. Which one - if any - is best for property rental listings?

Obviously we'll spend some time looking around the different areas we're interested in, but some initial thoughts from the people who live there would be excellent.

Cheers,

Barry

Hi Barry,

I live in West Barns, Dunbar and it is an excellent place to live. It is a small village and very friendly. The small, local school is perfect for us as we have a 7 year old and a 2 year old. There are loads of things to do nearby, the local beach, east links family park and many other things.

Fort William is lovely too. We used to have weekends there, many years ago.

Paula

Hi Barry and welcome

First of all good choice - East Lothian's a great place to bring up children - there's loads to do and always lots of events for children (for example the Libraries and museums put on things all the time).

I wouldn't bother with the local papers - they only have a few houses to rent in them - better with the local estate agents such as gsb properties - always a good selection of rentals.

As for areas to live, there's not really a place in East Lothian I wouldn't live - from the picturesque villages to the bustling market towns like Haddington - and if you want city-life from time to time no-where is much more than half an hour from Edinburgh.

If you say some specific places that you fancy I'm sure you'll get lots of opinion!

Thanks for the replies :) Great to hear such positive comments about bringing up kids in East Lothian. Fort William is nice, but there isn't much to do with kids.

I think somewhere in that triangle between North Berwick, Dunbar and Haddington is where we're looking at. West Barns sounds lovely, Paula. The problem with the smaller places, we've found, is that rental property doesn't come up too often. If you hear of anything, do let me know!

Cheers,

Barry

Hi Barry,

You're right. There aren't many rental properties coming up too often but I will let you know if I hear anything.

Regards,
Paula

Because rental property is proving very difficult to find in North Berwick/Dunbar (we're looking for 4 bedrooms for max £800!) we're considering shifting our sights to somewhere like Musselburgh/Prestonpans.

Anyone have any thoughts on these places? Or advice on areas to aim for or avoid?

There are three brand new 4 bed houses to rent in Dunbar - here

I meant to say they're only £740 pcm.... and are handy for the school

That seems a very good deal!

There nice houses and big too for modern houses

As an Estate Agent working in sales in East Lothian, I'd suggest that subscribing to the local papers wouldn't be worthwhile, as there's only occasional advertising in them at present. Far more productive to search online at the rental agents' own websites, and perhaps gumtree, citylets, etc.

I'd go further than saying subscribing to the local papers isn't worthwhile. Reading them is a waste of time too.

Essential reading for me. The Court Reports especially.....

Yes the court reports are the best bit - no I lie - that bit with the fashion experts! That's true class.

I resolved to move to Prestonpans whilst sitting in what was The Coffee House reading the East Lothian Courier courts pages (I was en route to view a place in Cockenzie).

What swung it for me was "A quantity of hair mousse was stolen from Judi's Hair Salon between the hours of....".

Ten years later, I'm still here (but we now call hair mousse 'product').

Its Raining Again In East Lothian still love it

We are moving to Dunbar! Not the house mentioned above, although we did look at it. Lack of garden put us off a bit. We get the house from the 10th of August, and plan moving down on the 12th.

Thanks for all your help, everyone. Looking forward to living near you all :)

Welcome to the 'hood Barry

welcome Barry - keen to know where you found 4 beds and a garden...

Well, we're now all moved in, although we still have stacks of boxes to unpack, which we'll probably never quite get round to.

So far, so good. I had my Edinburgh Book Festival appearance on Sunday, then we spent the next few days just scoping out the area and feeling a bit like tourists. We're off over the border to Berwick tomorrow, then spending the weekend at the book fest. A far cry from being stuck with nothing to do in Fort William!

Becky, it's in the estate just across from Asda.

Welcome to East Lothian - properly!