I may be fortunate enough to retire early at the end of the year with a healthy pay off. Thinking of buying a plot somewhere in Scotland to build a family house (2 adults 2 kids) and ideally a chalet/lodge I could rent out as a holiday let. I’m thinking I need 1/4 acre.

The kids are school age so location needs to tie in with schools and some amenities to keep them happy.

Any tips/pitfalls advice? Location preferably somewhere scenic not too busy and with good mountain/gravel biking opportunities. Reasonable transport links would also be good so I’ve discounted any islands.

Torry some nice views of the unfinished harbour

D&G, Borders (south of the valley)?

Don’t know if the government are still trying to sell Gruinard Island, but that might be an option.

I’d be looking around Gairloch/Poolewe if it was me. There are usually plots available there, although most will be smaller than 1/4 acre.

Torry!!! Had enough of the haar recently.

Yes epicsteve the Gairloch/Poolewe area is lovely. That would do me. Not sure my wife could be convinced though. It’s not that far to Inverness from there if I remember correctly.

Top of my list at the moment is Grantown on Spey/Nethy bridge area due to the outdoor opportunities, rail line and short drive to Inverness.

My house in Aberdeen is on a 1/8 acre plot which seems not a bad size. Was thinking 1/4 acre would give me the opportunity to add a little lodge in for a bit of extra income when I’m not longer working.

I’d be looking around Gairloch/Poolewe if it was me.

I suppose that depends on the kids definition of amenities, and the OP’s views on 75 miles on single carriageway to get to Inverness = good transport links.

The kids are school age so location needs to tie in with schools and some amenities to keep them happy…
…Reasonable transport links would also be good so I’ve discounted any islands.

But I’d also think it depends on budget, views of the other half, any aging relatives to visit, how often you want that chalet to be occupied (the season will be shorter in Poolewe than Aviemore or Trossachs) etc.

The kids are school age so location needs to tie in with schools and some amenities to keep them happy.

What ages?
How *far* from family / amenities / rest of the world is ‘OK’?
Do you like rain, cold or both rain and cold?
What sort of activities do you do apart from biking?
Have you stayed up here before, or been on holiday?

I cant say for 100% is this would be a problem, but there is something called the Ransom Strip. The verge at the side or the road usually.

Owned by the council and buying a small portion to put services or a road/entry over, can sometimes cost as much as the land itself, hence ‘Ransom’.
Likely other here will know more about this when buying land.

Hats off to you. Quite a feat. Will it be one of those imported kit structures ?, bit of an outlay but very quick, and thats what you want really.
Otherwise getting materials up to the site might be a prob, or service or trades or such and delay after delay takes all the excitement out of it.

I suppose that depends on the kids definition of amenities, and the OP’s views on 75 miles on single carriageway to get to Inverness = good transport links.

It’d meet my definition certainly, as there is most of the stuff you need in the area (decent school in Gairloch, swimming pool in Poolewe, quite a few shops and places to eat or drink out). You also don’t have to go anything like as far as Inverness to get a train for example, although Inverness is the closest airport. The roads around there are generally pretty good as well.

Ullapool is the nearest Tesco and, as well as being a lovely drive, I can get from Gairloch to there quicker by car than I can get from my office in Leith to home in Balerno in rush hour sometimes.

Can I check, it’s not so clear from your first post, is this a family home or a rental?

Are you also in Aberdeen at present?

We currently live in Aberdeen. Been here about 25 years so thinking if I get the opportunity to retire early (voluntary redundancy) later this year we can move to fresh pastures. Kids are 5 & 10 so a move next year would tie in nicely with the move from little to big school for the oldest.

Idea is to keep the house in Aberdeen as it’s mortgage free and rent it out to have an extra income. This means we need to be careful with funds for the build as I don’t want to eat into my pension too much.

Good point on the ransom strip thanks. I have been looking at derelict properties/ renovation jobs thinking if it’s a good site just clear it and rebuild.

It’s a balance between stuff for the kids, quietness and access to good walking/ biking trails.

Gairloch/Poolewe is nice think my wife might prefer Grantown on Spey or Black Isle.
Anywhere else I should be looking? I’m not loaded so hopefully there are some low cost areas I haven’t thought about.

When we moved out from Edinburgh a few years ago we had Gairloch/Poolewe as our #1. Then we started thinking about the practicalities (school. work, shops, socialising etc) and realised they would just be too limited. Another factor which is obvious when you stop to think about it, is that trails and roads are very limited. You are, after all, on the coast and then there#s not much heading inland either.

Also be aware of the NC500 effect. Not only are lots of folks buying houses to let out, there are a lot of folk moving in to the area, attracted by their own trips. That might create a bit more of a demand for services but also puts land/house prices up.

Friends of mine have recently moved up to Lochinver and are converting (when CV19 allows) an old, disused workshop into a small flat. They love it up there and, having visited a few times, I can see why. All the same downsides as Gairloch/Poolewe though.

aberdeenlune
Idea is to keep the house in Aberdeen as it’s mortgage free and rent it out to have an extra income.

Better yet, sell it and use the money to buy a house to let close to where you are living.

The cost of chasing up problems with houses that are remote to you is simply not worth it IMO.

You cannot rely on agents.

how much demand do you think there will be for rental in Aberdeen? seems to be quite a glut of properties just now.

Good point, may be better flogging the house in aberdeen. Would help the budget.

depending on how old you are (based on kids ages I’d imagine 40s) are you sure you can actually access your pension? Private pensions can’t be cashed before you’re 55 if I remember right – I don’t know if being made redundant as ‘early retirement’ affects that at all

We’ve been looking at the self-building – we’ve sold our house in Hampshire and move into a rental in Speyside next week. With the proceeds from the house sale plus a small online business means we’re pretty well financially independent and are open minded on location.
There are lots of plots on Rightmove and Zoopla – the majority have planning permission for some sort of dwelling. However, you still have to do your research because there are lots of hidden pitfalls. Anything remote and you might have a problem with services – we were looking at one plot, next to a five recently built houses, service access points on the plans etc. What the agent didn’t say was that they’d reached the capacity of the power line and connecting up would require a £20k transformer.
Complete build costs are £1,500-2,000/m2 – so an average-size house of 120m2 could cost £240,000 + plot + service costs, so easily £300k+ and yet might only be worth £250k in today’s market.
Also worth considering new builds are VAT-free whereas renovations aren’t.
We are talking to a builder about a new build on one of the islands – hopefully will be ready next spring.

We have been doing this for over 2 years. We bought a plot in The Trossachs NP in a stunningly beautiful glen. It already had PP for a house and water and electricity. We have used local architect, builder, timber frame manufacturer, everybody from within a 10 mile radius and this has proved its worth as the builder was able to work quietly on during lockdown within the rules of the Government. We have always paid people extremely promptly and we are sure this has made them more willing to get the job done fast.

We move into temporary on 1 July, taking bikes obviously, I retire on 31 July and we expect the house to be finished by October. Can’t wait as we have new nightmare neighbours here since a month ago.

I holidayed in Poolewe for a few years. It’s very pretty but your kids boredom will drive them to hate you forever.

Without a doubt the best place north of the Tay that matches your needs is Aviemore.

Consider Fife for anywhere South of the Tay. It has everything close to hand but also some seriously bonny neuks.

Consider the borders if you’re cool with Tories and endless rain.

Too late to edit the post above but a crucial part of our choice was that we are going to be getting older so we wanted to be reasonably close to GP, hospitals etc. Everybody dreams of living on the coast but those locations are often a long drive away. We are an hour from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, 20 minutes from Callander and 40 from Stirling or Perth. Most importantly the villagers got tired of waiting for Openreach who eventually admitted they weren’t coming so locals got together and self-installed 1gb fibre to 220 homes in the glen. That’s good and it says a lot about our future neighbours.

Without a doubt the best place north of the Tay that matches your needs is Aviemore.

There is a premium for Aviemore though. Grantown, Kingussie and Newtonmore areas are better vfm. Nethy Bridge has a higher proportion on holiday homes than anywhere I’ve ever been and many of the permies are retired, no kids. As a result it has little community feel. A friend of mine lived there for a couple of years and was desperate to move closer to Aviemore.

Build a nice 2 bed annex with MTB storage facilities, and space for a few dirty mountain bikers, with trails out the door, and you’d do well with air BnB I would have thought!

That’s good and it says a lot about our future neighbours

Iirc, your Balqhidder way.

If so, we know a couple of your neighbours, and have met a few more. It is indeed a lovely spot, the trails are brilliant in the woods as well.

If you want to be close to a doctor absolutely forget living in Poolewe or anywhere like it. Skye would be OK.

Matt_outandabout you’ve got it! I look forward to meeting you too.

We stayed at an Airbnb last year in Fort William and the people we rented it from had done something similar. It was about a 20 min walk into town. They seemed happy and I liked what they’d done with the place.

I know a couple who moved to Grantown on spey and they like it, been there a few years now.

We left the city (Sheffield) 11 years ago. The kids were 3,5 and 6. We left a house that we could see one tree from…

…To Killin, with the most amazing view ever. We loved Killin for many reasons – the wild feel, access to mountains and rivers, my work, the community when on song was amazing.
We soon discovered that on a wet Wednesday in November, it felt like the ar*se end of nowhere, we got fed up of the fuel bills (25k a year, no business mileage) as everywhere was a half hour drive, that family were a long, long way away, that the community has some real at*eholes in and not watered down as you may get in a bigger place, it rained constantly, and the final issue was work was almost impossible to find for Mrs_oab. We do remember our time fondly, but wouldn’t go back. My reflection is that Killin is/was populated by locals and retirees, few good employers in the area. Relatively it was poor and remote.

We moved to Dunblane 6 years ago, kids were 8, 10 and 11 (high school year). I’m struggling to think of a better spot at the moment – all the resources and employment opportunities of a city and the central belt, with the mountains and rivers nearby. Great schools, good community, public transport, green space. I also appreciate the drier weather…

I think there still are areas of rural Scotland that are financially poor, remote and therefore lack a lot of services. Land is cheap here for a reason and you need to be sure before leaping in.

We too are considering a self build or renovation, likely after the boys have finished school and when grandparents are maybe not around. Maybe in 5 years time.
I personally would be looking for the Highlands with some employment and money in the area. It’s hard to look past the Aberdeen/Deeside/Speyside/ Moray/Inverness/Black Isle area for these reasons, plus it’s significantly drier than West.

I am just old enough to retire. At the moment you can draw your pension at 55. From 2028 that changes adding a couple of years to the early retirement age.

We do love the Trossachs. Only thing putting me off was it can get quite busy. We are heading there for a weeks holiday at the end of July so will scout out some options.

My wife is younger so she will probably want to work. She likes nursery school teaching. Has just got her basic qualification in that. So will have to take that into account.

I am from the west so know how much drier it is here in the east. That is another serious consideration.

If you want to be close to a doctor absolutely forget living in Poolewe or anywhere like it.

There is a medical practice based in Gairloch that covers the area.

It’s now evident that the amount of holiday accommodation, AirBnB etc is creating problems for essential workers to find accommodation in some areas, likewise accommodation for seasonal workers. I’m not sure how sustainable its going to be in the long run.

I don’t mind doing some berry picking, just saying….

Could save yourself the hassle of a build and buy my inlaws place in Dulnain Bridge near Grantown on Spey, Ideal for a family and ideally suited for Inverness/Elgin coastal commute and Cairngorm mountains on your doorstep 🙂
***end shameless plug***

Cherry Cottage, Skye of Curr Road, Dulnain Bridge

In the middle of a self build just now. So far it’s been a nightmare what with planning problems building control taking an age to approve things, I’m up and running now but it’s been so so stressful and I’m in the trade.

Gairloch etc. sound very attractive for all the usual reasons ie. fantastic scenery, outdoor pursuits etc. until you actually have to live there all year round. Not much to do in winter and your kids won’t thank you after being used to all that Aberdeen has to offer. Travel is a PITA especially with NC500 in full swing and the midges around there are dreadful and it rains…. A LOT!!

2 years in The Highlands was enough for me and I’m quite enjoying being back in Aberdeen for a while despite the lockdown.

@Woody – no longer at the Inchbae then?

Nope had enough a few months ago for various reasons, not least the immediate surroundings. You will see what I mean if you’ve passed there recently.

I think Matt nails it.

Moray/Speyside would be my choice.

Thanks for the different perspective Woody.

I if it was just me I’d buy a house along from Torridon village with a view out to the water out west and the mountains to the east. However in the real world it’s a compromise.

Loch Voil area looks fantastic thanks for the idea guys. Will be scouting down that way after 15th July. Looking at house/land prices near Aviemore you get a lot for your money in Kingussie and Grantown in Spey but my god it’s expensive in Boat of Garten and Nethy Bridge.

I need to wait to see if my employer will make me redundant before I buy anything. Won’t know until later on this year. Meanwhile I’ll be browsing about on line and going for little scouting missions once the restrictions are relaxed.

Another outlier is the east neuk of Fife. Any thoughts on options there? Also interested in the Black Isle.

East Neuk is lovely but despite the short distances on a map it takes a long time to get anywhere.

I personally wouldn’t.