Move To Scotland, Gain Equity and More Disposable Income.

Many television programmes show people in England moving to a better life abroad, however recently people in England who want a better way of life are deciding to just cross the border into Scotland. Scotland offers free prescriptions, good schools, no university fees and more for your money in terms of property. A lot of people are taking the plunge and moving North for this lifestyle for them and their family. Just last week the Labour Party, the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats ruled out student tuition fees for the next five years of this parliament’s term. This costs students in England a shocking £9,000 a year so if you have children just leaving school then this could be a huge draw for them just by moving north. Jamie and Charlotte Smith have a five month old daughter and while the chance of a free education for her is important to them, their main reason for moving to Scotland is that property prices there are so much cheaper than where they currently live in Market Harborough. They are selling their three bedroom cottage there and want to buy a church conversion in Oban in Western Scotland. The church conversion is a four bedroom property which also has space for a recording studio for Jamie for just £300,000, he says that if he were to look for something similar in Leicestershire it would be around the £1million mark. However many people are simply moving North because of the cost of student fees. They were abolished in Scotland in 2000 and after the Scottish Parliament was set up and because of the high cost of sending your children to university these days many parents are deciding to look for property in Scotland and save thousands. Under the Student Allowances (Scotland) Regulations of 2007 as long as students are resident on August 1st in the year that their course begins then the tuition fees are not payable as long as they attend Scottish universities. If a family moved to Scotland and had three children which all intended to go to university then they would save £81,000 in fees alone. Edinburgh University has an excellent reputation and everyone knows that Prince William and Kate Middleton attended St Andrews University because it was so good. Elderly people are also tempted to go to Scotland as there are no prescription charges whilst they are to rise in England and the hospitals offer a very good health service, care costs are also a factor. In England elderly people are forced to sell their homes to cover nursing home costs but in Scotland care-home residents can claim £69 a week towards their nursing costs and £153 towards personal care. Residents only have to cover what is deemed “hotel charges”. The Scottish housing market is also a lot more stable than its English counterpart. English house prices tend to have booms and busts but this is not the case North of the border. According to Land Registry property prices in England have dropped 0.9% in the last year but in Scotland the equivalent, the Registers of Scotland, have seen a 1.7% rise. Therefore it is no wonder that a lot of people are opting to choose life over the border.