Lanarkshire

Lanarkshire is an area of Scotland that includes the counties of Lanark, Lothian and Peebles. It’s home to some beautiful scenery, including the Forth & Clyde canal and the Campsie Fells. There are also a few universities located in Lanarkshire, including Glasgow Caledonian University and Strathclyde University. If you’re looking for a place to raise a family, then Lanarkshire is definitely worth considering – it has some of the best schools in Scotland!

4.32
Average Location Score

Excellent

46%

Very Good

42%

Average

12%

Disappointing

0%

Very Poor

0%

Best places to live in Lanarkshire

HomeViews Top Rated Development ranking takes into account the Star Rating and HomeViews Transparency Rating of every development in the area

Rooftop view of Glasgow

Where is Lanarkshire?

Lanarkshire is located in the central belt of Scotland, just south of Glasgow. It covers an area of around 900 square miles and is bordered by the counties of Stirling, Perth & Kinross, Clackmannanshire and West Lothian.

Areas in Lanarkshire

There are a number of different areas in Lanarkshire that prospective buyers may want to consider. These include:

Glasgow – Scotland’s largest city and home to around 60% of the population of Lanarkshire. Glasgow has a population of around 54,000 and is the third-largest city in the UK, meaning it has access to all the benefits of a major city, such as easy access to employment, education and entertainment.

Motherwell – While it’s not one of Scotland’s most popular or well-known cities, Motherwell has its own appeal with an attractive town centre that features many local shops and eateries as well as some high street brands. The area also benefits from good access to the motorway network.

Hamilton – The largest town in Lanarkshire, Hamilton is home to a population of around 62,000 and has excellent transport links – it’s located right next to both the M74 and M80 motorways. It also offers good schooling options as well as plenty of leisure activities.

Lanarkshire countryside

East Kilbride – the largest town in Lanarkshire and home to around 100,000 people. It is famous for being Scotland’s “shopping city” thanks to its large shopping mall which attracts shoppers from all over South Lanarkshire. East Kilbride is also well-known for its excellent schooling options.

Uddingston – a small town located just south of Glasgow with around 22,000 residents. It offers good access to the motorway network as well as being within easy reach of both Glasgow and Edinburgh via train or bus connections. There are plenty of amenities in Uddingston and the surrounding area.

Universities in Lanarkshire –

There are three universities located in Lanarkshire: the University of Glasgow, the University of Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian University.

The University of Glasgow – the University of Glasgow is located in the city of Glasgow and is one of four ancient universities in Scotland. It’s ranked among the top 100 universities in the world and offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and research courses.

The University of Strathclyde – the University of Strathclyde is located in Glasgow and has around 17,000 students and about 350-degree programmes. The university was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2013, recognising its work to improve the well-being of businesses across Scotland by developing commercialisation opportunities for their research base.

Glasgow Caledonian University – Glasgow Caledonian University is located in central Glasgow and has around 11,000 students and more than 100 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The university is often shortlisted as a top UK institution for international students, particularly those looking to study abroad in Europe due to its strong links with universities across the continent.

Rooftop view of Glasgow

Top Schools in Lanarkshire

Parents looking for a good school for their children will be spoilt for choice in Lanarkshire. Some of the top schools include:

Hamilton Grammar School – Hamilton Grammar School is a co-educational school for pupils aged between three and 18. The ethos of the school focuses on high academic standards, while also developing each child’s wider life skills such as sport and music.

St Aloysius’ College – St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow has around 1400 students across both its junior (ages 11-16) and senior (ages 16-18) schools. The college has a strong academic record, with 95% of students going on to further study or work after completing their education at the school.

James Hamilton Academy – James Hamilton Academy is located in Blantyre and educates pupils from nursery right through to the sixth year. In 2013, the school achieved an impressive 95% pass rate at a Higher Level.

Population of Lanarkshire

With a population of 319,020 people, Lanarkshire is one of Scotland’s most populous counties. The region is made up of several towns and villages, each with its own unique character and appeal.

 

Reviews in Lanarkshire

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Poor experience with Muir Homes. Wish I had bought with another developer.

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Jun 2024

The transport links are great for the motorway, and a bar and takeaway in Glenboig which are busy. Train station easily accessible.

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Purchased a Newark house type from Muir in January 2024 and thought we were moving into the house of our dreams, how wrong could we be.

Overall we l love the layout of the house. The layout is exactly what we wanted with a spacious living room / diner, large south west facing garden, kitchen and utility room with space for offices upstairs. We love how bright our living room is with the sun and the internal doors are really good quality.

The management and after care from this company is very poor, and possibly the most unprofessional group of people I have ever met. (Bar one site manager Alan who is absolutely great and helps out a lot where he can).

We had a major issue with our floor which became apparent when our flooring contractor came to install our LVT. They applied a layer of ardex primer to the concrete floor which didn’t take and peeled off, Muir didn’t really want anything to do with it initially and said “a competent flooring contractor should know what’s in the concrete”. This is after the flooring contractor asked the site manager on the measuring day what the concrete mix was and he gave incorrect information to our flooring contractor which meant the material ordered were incompatible with what was in the concrete.

It then became apparent that a concrete curing agent had been used on the floor, which I understand is common practice however the technical data for this product advised if any flooring is required to be installed by adhesion then the top layer formed must be mechanically removed. Eventually Muir came back “as a gesture of goodwill” and mechanically sanded the floor to remove the top layer. Queue a few visits back and forward as they hadn’t done it correctly before it was finally ready for the flooring to be installed. Notwithstanding the damage caused to the skirting boards and walls which have yet to be fully rectified, as the painter only turned up for a few days instead of the week promised.

The painting work to “touch up” damaged area is very frustrating. Areas have been filled in and not painted over with no dates for the painter return to paint over and also the wrong paint was used on areas on the wall and is noticeable.

Finally, we got our flooring contractor back and they applied a new primer (£1300 extra due to Muir’s incorrect information) and left for the weekend. Alas we thought we were on the home straight and it turned out some more patches had been missed and required further sanding as the primer hadn’t taken in a few areas.

I asked the Muir Homes site manager if he could help, to which he agreed. Until the contracts manager decided he wasn’t to help as we had been paid £1000 for the additional material by Muir. The £1000 apparently was Muir washing there hands of it, even though there remedial work hadn’t fixed the whole floor. Overall, one of the most unprofessional days I have witnessed from a serious company.

Overall Muir are a poor company to deal with, sub standard trade work carried out across the property, bad customer service and rude managers. The contract manager had my fiance in tears in her own home which is disgraceful, all down to his derogatory attitude to which he has yet to apologise.

I would describe some of the trade work in the property as sub standard. It looks like somebody semi skilled (or the apprentice) has completed the taping and painting in the house, so many bits have been missed and not yet rectified. Our property had large cracks and chips in the brickwork at the front which have yet to be repaired after nearly 4 months and the sealant work to the external of the property was installed incredibly poorly.

In addition to this we have had windows which have been defective since the day we moved in and it took over four months for this to be fixed.

From a customer care and communication perspective please expect emails to go without response for weeks. We have had emails which have gone unanswered for 2-3 weeks (with weekly chasers) until you receive a generic response which doesn’t provide any clarity to how the issue will be fixed or repaired. There is no after care plan to fix snagging either, we still don’t know when snagging repairs are planned in for and have no foresight of this. Generally trades people randomly turn up at your door to “do snagging” and disappear without telling you they’ve completed it or to give you the chance to inspect the works.

To put it into perspective, the external side light has been broken since the day we moved in and is yet to be fixed. Such an easy fix but nobody has appeared to fix it. Reinforcing the point they are poorly organised and un-interested.

Six months we have been in the property and once they have your money, you may as well forget any type of after care or customer service.

As much as I love the lay out of the property and the location, if I had the chance again I wouldn’t buy a Muir Homes. I would spend my money somewhere else.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

How bad the Muir homes customer service and after care was.

What is the best feature of your home:

Layout is probably the only good thing about the property.

2
Facilities
1
Design
3
Location
1
Value
1
Management
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Great development

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Apr 2023

Lovely street within a great development. Easy parking (most have private driveways though there is plenty on-street parking too).

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Variations in external design of the houses give the development lots of character. Around £30 a quarter for maintenance of communal areas, grass cutting etc. Safe environment with local shops and services nearby. Easy enough to get to Edinburgh or Glasgow provided you have a car.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

To lower my expectations of the developer, Story Homes, in terms of after sales service and dealing with snagging issues. They claim to have been housebuilder of the year! (Lol)

What is the best feature of your home:

Great street within a super development. South west facing garden is excellent in summer.

3
Facilities
4
Design
4
Location
3
Value
3
Management
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Great location, attractive development, slow completion of shared spaces

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Apr 2023

Biggar is a vibrant town with good transport connections and a thriving high street. Good local services, including doctors, dentists, sports centre, library, etc. Very peaceful, yet with good road access to both Edinburgh and Glasgow and a reasonable bus service to Edinburgh.

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Pentland Reach is an attractive development, with a good mix of different house styles and finishes, giving it a more organic look than the bland ‘copy-paste’ appearance of most new build developments. The green space on phase 1 is really good, with plenty of space between houses and shared green spaces. The second phase feels a lot more crammed in, with much smaller gardens, houses more or less on top of each other and very little in the way of public green spaces – it feels a lot more urban.

The build quality is good, but the completion of public spaces has taken a very long time – roads are still not adopted over 8 years after the development started. Public spaces are starting to be tidied up now, but have often been left in a messy state for weeks or months (and some even years) without any communication from the builders as to when they will be completed.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

I feel I was very lucky with the position of my house, meaning the garden is particularly open and not overshadowed by other houses. It is difficult to get a feel for that from looking at a plan.

What is the best feature of your home:

Good sized garden and attractive development. Great local services.

4
Facilities
4
Design
5
Location
5
Value
3
Management
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Living in Pentland

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Verified Resident
Review Date Apr 2023

Quiet little estate, close to Edinburgh. Play park surfaces not laid properly in the first place and now are all uneven and breaking up causing trip hazard for children. Will now have to oay for this through the factor.

Please review your development:

A good little estate close to Edinburgh. All the houses are varied styles and sizes. Lots of families, has a good community feel. Factor attends to common grounds, cutting grass and tress etc. This is ok but they could tidy up after themselves a bit better.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

There will be snagging in a new build, be prepared to list these in writing so they can be dealt with by the developer.

What is the best feature of your home:

Location of the house and the garden that gets the sun all day.

3
Facilities
4
Design
4
Location
4
Value
3
Management
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