A Fife couple have told a Channel 4 show why they ditched a huge home in Canada with its own pool to move back home to Kirkcaldy.
Scott and Kirsten Laing first featured on Location, Location, Location in 2012, when they moved from Kirkcaldy to Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire.
They starred on the Channel 4 property show again on Wednesday night as presenters Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer caught up with the couple on what had happened since they last featured.
Scott and Kirsten revealed how they had moved abroad since first appearing on Location, Location, Location before ending up back where they started in the Fife town.
The couple said they had moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, in 2016, with children Natalie and Max, after Scott was made redundant from work in Aberdeenshire.
They paid just £230,000 for a 4,000 sq ft property which even came with its own outdoor pool.
Kirsten told the programme: “It was a great opportunity for the kids to go and live somewhere new, for us to go and experience a different culture and different living.
“We went there with no expectation. We were like, ‘Let’s go and see where it takes us’.”
But a health scare provided a wake-up call for the family – who decided they were better off back in Kirkcaldy.
Kirsten said: “We really enjoyed our time in Canada, however I ended up having quite a bad fall in the beginning of 2018 and got really bad concussion.
“It’s one of those things were you suddenly go, ‘We have no support network, there’s nobody there for us’.”
The move back to Kirkcaldy meant they could be closer to their parents while Kirsten continued her recovery.
However, it was not plain sailing as the family initially struggled to find a home in the Fife town.
Kirkcaldy couple ‘hit awful property market’
Kirsten said: “We started looking for properties in February 2021 and we hit this awful property market.
“We put offers in for half a dozen houses and lost out in all of them.
“Genuinely we were getting to the point of thinking that we were not getting anywhere.”
Eventually they found a house close to Kirkcaldy town centre and a 15-minute drive to Scott’s new workplace.
Kirsten said: “We weren’t in here for more than five minutes and thought it was the right size for us – let’s just buy it.”
Location, Location, Location couple now settled in Kirkcaldy
They bought the four-bedroom house for £290,000.
Scott said: “I think part of the reason we managed to get the house was that it was pretty tired.
“The carpets, colours and choices were maybe not to everyone’s taste.
“All the living areas were ripped out, painted and fitted with new carpets.
“It was a hectic six days before we moved in.”
The family have settled into their new home, with Scott saying they live in “a beautiful part of the world”.
He told Location, Location, Location: “We have promised the kids no more moves at least until they leave home.
“I still have a hankering for overseas work eventually but I think we’ll keep this place regardless of what we ever do in the future.”
