Living in Scotland: Lifestyle & wellbeing perks
It’s official: Scotland offers a higher quality of life than the rest of the UK. According to the annual Life in the UK index by Carnegie UK, Scotland has the highest collective wellbeing score (based on a combination of social, economic, environmental and democratic factors) of all four nations.
It’s a promising indication of what you can expect as a resident of Scotland. With that in mind, here are some lifestyle and wellbeing benefits of living in Scotland.
Scottish lifestyle perks
Easy access to the coast and countryside
Research shows that spending two hours outdoors each week contributes to good health and wellbeing. That’s easy to do when you live in Scotland, as nature is never far away. Even in big cities, you can easily visit beaches and rural landscapes whenever you like.
Edinburgh is home to Portobello Beach, a sandy stretch spanning two miles along the North Sea coast. Meanwhile, on the southern side of the city, you’ll find the Pentland Hills Regional Park, with its miles of rolling peaks and tranquil reservoirs.
In Glasgow, you’re just a short distance from the iconic Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park. Ayrshire’s beaches and the rugged Western Isles are also close by and offer a diverse range of coastal landscapes to explore.
Up in Aberdeen, there’s the sandy coastline of Aberdeen Beach just moments from the city centre, which stretches for two miles from the mouth of the River Dee to the mouth of the River Don. Plus, the UK’s largest National Park, the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands, is less than an hour’s drive away. The park is also easily reachable from Dundee, Perth and Inverness.
The freedom to roam
In Scotland, you’re free to roam pretty much anywhere you like in the countryside. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced rights which granted responsible public access to most land and inland waters for non-motorised recreational activities. This means you can enjoy hiking, cycling, horse riding, wild camping and more across Scotland’s beautiful landscapes, as long as you behave responsibly and respectfully.
This differs significantly from England, where the right to roam is restricted to around 8% of land where climbing, walking and wildlife watching are permitted, but activities like cycling, horse riding and camping require permission from the landowner.
You can read the full guidance on your right to roam in Scotland in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
An extra bank holiday each year
Scotland has nine bank holidays per year, rather than the standard eight in England and Wales. Most workplaces close for bank holidays, so you could get an extra day off when you live and work in Scotland.
That extra day falls on January 2nd because in Scotland, the New Year is more than the changing calendar. It’s a three-day cultural event called ‘Hogmanay’. For this reason, it’s marked by not one, but two successive bank holidays on January 1st and 2nd, giving Scots extra time to soothe their sore heads after all the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
2026 is a special year, as there’s an extra bank holiday on June 15th to mark Scotland playing in the men’s football World Cup for the first time since 1998. Yes, that means Scots get to enjoy 10 bank holidays this year.
There’s one more difference in Scotland’s bank holiday calendar. Instead of a bank holiday on Easter Monday, Scotland has a bank holiday for St Andrew’s Day on November 30th, in honour of the nation’s patron saint.
Free NHS prescriptions for all Scottish residents
Everyone living in Scotland gets access to free healthcare from NHS Scotland, which the Scottish Government manages. In 2011, the Scottish Government abolished NHS prescription fees, so everyone who lives in Scotland and is registered with a Scottish GP practice is entitled to free prescriptions. Eye tests and dental check-ups are also universally free.
In England, most working-age adults must pay the NHS prescription levy of £9.90 per item, unless the item or their medical condition is exempt from charges.
The longest summer days in the UK
During the summer months, Scotland experiences more daylight than anywhere else in the UK, due to its high northern latitude. On the summer solstice, daylight hours in Scotland peak at around 18 hours, with the sun rising around 4am and setting around 10pm. These extended daylight hours provide more opportunities for outdoor activities, perfect for exercising your right to roam in Scotland’s great outdoors.
What’s more, Scotland’s long summer days and temperate climate provide ideal conditions for safe exposure to sunlight, which provides several health benefits. It triggers vitamin D production, helping the body absorb calcium, essential for healthy bones, and boosts serotonin production, the body’s feel-good hormone, helping to regulate mood and promote emotional wellbeing. It also regulates your internal clock (called the ‘circadian rhythm’), encouraging wakefulness during the day and helping you get restful sleep by signalling melatonin production, the sleep hormone, when night falls.
Explore life in Scotland with Share to Buy
Now that you know what you can expect from life as a Scottish resident, it’s time to start searching for a home here. At Share to Buy, we make your choice easier with a selection of new-build homes in Scottish locations such as Aberdeen, available through alternative homeownership schemes like New Supply Shared Equity (NSSE).
Use our property portal to find your space in Scotland, and create an account to save your search, enquire about homes, register for alerts and more.
