A Mexican family who recently moved to Edinburgh have been forced to live in Airbnbs for weeks after struggling to find a suitable home.
Gabita Jacome, 35, and her husband Edgar, 42, relocated to Scottish capital with their two daughters, aged one and four, after Edgar got an engineering job in the city. The couple are now desperately searching for their own home, but have so far been unsuccessful after being rejected for several properties, Edinburgh live reports.
Their struggle to find a permanent residence has forced them to fork out on pricey short term lets, which are becoming more difficult to come by in the lead up to summer and the city's tourist season. Gabita and Edgar's uncertain living situation also means that they have been unable to enrol their children in school, leaving Gabita 'exhausted' as she tries to educate and entertain them all day.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Gabita said: "We are originally from Mexico City and have only lived in the UK once and that was in Cambridge around ten years ago so it was very different to life here in Edinburgh.
"We moved over here only three weeks ago but beforehand we looked at various properties on Rightmove but got rejected. We have two cats back home which are really important to us as a family but we weren't able to bring them right away so they are in Spain at the moment and are due to by flown over next week.
"We thought moving abroad was the right thing to do but now we are not so sure due to the housing situation. We know employment is easier for women over here and it is really difficult back home with insecurities and sexual assaults. We didn't hear of those things near us but it is still real.
"We thought this was a great opportunity and now we have all the necessary paperwork and we have confirmation from my husband's work about his status and income. They also agreed to pay some of the deposit but we just don't know what we are going to do now."
Despite the housing issues they have faced, Gabita says that the family love Edinburgh and were instantly won over during a three-day tour of the city before they moved permanently. The professional piano teacher says she is impressed by the public transport and the warm welcome the family have received from locals, who are always more than happy to help when she is travelling with a pram and her oldest daughter.
She continued: "All the transportation works well for us. My husband works near the castle and so many buses stop there. People have told us about a few areas to maybe avoid but we're open to living pretty much anywhere.
"We're really open and we just want to stop living in Airbnbs as the price is constantly changing with the warmer weather and more visitors to the city. We're also waiting to find a home before looking into primary schools for our daughters.
"At the moment I'm just trying to entertain them and get out and about as much as possible. I'm a professional piano teacher but I can't work as I don't have a piano. We can't buy one as we're hopefully moving soon. It has been a rollercoaster and quite challenging.
"Meanwhile we're also paying the mortgage on our home in Mexico but we're going through the process of renting that out. We have appliances, toys and even our car and we've had to sell them all which is quite sad.
"I do feel very welcome here though. People see me struggling with two girls and a pram and so far have been more than happy to help me. Everything here is really nice."
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