A family who recently moved to Edinburgh from Mexico have been living in Airbnbs across the capital for weeks after being unsuccessful in their attempts to find a permanent home.
Gabita Jacome, 35, moved to Edinburgh three weeks ago after her husband Edgar, 42, found work in the city. Edgar, who has a PhD in astrophysics, works in engineering and developing car antennas.
Gabita and Edgar, along with their two young daughters, aged one and four, are now looking for a permanent place to call home after being rejected from several properties and forced to fork out money for pricey short-term lets.
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Yet to enrol her kids in a local school due to uncertainty over their living situation, Gabita says it is 'exhausting' entertaining and educating them every day but has already been won over by the charm of Edinburgh locals and the beauty of the city.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live about her and her family's journey so far, she 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."
Gabita questioned how difficult the housing market in the capital is at the moment, saying she and her family are "perfect tenants". Before moving to the city, the family visited for a three-day tour and were won over.
Gabita, a professional piano teacher, says she is impressed by the public transport in the city and how easy it is to hop on and off buses. Adding to the aesthetics of the capital, she said locals seem incredibly happy and willing to help as more often than not 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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