I bought my first house in rural Scotland at 22. Housing is affordable in the countryside and I love it here.

• Simran Kaur is a 22-year-old tax associate at PwC who moved from India to Scotland when she was 18. 
• She bought a house in the Scottish countryside after graduating from university in Glasgow. 
• Kaur worked alongside her studies and saved to be able to put a deposit down on her first house. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Simran Kaur, a 22 year-old tax associate living in Kilmarnock, Scotland. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I moved to Scotland from Punjab, North India, in 2019. I was 18 years old and stayed with my relatives while I studied accountancy at Glasgow University.