Relocation advice to Rugby

[cherryway]

I would love to get opinions from those who are local to Rugby or know the area well please.

Basically, we currently live in Essex but having left my job recently, we're looking into moving somewhere further out- ideally North- and Rugby is an area that caught our attention. It doesn't have to be Rugby but that station would work well for us as my husband still has to travel for work to London (Victoria). I think being in one of the villages near Rugby would probably be more suitable for us as we want somewhere quiet where we have views of the countryside from the windows of our future home. :-) Also, as we have a 3 years old daughter, good primary schools and things to do for kids would be a couple of the important criteria for us.

We'd ideally like to get a 4 bed house and have a budget of up to £400K. We would prefer to be in a nice area and would be willing pay even more if necessary. With this in mind, which areas should we focus on would you say?

[LittleMiss77]

I dont know Rugby well (helpful) but have heard that Cawston is nice and has good road links (close to M6/M1)

Have you considered Warwickshire? Kenilworth, Leamington, Warwick? Kenilworth is close to Coventry for the train (same line as Rugby, 1hr to Euston on the fast train)

Balsall Common, Meriden are also nice but a bit further north (you'd probably be looking at gettig the train from birmingham international so 1hr 15 to Euston)

[cherryway]

Thanks for the suggestions, LittleMiss77, I'll have a look at those. Though I think the journey time most of those locations might be slightly longer than my husband is prepared to do...

I think we'll drive up to Rugby and the surrounding area at the weekend and see how we find them.

Thanks again!!

[TheOnlyColditz]

Rugby is a nice town and surrounded by some really pretty countryside. Have a look at the Murray Road area - easy walk to the station

[cherryway]

Thanks very much TheOnlyColditz, I'll have a look.

We're thinking the villages near Rugby might be better for us as we want to be in a quiet location. We're going to see one property in Pailton and another in Barby at the weekend. Any thoughts on either of these villages?

[aylsham]

Lived in Rugby for 8 years so I could commute to London and my husband to Birmingham. Then moved to a village nearby. Lovely place to bring kids up (mine were brought up there). Barby and, Pailton in particular, are nice but may suffer some road noise. Dunchurch is lovely, Bilton also and Thurlaston a dream village, with dream prices!

[Shutthatdoor]

Though I think the journey time most of those locations might be slightly longer than my husband is prepared to do

TBH the difference in journey times for the places littlemiss has suggested and Rugby to London is negligible.

My DH did the journey for years when we lived in the area.

[Stylingwax]

Rugby is 48 minutes to Euston. Coventry I think is a few minutes longer. Trains from Warwick and Leamington are longer but they're nicer places to live imho.
cherry I'm also moving my family to Rugby for a commutable London distance! Have bought a 4 bed new build to the north of Rugby for 360k as we don't want it too busy.
I'm from the Midlands, Rugby town centre itself isn't overly exciting but you're close to lots of great shopping and visiting places and schools in Rugby are v good as well as two grammars if that's what you like.

[Tutt]

Many years ago I lived in Bilton, it was lovely so I second having a look there.

[cherryway]

Thanks so much for your responses everyone, all very helpful!

I'm looking forward to exploring Rugby on Saturday. I think we might stay overnight somewhere so that we can explore the other areas mentioned here too. I will also investigate the travel times in a little more detail, maybe we didn't calculate it properly.

[LittleMiss77]

I think Coventry is something like 56 mins to Euston.

I think once you've factored in journey time from village to train station it all works out the same!

[cherryway]

Hi everyone,

So, a little bit of update. We went to Rugby on Saturday and spent the weekend there. It was really lovely! We also went to Lutterworth and actually quite liked it there. Ashby St. Ledgers, Monks Kirby, Easenhall and Pailton looked lovely too. I would really like something with country views but I'm not sure that we'll be able to find a house like that very quickly...

Since we liked Rugby and it's within our budget, we ruled out places like Kenilworth and Leamington Spa as they're more expensive.

I have a couple of concerns about living in any of these villages and Lutterworth tho.

• Do you think commute to Rugby station from any of these locations would be tricky on a motorbike? My husband wants to keep to a 15 mins commute to the station and I'm not sure if that's achievable from these locations.
• Schooling. I realize that there are better primary schools in areas closer to Rugby. For example, there is a property in Warren Road in Hillmorton that could kind of work for us (but it is a busier location than I'd like). Being somewhere like that would get our daughter into Paddox. However, I wasn't too keen on Hillmorton when we drove around. Maybe I got the wrong impression?

Any thoughts and suggestions please?

[senua]

we ruled out places like Kenilworth and Leamington Spa as they're more expensive.

I don't understand the property market round there. They are going to have huge disruption due to HS2 but it doesn't seem to have dented prices at all.

[cherryway]

Not sure, Senua. I've checked HS2 in relation to Rugby but not to Leamington Spa and Kenilworth as we're not looking there. It's another 11 years or so before HS2 launches so maybe its effect in those areas might be seen closer to the time? Not sure...

[Thota]

@cherryway. We are in the same situation as you were and looked around Rugby now. I wonder if you have moved to Rugby and if so, do you recommend this place for us or do you have any other suggestions. We looked at houses in Cawston and Houlton. Your kind advise is very appreciated. Best regards, Praveen

[ChaoticKate]

I’d avoid Houlton. Houses seem ok but no shop or services. Capstone is nice.

[ChaoticKate]

*Cawston not Capstone

[HDONO]

We are also in the same position at the moment whereby we are considering moving from south London to rugby with the view that my OH could continue to commute to London .
Is there any update on the best areas plus which areas with HS2 affect ?
We were considering Banbury at one point but it seems that HS2 would affect our favourite village quite badly

Many thanks in advance

Harriet

[Forfamily]

Hello!

I wonder if anyone can help?
We too are on a search to find the right place to move to from out of London and Rugby has popped up on our radar but we do not know much about it.

Can anyone enlighten me on what it's like to live there?
Whether some place are worth staying away from?
Are the schools good (I see a few with 'good' and "outstanding' Ofsted reports)?
Hillmorton, Bilton and Dunchurch seem good?

We have two DD almost 4 and 6 years old, so a safe and family friendly town is at the top of our list.

What we are looking for:

•Great community/friendly town and neighbourhood
Good commute into London
•Access to local amenities
• Good schools
•Period properties
• Local parks that are safe
• Somewhere we all can make friends and settle well.

I hope you can help!

[LittleMsCreative]

@cherryway - I read through this post and was wondering if you decided to move to Rugby. If so, would you recommend Rugby as a place to raise family with good schools. Many thanks

[Lilylil]

We went to look at Rugby this week. Really liked some of the villages like Barby and Clifton upon Dunsmore and Dunchurch was lovely. Trying to get my heads round the secondary schools though. Has anyone got advice on where most kids go as seems like you have to live on the doorstep to get into most of them?