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I'm considering moving to Northampton; yay or nay?

191 replies

Shirley1006 · 23/10/2019 23:12

Hi,
With house prices soaring in London, my husband and I are considering making a move to Northampton. I have a lovely 22 month year old who will need a good environment to grow up in as well as access to a good school, and activities.

So far I've been looking in the Upton and Duston area, but I have no idea if these are good areas or not.

Any advice from those who have made the move or live in Northampton, any history to share, or anyone with current information about Northampton i.e. good areas, areas to avoid, that would help a family considering a move would be most welcome!

OP posts:
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7
Doodlebug5 · 05/11/2019 13:49

Upton isn't rough ... jesus
I lived in Kingsthorpe for ages that's rough.

There are 5 bed townhouses in upton for £325k with tonnes of space.

StayClassySally · 05/11/2019 14:03

Yes but remember someone got shot there recently @Doodlebug5

I think that increases the roughness somewhat.

raspberryk · 05/11/2019 14:24

commute would only be temporary until jobs are found in Northampton. Hmm sure, where you'll end up commuting to Milton Keynes or Leicester or somewhere else in the county that takes you at least 45m-1hr to get to by car because the roads are so shite and clogged up because they can't cope with the amount of traffic.

Much better to be nearer MK.

raspberryk · 05/11/2019 14:26

OP have you looked at salaries in Northampton? You may be able to afford the house on your London salary but can you afford it plus the commute? Can you afford it on local job money?

Oliversmumsarmy · 05/11/2019 18:10

We found that Dp couldn’t really afford to work in the area especially as I had taken a 60% pay cut to do the same job.

Thought it would be cheaper living outside of London .
We couldn’t have been more wrong.

It was hairy for a time before Dp by sheer fluke found a job back in London and handed in his notice to the job in the local town.

We were about to move when the company folded and we found ourselves on my tiny salary and benefits.

Dp who should have walked into something again in London (highly qualified, early /mid 30s, great CV) struggled to even get an interview.

We lasted for over a year before finally an agency guy told Dp to change his address.

We put down a friend’s address and he walked into the first job he applied for.

By which time we were up yp our eyeballs on debt.

Told Dp I might move to the US but if he ever suggests leaving the M25 again he is on his own.

Took us years to recover.

There is wanting a change of scene and putting yourself in a financially precarious position

ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd · 05/11/2019 18:28

Op, as someone who has done the move you are planning.. i implore you... pls rethink. Anywhere...anywhere else but here.

How about near a coast or a major city? Think Manchester, Liverpool, the north East? What do you and DH do for work? Can you transfer skills?

Pls take on board all comments here OP. Especially from those who live/ed this larger affordable house , space to raise children, fresh air, fairy cake nightmare dream kind of life. I personally realised that about 6 yrs ago.

No amount of house is worth the loneliness, mockery and isolation.

Raise yr child/children in a vibrant cosmopolitan , no travel limiting , budget deficit , lived here 500 yrs and don't like londoners change, kind of a place/city. Find a place of opportunity, investment, amenity and culture. Immerse them and yourself in a great city or seaside town either north or south. Nurture yourself as a mother in that very same space.

You are raising little people and sustaining a marriage. I found it nigh on impossible to do either here! My nerves are frayed but not broken. I am leaving soon and doubt i will ever have cause to return to this county. Sadly, nothing or no connections here for either me or my DC.

My DH... we split yrs ago... pressures of enduring this proved too much. I blamed him and he accepted it was him brought us here. Onwards and upwards now, my DC's and I building a new life. DC no 1 already moved back to London, me and DC 2 following in next 2 yrs.

Future is bright, but its a London dawn illuminating our way!

SoyDora · 05/11/2019 18:32

My graduate starting salary in Northampton was £28k, going up to £75k before I left so it’s not all doom and gloom Smile

SoyDora · 05/11/2019 18:32

(Still wouldn’t recommend it though)

ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd · 05/11/2019 19:04

@SoyDora far greater salaries than that reside here.

Loneliness and isolation have no value.

SoyDora · 05/11/2019 19:19

Well of course they do. Far greater salaries than that reside everywhere. It was just to counteract the posts about salaries being low.
I didn’t like Northampton at all but certainly wasn’t lonely and isolated, thankfully. I made some great friends there.

SoyDora · 05/11/2019 19:20

I did only live there for 2.5 years though.

SoyDora · 05/11/2019 19:23

(And met my now DH while working there)

pinkkoala · 05/11/2019 23:12

Rosegoldwatcher-i live near little tesco so tend to eat and drink in collingtree pub, what about you

pinkkoala · 05/11/2019 23:15

Shirley1006, my dd went to simon de senlis school on east hunsbury now currently year 10 at Wootton park school and its just been rated outstanding by ofsted.

ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd · 06/11/2019 20:26

@pinkkoala @rosegoldwatcher @StayClassySally hey, i live up here too ! Intersteing to see how you all @ each other but not me. I live in this county too!

@Shirley1006 and here in lies yr problem!!

You may want to invest in some very high viz clothing if you move up here. Just so people actually see/notice/acknowledge you!

SoyDora · 06/11/2019 20:28

ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd it sounds like you’ve had a bad experience, but it’s definitely not the same experience I had when moving to Northampton. I advised the OP against it as I disliked the town, but had no issues with the people or with making friends.

StayClassySally · 06/11/2019 20:29

@ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd are you in east hunsbury too? The question is whether you are a frequenter of the collingtree or grangewood?

StayClassySally · 06/11/2019 20:33

@SoyDora what on earth do you do (or who did you work for) that you went from 28 to 75k in 2.5 years?

MillieMoodle · 06/11/2019 20:49

@ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd are you anywhere near Daventry?! They still have factory fortnight over that way I think as pretty much everyone either works for Ford or Cummins.

We are in south Northants and love it. There are some lovely villages all over the county. I work in MK and my commute is about 25 mins. If I need to go into London then the train is 45mins from MK station to Euston. You'd get a decent sized 4 bed house for 375k I would think.

rosegoldwatcher · 06/11/2019 21:04

@ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd - I am sorry if I made you feel excluded from all of the @ting. It is a large county and I was gleeful to find some Mumsnetters who live in my area.

We moved here in 1988, to a small development of houses built on farmland surrounding a huge stone barn. In 1990 the developers converted it into the Residents' Club, which has become the social hub of the 7 streets within the Grangewood rectangle.
Very happy to share a bottle of red with any of you, in my watering hole!

ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd · 06/11/2019 21:09

@StayClassySally no, not near. @MillieMoodle about 25 mins or so from Daventry. I live in a very pretty, honey stoned, thatched roofed ,well respected , highly desirable , expensive village.

Lovely to look at and drive through on a summers day...not so nice if you relocate from outside and have to build a life here.

StayClassySally · 06/11/2019 21:13

Sounds similar to everdon. I don't like places like that. Nice to stay for a country Christmas or something but not nice to live in. Too close knit. I love the anonymity of surburbia.

ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd · 06/11/2019 21:13

@rosegoldwatcher i don't know Grangewood.. but i have heard of red wine! 😉. Glad it all worked out well for you.

MillieMoodle · 06/11/2019 21:15

@ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd I'm trying to work out where you are that's so crap! It sounds awful and I'm sorry that your experience of Northants has been so bad. I moved here as a child and moved to the village we're in around 9 years ago. Everyone is very friendly here, so maybe we've just been lucky.

StayClassySally · 06/11/2019 21:16

@rosegoldwatcher do you pay a membership of something like £200 a year? We looked at a house in barn owl close back in 2015 and it backed on to the grangewood. They said you had to pay regardless of using it. I'll find the house. It looked lovely but was all wide angled lenses. You couldn't swing a cat and it was only the wallpaper in the living room that matched the images.

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