Moving to South Northamptonshire or any other nice areas.

[Saxo367]

Hi all,
I was wondering if you all can spare a few minutes to point me to any relatively safe area in South Northamptonshire or other areas as I am looking to move there soon. I understand from reading other posts that some areas are not so nice/safe. My budget is £300 or less for a 3 bedroom. I currently live in a relatively safe area in Hertfordshire but due to divorce I can't afford to buy there so have to move, besides I will like a completely new beginning and hopefully make new sets of friends. Hope someone can help me out. Thanks.

Rushden used to have a rough reputation but it's really improved in the last few years. House prices haven't quite caught up with neighbouring areas yet. Ive worked with a few people who have moved out there from Bedford because they could get more for their money. The Rushden Lakes shopping area is lovely though it can get quite busy on a sunny day.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1156&insId=1&maxPrice=300000&minBedrooms=3&googleAnalyticsChannel=buying

Many thanks for this. Will explore area. Will drive up to see.

Towcester is great and Duston very nice. I am local to the area and can vouch for both areas!

What areas are you looking at?

Towcester is lovely i echo this and easy access to A5 and ultimately M1
Duston (old village) is nice, the new village not so much
There is a estate of new homes going up oppositr Duston in Upton and the site looks really well done. Ill try to find the name of the site. Not sure if you are looking at new builds?

Grange park is also nice. You are likely to get a townhouse with that budget in Grange park.
Wootton also (im not sure your budget may extend to Wootton ive not looked recently)
Also the villages between Northampton and Bedford
Olney
Turvey
Sharnbrook
Great houghton/little houghton
Braefield on the green

Rushden is definitely cheaper and not as rough as when I was a teen 25 years ago, my brother bought a house there (incidentally selling it soon but a 2 bed terrace so not for you I suppose).

It's close to Bedford and St Neots for train stations.

Those villages mentioned are all lovely spent my childhood there but you won't get very much for £300k I don't think,.depends on what you're used to or require though.

Good school in Sharnbrook.

@Doodle2021, I don't mind a new build if the estate is not cramped with houses.

Hi Op, i am Londoner who moved to Herts. I spent 20 yrs growing up in London and then 20 yrs living in /starting a family in Herts. ( Rickmansworth)

I moved to Northamptonshire 10 yrs ago ( with my now exDH). I have been made to feel unwelcome, excluded, not part of the community and it's all my fault that, i have priced locals out of buying property and i should have stayed in London.

I have spent 10 yrs largely alone as have my children. The sheer misery of living up here ended my marriage 4yrs ago , as, it was my ex's fault we moved here in the first place. I did everything i could to fit in over 10yrs, hosted much, helped at sch, i gave to the community, i helped in Pandemic. I did shopping and errands for villagers. When it was my one and only turn to isolate, not one sod could be arsed to shop for me. I actually had to have a relative travel 160 miles to help us as , not one person in this " village" could go shopping for me.

If you have lived in Northants for over 1300 yrs , it is a lovely place to live. If you have generations of relatives in the graveyard you are reet. If you are a southerner, moving here, don't waste yr time.

I am now moving back to Herts, my DC's are finished secondary. Complete waste of 10yrs and the most miserable 10yrs of mine and my children's lives. We moved here for a better life,it has been a lonely, anti southern nightmare. I helped our village ( very near Duston) throughout lockdown, not one sod helped me and my children when we had to isolate for one time. In fact, we never saw a sole for almost a year, no one in our community bothered with us. A bit like the last 10 yrs.

My village know i am moving back south now, due to them all being a bunch of cunts. The only contact/ interest i have had from my village is those wanting to buy my house for their kids who cannot afford to buy. Not one has asked, after 10 yrs of living here, where me and my DC are going.

We are going back to Herts and will never set foot in Northants again. It will always now be jct 15/16/16a on the M1 , that i drive past, while en route to the Trafford Centre.

Look elsewhere Op, this is a not a place to rebuild your life.

"Those villages mentioned are all lovely spent my childhood there but you won't get very much for £300k I don't think,.depends on what you're used to or require though".

You will find properties here in yr price range. There are some in my "desired" village for well under that price, albeit they need work. If you like being alone and ignored , this is the county for you.

Personally, i would take my £300k and look/invest it back down south. Northants not welcoming to southerners and their southern money.

@Ifiknewthenwhatiknow, am so sorry to hear this. Don't know what to say really.

"@Doodle2021 There is a estate of new homes going up oppositr Duston in Upton and the site looks really well done. Ill try to find the name of the site. Not sure if you are looking at new builds?
Grange park is also nice. You are likely to get a townhouse with that budget in Grange park".

Upton new housing is on the edge of the Six fields retail / entertainment park. Grange Park overlooks the M1. Neither of which i would choose to live.

@Saxo367 pls spend some time ( a lot of time ) in this county before you part with any money or move yr family here. All the best to you Saxo. xx

I moved to south northants from London last year and I love it - I definitely don't share PP's experience at all. I'm actually a bit perplexed by it.

Anyway, I don't think there are many unsafe areas in this part to be honest. Towcester is a good little town and the immediate villages are nice. Roade, silverstone, Brackley are all worth a look.

The general location is good - can easily get to Northampton, Buckingham and Milton Keynes which is handy.

If you have any specific questions, I'm happy to help though I'm no expert :)

I'd never have thought Northamptonshire was considered "anti southern" I've always considered it part of the Southeast/East Anglia anyway

Not taking away anything from pp's experience but bear in mind that's one experience in thousands...

@afinethingindeed .Pleased to hear your experience has been good. Do you have family here? Do you have a connection here?

There have been many threads on MN over the yrs, re a similar regional move. I hope OP can find them. They have been helpful to me.

It is not easy to relocate and start again afresh with no contacts in a new place. Op is brave and i wish her well. I wish she will stay in Herts. I wish she will stay in Herts where people are kind and she can invest in a small property now, to secure her future in the long term.

@oliversarmymummy ! Are you there?

@oliversarmymummy if you are still here on MN, can you pls share your relocation experience. x.

[quote Ifiknewthenwhatiknow]@afinethingindeed .Pleased to hear your experience has been good. Do you have family here? Do you have a connection here?

There have been many threads on MN over the yrs, re a similar regional move. I hope OP can find them. They have been helpful to me.

It is not easy to relocate and start again afresh with no contacts in a new place. Op is brave and i wish her well. I wish she will stay in Herts. I wish she will stay in Herts where people are kind and she can invest in a small property now, to secure her future in the long term.

[/quote]
No connections or family here. Maybe I just got lucky but my relocation has been completely positive.
Apologies for my post - I didn't mean to minimise your experience (reading back I realise it seems like that).

@Ifiknewthenwhatiknow, I can't really stay where I am cos all the friends my ex and I had have all taken sides and think I should have stayed in a failed abusive marriage. So no one is really taking to my children and I here. I have lived here for 24 years. Perhaps I need to rent for a year before buying.

The villages along the A361 towards the Oxfordshire border are lovely - Byfield, Boddington, Chipping Warden, Eydon, Culworth, Middleton Cheney (has an outstanding secondary school, really great). All that area has beautiful countryside and a great place to raise a family.

I’m also quite perplexed by @Ifiknewthenwhatiknow experience. It sounds very extreme and dramatic. Whole villages of people aren’t generally awful to one particular family just because they moved in from somewhere else a decade ago. People move in and out of the area all the time and I’ve never heard a story like that. I’m sorry you had such a negative experience and hope you find happiness where you move to.

@afinethingindeed no apologies needed. at all. You have only relocated a year. I hope your relocation works out well. Best wishes to you.

@MayorGoodwaysChicken i live in a small village of less than 400 people. Most residents lived here for over 3 generations.

It may be very "extreme" and "dramatic" to you but this has been my experience. My experience has been been very "extreme" and "dramatic". I am very pleased to moving back home , as are my children. The 3 of us have experienced a very " extreme " and " dramatic" experience. We 3 , are very pleased to moving back to Herts. 3 different experiences, one common relocation goal.

@Saxo367 Herts is a big county. Do not allow yourself to be pushed out. Find a safe place in Herts.

Northants is not ordinarily where you need to be. Northants is grim.

Hmm I'm a bit perplexed by the experience of @Ifiknewthenwhatiknow Most areas around here have lots of immigration. I can't think of any towns where they have a "locals only" mentality. I moved from Ireland and we've been fine.

I went to Towcester today and have to agree that it's lovely. The 3 bed house we viewed today is on the market for £400k so budget might be tight. Persimmon homes have some 3 bed new build terraced houses opposite the racecourse for just under £300k but could easily go over budget after choosing finishes. We walked around the estate and it seemed nice but still a lot of houses to be built yet.

Agree with @Rainbowsew that some of the villages mentioned are lovely but unlikely to be within budget. We started looking in Olney. For an extra 100k we'd end up with the same house we have now and it's only 30 minutes away from where we are.