Moving from London to Leicestershire - considering Market Harborough

[NJCav]

Hi all

We are strongly considering moving from London to Leicestershire. I would like to be somewhere that isn't too rural and has things 'going on'. Market Harborough looks like it has a good town centre and good schools and I like that it has a train station.
Just wondered if people have any useful information. Which areas are good/not so good? Also are there other parts of Leicestershire that we could consider?

Thanks!

MH is a really great choice as you are so close to London to still visit. I have never lived there but have friends who love it there. Apparently the schools are good too.

You could look at Leicester city, it depends if you want more of a rural location or not. Good areas are Knighton, Stoneygate or Clarendon Park (but parking round here can be tricky if you don't have a house with a drive).

Are you buying or renting?

I moved here from London just over 6 years. Never once regretted it. It's a brilliant place. I still work in London and the commute is fine and just as quick as places much closer to London - the season ticket is astronomical though but balanced by cheaper mortgages. Property isn't cheap in comparison to other places in Leicestershire but much cheaper than London obviously.

I wouldn't say there are any "bad" parts of MH tbh. Great Bowden is gorgeous and where I'm moving too when my numbers come up - village feel but stuck onto Harborough. You'll pay a bonkers premium for it though. There are some lovely villages nearby - The Langtons (Tur, Thorpe, East, West and Church!) but possibly a bit too rural for you.

Do you need to be able to get to London? If so, I can't think of anywhere else in Leicestershire that's so handy to be able to do so. Other than far west Leics where you could get the train from Rugby, Tamworth or Nuneaton. But it's much prettier this side! It's also really easy to get to Leicester or Nottingham too.

All the primary schools are good. And something like 95% of people get into their first choice - nothing like the London scrum for places.

The town centre is nice - quite a few independents and plenty of supermarkets (Waitrose, Aldi, Lidl and Sainsburys all close to each other). Nice pubs (a couple not very nice!), plenty of places to eat, lots of things to do for kids.

I love it (not a sponsored post by Harborough council I promise!!)

Love Harbs although I live in Leicester. Vibrant town with great shopping. Selection of small national chains and loads of fab independents for clothes, books, delis, cafes, butcher, fab fish shop etc etc etc. Good primaries but secondaries fairly average. There are other nice places ( e.g. Kibworth/ Langtons) but not with train links. You could drive to station from a different village but you'd have to pay for parking on top of costly season ticket.

MH is a great place. We used to live in London, moved to Leicester, but DSs are grown up so we've moved to one of the aforementioned villages near MH. A really lovely area to live in, great schools and activities. Good luck with the move.

It's ok but sadly there is an influx on travellers now and they have bought alot of crime. There's signs on most shop doors about watching your bag/purse.harborough has gone downhill.

There have always been travellers in the area - if you saw it 20 years ago you wouldn't think it's gone downhill! I grew up in the area, moved to London for 10 years then came back and don't regret it.
MH is a lovely town - plenty going on, lovely independent shops, countryside and transport links on your doorstep, all schools are good (but please don't move here 'cos all you pesky Londoners are pushing the house prices up)

There won't be much countryside left though tbf they are building over most of it in harb.

Hey @SatsumasRock

I noticed you said you commuted to London from MH? I'm about to do the same from Leicester 3 days a week. Is it really ok? Because i'm really worried about it. I've been trying to find people on forums who can give me some advice/ reassurance but there is hardly anyone out there. Any tips/advice/experiences would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Hannah x

Harborough is really nice. So are the surrounding villages. We used to live near harborough but moved nearer to rugby. Which is nice too

Hi @hannah5555 It's actually totally fine. You'll always get a seat from Leicester. Even when i commuted peak hours i always got a seat from Harborough. The trains are pretty reliable although they are eye wateringly expensive. 8.5 grand or so from Harbs. But even if you lived within "normal" commuter areas you'd be paying 4 grand or so. And when you take into the difference in mortgage payments I reckon it all works out.

Where in London will you be working? That's probably the trickiest bit tbh. Getting through London. I work at Moorgate so it's pretty simple.

hey @satsumasRock, "totally fine", that's music to my ears, thanks for the information. I work in Soho, should be pretty easy as it's the viccy line down to Oxford circus, i imagine it'll be pretty busy but i'll suck it up as it's only about 3 stops. I'm going to eventually subsidise travel costs by renting my spare room out at some point. And yes, my mortgage payments are super low and because the house price was also small there was hardly any stamp duty on the property. Thank again for the reassuring message :) I am very nervous about the whole thing, and am doing this alone, yikes. x

Hi, I do London a few days a week. It really is fine. Good luck.

Bin there, seemed a nice place and of course its an excellent history lesson if you go a little way to the south west i.e. Clipston, Sibbertoft Nasby:)

Scuse me just a Civil war parliamentarian sided entity;!

Hi
Looking to move to MH but not sure of the areas
Do you know anything about Cromwell crescent areas

We want the to buy in an area quiet and safe
Looking for bungalow

MH is pretty and quaint with lots of little independent shops and cafes etc, a lovely place to stroll around....or it would be if it wasnt for a A road and a B road both cutting through the centre and meeting slap bang in the centre of town! its like a popular restaurant whom the maitre de is jimmy saville!, you cannot escape the noise and pollution of the traffic as its such a small centre and the traffic is north / south and east / west so your always next to a traffic jam, it really destroys the atmosphere and very difficult to try and ignore, it reminded me of what Oxford street used to be like!