Leighton Buzzard area.

[Toweringpin3]

My husband and I are looking at relocating to the LB area due to my husband's job. Just want to know what it's like to live there?

We have been there several times and really like the town. We have older children and do not need to worry about schools and do not need to commute to London.

Any areas to avoid (we are looking at renting first then buying)?
Pros and cons of the area?

We also looked at MK and do not wish to live there but love the fact there is lots to do in the area.

Just really writing this to hear from local people as I'm quite nervous about restarting and having to make friends etc.

Thank you.

It’s a really nice town. Lots of independent shops and cafes. Loads going on, weekly market and plenty of amenities. Everyone seems quite friendly and it benefits from having a lot of commuters to london so doesn’t feel too insular.
Good country parks and the canal for walks etc. I would avoid the bigger new build estates (when you come to buy) as they’re prone to subsidence and feel quite claustrophobic IMO. Linslade is better for the station but if you can find somewhere to rent within walking distance to the town centre I would do that.

I've lived there for 10 years and we love it. We moved from London - commuted back in for work for a few years, had a family, made lots of nice friends from baby, toddler clubs and then school stuff.

I don't disagree with anything @Purplestarballoon said. Linslade is lovely, but more expensive because it's nearer the station and more crucially, there's no immediate plans to build any massive estates on that side of town. We live on the other side where there are many, many new houses being built so it's getting busier and there isn't quite the infrastructure to deal with it yet - I say, yet, because I'm confident that this will come in time. I don't think the Buzzard is any different from a lot of other towns within commuting distance and near to a major motorway (M1 is v close) but you get a lot of disgruntled chat from us locals about how it's too busy now, and you can't get a GP appointment, mutter, mutter, mutter. What we locals tend to forget is the key to a successful, buzzy and vibrant town is people living there :)

Best of luck with your search - make friends with all the estate agents - they're all pretty good so I wouldn't avoid any of them. Same with the areas, I have friends that live on the Sandhills estate and love it and others who have moved out because they think it's too busy and there are some antisocial issues going on. It really depends if you like older properties vs new builds and what you're looking for.

Thank you very much to both of you for replying. So lovely to hear it's such a nice little market town. Love the fact it has a lot of independent shops and cafes as well as beautiful countryside and parks, we have a dog so great to hear that too. We will be visiting soon to take a look. Thank you.

It's a long time ago now, but we moved there without knowing a soul when DC1 was a baby. It was handy for the rail commute to my job in London, and for DH to drive to work. We found it a nice market town with everything we needed, and it was very easy to make friends. We lived there very happily for five years and were sad to leave when our jobs required it.

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed living there. Good to hear positive reviews about Leighton Buzzard.

We live in the buzzard. It's small enough that you can walk everywhere, with some nice small shops on the high street, and not too far from Milton Keynes if you want a proper shopping centre. Even with all the new builds you still get the feel of a market town, rather than a big town/ city.

Thank you.

Where are you moving from OP?

I moved to Linslade around 3 years ago, I'm really happy here. Countryside on the doorstep, can walk to town, lots of other lovely places to walk the dog. I love Rushmere.

It's the first place I've lived where I feel comfortable walking around alone in the dark.

We really love it, still feel like we stumbled on a gem.

Hello,

We are near Newmarket, Suffolk. Love Suffolk but not so much Newmarket. We use to live in Hertfordshire so know the surrounding area, but too expensive to buy. We have visited LB a few times and liked it. Just waiting on husband's job to transfer which might be 6 months away. LB is definitely a contender, and with such positive answers, think it might be where we move to. Ticks all the boxes so far.

Thank you for your feedback.