Talk to me about Leighton Buzzard.

[FruitSaladIsNotPudding]

Hello,

We are currently househunting near Herts/Cambs border but looking at other areas too. LB has come to my attention - we need to be commutable to Kings X or Euston and not too expensive, and it ticks both those boxes.

But prices seem really reasonable for a town 30 mins from London so I'm wondering if there's a catch!

Any mumsnetters live/work there? As far as I can work out Linslade is a bit nicer than Leighton, is that right? And there are two newish estates - anyone know what these are like?

We are looking for a three bed, paying up to 220,000. Would like good schools, nice area, ideally with lots of young families, preferably within an easy cycle of the station for DH.

We're going to have a drive round at the weekend but would very much appreciate any insider knowledge!

Thanks in advance.

Hello,

I grew up in the Linslade area of Leighton Buzzard and would recommend it. There are some lovely schools, houses are great value for money and only 30 minutes into Euston.

I bought my house two years ago now, we have a lovely 3 bed semi, live a 5 minute walk from the station (which makes my commute much more bearable) and still have the countryside on our doorstep!

I would definitely recommend Linslade which is still only a short walk from town, but a nicer community feel than the other side of the town.

Thanks Lucie, that's really helpful. Linslade seems to be close to the station too, which is a bonus!

Can you tell me which areas I should be avoiding? And if the new build estates are worth considering?

No problem.

Yep it really helps to be close to the station as parking charges are really steep!

Some of the new builds are really nice, I have some friends who live on a few of the estates. The only thing they complain about is parking - they seem to have build hundreds on new houses and not enough parking spaces!

There's not many areas I would avoid to be honest, but Meadow Way is a no go - don't be fooled by the cheap houses there is a reason for it!

Places I would recommend would be anywhere around the Bideford Green / Knaves / Milebush areas. All have a really lovely homey feel with lots of greenery and parks for children to enjoy safely!

Hope that helps!

would heartily recommend Linslade side of town if you commute- you want to be within walking distance of the station. I have recently met quite a few families who moved to Sandhills estate (big newish development on other side of LB) from London/Hemel etc and wish now that they had bought more centrally or in Linslade.

There are not really areas to avoid as such. Most housing in your price range will be on Bideford Green/Knaves Hill etc. My strongest recommendation is to get out of your car and have a really good look. Most of the estates have lots of green areas that you do not see from the road (or google earth it). All the local lower schools are good- Greenleas and Southcott are ofsted outstanding last time i looked and Linslade Lower I would be happy to send dc to. As long as you live in the catchment area, you will get a place. My oldest is about to finish Upper School, youngest about to start Lower School.

i lived here as a child and moved back when eldest child was a toddler- half an hour into Euston and just as important lots of big companies in MK which is only 20 mins away by car (and direct train there).

Thanks, that sounds good.

Would you say there is lots going on for toddlers/babies? I have a 2.5yo and am expecting dd2 in November, so would want somewhere I could easily find toddler groups etc to make friends!

I spent 11 to 18 in Linslade, my dad commuted to London and walked to station. Linslade is better to get to the station although there are lovely areas on the Leighton side up Heath Road.

In Linslade as well as knaves hill and Bideford Green consider places up the Mentmore Road area ( eg Camberton Road) and Himley Green/ Bunkers Lane It is quite a hike to Middle and Upper school from Bideford Green (good 40 minute walk....I did it every day as a child!!).
My mum lives on Sandhills (LB side) and its ok but very built up with awful parking and a real hike to station. Linslade is older housing stock but feels more roomy. All local lower schools to Linslade are excellent. I went to Linslade middle which was a great school and cedars Upper which is also excellent altho I believe Vandyke upper is now very good too.
Not sure what goes on for toddlers etc. I no longer live there but I know there is an active NCT and my sis in law (also on LB side)seems to find plenty to do!

Thanks Happypiglet, lots to consider there!

So all in all it's a pretty pleasant place? I'm just really surprised by the prices - we currently live in a similar place (market town, about 40 mins from London) and it is MUCH harder to find anything in budget. I know Beds is generally cheaper than Herts, but still...

Yes, plenty to do with little ones- the usual playgroups and toddler groups. Lots of sports etc once they are older. I know what you mean about prices- we lived in quite a few towns such as Hitchin and moved to LB because we just could not fathom how expensive houses were everywhere else and you remove the stress about schools. The town centre has improved quite a bit- a few nice coffee shops, waitrose and argos for life's essentials. Only 20 mins from MK so shopping not a problem. Good local butchers etc. There are really lovely country parks like Stockgrove on the door step and the Rec (Parsons Close, tucked behind All Saints) has a water/splash play park which is free. Supermarkets are a bit Tesco dominated ( large one which is increasing in size again next year) but there is a decent Morrisons and Aldi.

We are near Hitchin now. It's insane isn't it? I like Hitchin town centre, but there are some really grotty areas and the prices are so high everywhere.

LB has a waitrose? Must be ok then!

We looked at MK too, but I'm not really sold on it - all those estates which look exactly the same. It felt wierd.

having lived in both- seriously LB is better bet unless you are minted! the other thing is that whilst you can get a good size 3 bed for your £220k, you can also get a decent 4 bed for about £290k.ie you can realistically see that you can move up at some point should you want or need to. One of the deciding factors for us was this. We lived in a decentish size victorian terrace in Hitchin but anything bigger was about £200k more! Also have relatives fretting over school places in Hitchin as well. I would say LB town centre is a more compact version of Hitchin really- Georgian High Street, can be pretty. I have worked in MK- there are some lovely bits of it but I didnt think it had much identity IYSWIM. As things are, we are a 10 min walk to Station and 20 min walk to town.

I think LB is a fab place. It has loads going on for young families - as previous posters have said there is Rushmede and Stockgrove Country Parks just outside LB which are great for kids, Dunstable Downs is also near. You have the canal to walk down/ feed the ducks. There are loads of toddler groups and pre-schools as well as lots of groups like Tumbletots, musical minis, cooking groups as well as a great Surestart Centre. The library does story and rhyme times.
There is a cinema/theatre which have good films and shows on for the kids. Harlequin gym club in town has a good playgym and there is Mead Open farm a couple of miles out of town which loads of mums with preschoolers get annual passes for (about £50 for adult for year, £50 for an over 1 year old).
For older ones there loads of drama groups for some reason, then all the usual ballet and dance, cubs, beavers, brownies, tennis club, canoeing pretty much everything.
Every year there is a canal festival in town as well as quite a few other town events like a history day, a big Christmas shopping openign with lots of fireworks, the preschool alliance do a picnic in the park every year and there is a town carnival. We seem to manage to fill our calendar with all the free events going on in the area.
I don't really know why it is so cheap - it is a fantastic place. Just a bit more normal and down to earth than some of the other posh towns around! It is certainly not rough other than a few areas more over the Leighton side, but the 2 new estates are fine as is Bideford Green.
The other great thing about LB is its location - you are within 10/15 miles of Luton, Aylesbury, Hemel Hempstead and Milton Keynes. Bedford is also only 20 miles away. So there are loads of places that you could get employment in if want to progress or to access other shopping centres/ events etc.
Feel free to pm me on anything else you want to know/ areas you are not sure of etc.

Forgot About Ashridge, Whipsnade and Woburn all within 5-10 miles as well!

Ps LB town centre is good I think. Small boots, smiths, argos, halfords etc but lots of independent shops too and a twice weekly Market. Wait rose has been there for years lots of my friends had teenage jobs there in the 80s!
Plus there is a new town centre children's trail which we did last week with grandma which is fab. I do think the town council really try very hard.
The splash and play at parsons close is just lovely!
Ahh... The town carnival.... Brings back memories of trying to impress the Waltzer operatives as a naive 14 year old and merely ending up vomiting behind the ride....
In some ways I wish we had moved back to LB when DH and I moved back south 10 years ago pre DC. But I wanted a bit of distance between me and mum at that stage so we settled near Bedford... Which also has a lot to commend it BTW!

Town centre indeed good - quite a few coffee shops, mostly independents other than 1 Costa.
Is also an Ask, as well as a few independent restaurants - none that fancy though.

I lived on Grasmere Way in Linslade for a few years - it was lovely!! I worked at the local newspaper

I believe the price issue is because LB falls into Beds and not bucks. The lLnslade side of town is def nicer.

Thank you everyone. Looking forward to checking it out myself at the weekend!

Previous poster is right about the Beds Bucks thing affecting prices. People pay more to be in Bucks to have access to grammar schools, but I think that premium will be eroded over time as 11+ becomes less tutorable (the council's stated aim) and costs of school transport continue to rise. In any event, my son's Bucks grammar has quite a few boys from LB who pay no more to get to school on public transport than we do school buses from 'wrong' part of Bucks. In any event, bith LB upper schools are now pretty well regarded.

Nice Wiatrose in town centr, though Morrisons gets my vote - lovely staff, who have all been there forever!

Loads to do for young families - Mead Open Farm is fab, as is Whipsnade Zoo. Both exorbitant to get into for a day, but a well used season ticket is a bargain.

That's interesting about the grammar schools partystress. I knew Bucks had them but had just assumed that if we lived in LB we wouldn't be able to use them. Hmm.

(dd only 2.5 so this really isn't that important just yet!)

Funnily enough, its more the other way that the Comp/Grammar issue works. I have found that people buy in the villages just over the border( LB is right on the Bed/Bucks border). This means that they can enter dc for 11+ and use the back up of Linslade Middle and Cedars Upper if they don't get in. In fact when one of my dds was in Linslade Middle School, there was an extra class in Year 7 to accommodate this. A couple of kids in each year disappear to Grammar in Year 7 but I assume this means that they live in Bucks to start with.

That's true aviva, it does work both ways and Bucks borderers have used LB as 'insurance'. However, even Beds villages are getting squeezed out of LB schools now - places not available this year for the first time for a school that has always fed into Linslade and Leighton middles, but is actually Dunstable catchment. Don't know if new schools are planned for Billington Park, but if not, I would imagine soon you will need to live in LB to get schooled in LB.

I'm another happy Leighton Buzzard Mumsnetter :) we're right in the middle and would agree with Linslade being generally the posher part of town

loads to do for little ones in town, lots of preschools and playgroups, plenty of shops, free splash park, schools mostly very good :)

There is definitely a squeeze on school places at the moment. Prior to the new year 2's (born 05/06) people had the pick of any school in town to send their children to. It has become harder now but you would still get in to your preferred school even out of catchment provided you weren't totally on the other side of town.
Things should ease off as a second Greenleas lower school (the original one on Bideford Green has been rated outstanding by Ofsted for years) will open next Autumn on the Sandhills estate.
Am not sure what pressure on middle schools will be like in a few years and is something I worry about a bit as unfortunately as my daughter was first bulge year is very hard to judge where we would likely to gain places.
Although at lower school, most schools are good, there are 2 schools in town which on paper seem much better than the other 2

should have added at middle school at end of last sentence - sorry

I grew up in Linslade and would happily move back there. Didn't appreciate it at the time but schools very good and easy to get to MK and London for teenagers. Also handy for Luton airport.
My mum has a 4 bed terrace to sell if you're interested...