Leamington Spa or Kenilworth

[Blondie87]

Hi there,

Next year we will be moving to Leamington Spa. To complicate it a bit, one of my DC will be starting school but not until the second term of reception so can’t apply for schools down there until we have bought (next autumn time). So basically schools are a massive consideration for our choice of location and we need to find a good one which is unlikely to be oversubscribed- a tough brief!

Schools aside though, I’d love people’s views on the following areas: Leamington Spa or Kenilworth. I won’t know many people so want to live somewhere friendly, near other families and with a decent amount going on (moving from a city suburb). Any insights into either and where is nice within those would be appreciated!

I don't know Kenilworth, but I can vouch for Leamington being lovely with a decent amount going on. Full of students from Warwick though - you might want to make sure you avoid neighbouring a student house.

Thanks for your reply. Is there a particularly studenty area? From visits it does look like a lovely place.

The road out from the old town towards Sydenham is more studenty.

Kenilworth bis great, secondary school is excellent, as are the primaries.

Leamington bus larger and schools are generally very good, check out locally as you look.

I live between Warwick and Stratford and love it in this area. It's a great place to live.

Kenilworth and leamington are both hugely overpriced IMO.
Both are nice places mind you.
Depends what you want - Leamington is a busier bigger town than Kenilworth.

Wow amazing amount of response, thanks!

I grew up in Leamington Spa and it was great - have heard house prices are a bit crazy these days though! Leamington definitely has a better high street (by miles) than Kenilworth and better parks but Kenilworth has a castle.

I live in bang in between Leamington and K'worth! Both are nice, but very much depends what you're looking for.

Leamington is a good size town, with decent shopping (lots of big names plus plenty of independents); loads of nice coffee shops, endless places to eat out and lots of bars/pubs. Train station with frequent trains to London/B'ham. Cinema, theatre, art galleries, big library and every type of 'club' going that you might wish for.
There are nice parts to live in and slightly less nice parts - but more because they're studenty rather than because they're grim.

Kenilworth is much smaller - has a nice Waitrose in the centre, a small Boots, but no other big name shops. No clothes shops, lots of charity shops and slightly random shops. The 'new' high street is a bit soul-less, whilst the old high st is lovely but with very few shops on it. There are nice places to eat, but not that many - ditto places to drink. 2 tiny theatres (am dram rather than professional theatre), no cinema or anything else cultural.

In terms of schools, there are good primaries in both (don't know which ones they are though), and Leamington has options for a number of secondaries - some are v good, 1 or 2 less so. What K'worth does have is an excellent secondary.

You don't mention Warwick - have you considered living there? It's got more going on than Kenilworth (in terms of shopping - loads of great indie shops - and eating/drinking), but it's smaller than Leam. But Leam/Warwick are right next door to each other - people from Warwick often talk about going 'into town' meaning Leamington. Great schools there too.

Traffic can be a pain in the backside though - are you moving for work? If so, where are you working, because for me that would have a big impact on where I chose to live.

Thanks canyouhearthepeoplesing for the detailed response! We are moving for work which is Leamington based so because of having a young family we want to avoid a long commute. You’ve all sold Leamington really well in terms of amenities. Does it have much of a community feel?

Also, is Milverton part of Leam?

[broken record alert]
Have you looked at the route of HS2?

Oo no, that’s a good point thanks!

Milverton is nice. Very close to Warwick, so the best of both worlds! I would imagine it's one of the more expensive parts of town. Definitely part of Leam - a very residential area, but walkable into down.
If you can live within walking/cycling distance of work, you'll save yourself a world of pain.

I haven't lived in Leam for a while - we moved from there to Warwick, to where we are now (only 3 miles away), but I have a lot of friends there. I think it's like a lot of places - there's a community feel if you look for it, but you could easily shut yourself away and do your own thing if that's what you want.

HS2 is a very good point if you still have Kenilworth on your radar. Some of the villages outside it (Burton Green area) and the edge of Kenilworth itself will be affected (and property prices have plummeted accordingly). Also the opposite side of Leam - Cubbington (which many people still see as part of Leam, even though it's really a village in its own right) and Offchurch (small village out of town) are very close to the route.

Don't just look at the negative side of students. They are there because of Warwick University (check where it is if you don't know the area. Hint: it's not in Warwick) which has various amenities, not least the Arts Centre.
I think that being handy for the A46 might be a good shout, all other things considered.

Haha I haven’t got anything against students but obviously if there was an area that was predominantly student lets I’d rather live somewhere more family orientated. Will be interesting to see the amenities that Warwick offers so thanks for pointing that out Senua.
Thanks again for all your input.

Love Leamington but it is bloody expensive. Can’t comment on schools but echo all the other positive posts.

Leamington is a lovely place to live. If your work is actually in the town, it's definitely worth thinking about living somewhere within walking/cycling distance. Traffic can be terrible as a pp said, and will only get worse, especially out towards the M40 with so many new houses. North Leam (eg Milverton, areas around Lillington Road) is great for families - you're walking distance of schools, shops, bars, restaurants, docs, parks etc. Look at St Paul's, Milverton, Brookhurst - all primaries with a good reputation.

We moved to the area last year. Initially to Warwick which we found a bit too small town and weirdly isolated shopping streets IMO. Moved to north Leamington and like it alot. Central schools tricky to get in year transfer- except Lillington which does often seem to have spaces. Maybe look at Cubbington for community feel and a nice local school. Also, note that Old Milverton is quite far out and not near Milverton school. Have been on a waiting list since start of reception but have a 30 minute walk to school along a busy road- tbf Lillington would be nearer.
Leamington trains are a lot more frequent than Warwick. Kenilworth trains seem to just go to aLeamington and Coventry.
Good luck!

duriandurian that is my concern. I’m having to apply for school places where we live currently but DC1 will only do a term before we move. I hope we get into a good school near where we live, particularly as we are leaving an area with fantastic schools. Won’t be house hunting until next summer so not much we can do about that. Think we will stick to Leamington and look around the North side. Many thanks for everyone’s contributions!

Good luck house hunting. We certainly kissed a lot of frogs before we finally found the house which we bought. It seems a very localised market. We paid a lot for a terrace on a quiet road when a friend has bought a MUCH bigger house for less v nearby but on a busy road. And the roads do get super busy as PPs have mentioned.

Be aware that Kenilworth secondary school being relocated out towards village of

ashow under the town development plan
.