Relocating to Warwickshire - need advise!

[LittleMsCreative]

We are looking to relocate to Warwickshire from West London. I would love to get opinions from those who are local to area please.

Basically, we are currently looking to buy a family home, but with our budget can only afford to buy a shoe box in London. We did some research and areas like Daventry, Rugby, Nuneaton, Kenilworth (on the higher side tho) within Warwickshire seem to be within our budget.

We'd ideally like to get a 4 bed house and have a budget of up to £400K. We would prefer to be in a nice area and would be willing pay even more if necessary. With this in mind, which areas should we focus on would you say?

Out of the lot, Rugby has the best train links to London. Although, it doesn't have to be Rugby, but my DH may still need travel to London (Waterloo) for work.

I think being in one of the villages near Rugby would probably be more suitable for us as we want somewhere peaceful with open green spaces. Also, as we have a 2.5 years old daughter, good primary schools and things to do for kids would be a couple of the important criteria for us.

Ruby is a mixed town, not particularly nice

Why Warwickshire?

Schools mixed

Hi op,

Have you looked at areas around Coventry? I know there is a direct train to Euston. Areas such as Allesley, Meriden, Burton Green etc may be worth a look?

Its worth being on the Euston line as its the fastest to/from London, so Rugby is a good call on that front. The area is mostly pretty quick to get around (if you drive) so you can live in a village with a nice primary school and still have shops and facilities close by.

Otherwise it really depends on definition of "nice", if its full on MN type nice then Kenilworth or Lutterworth or Warwick/Stratford/Leamington area. However none of the areas mentioned are grim by London standards and whilst some of the town centres are unexciting, there is plenty to do for families in easy reach. We used to live just north of Nuneaton and between railways, battlefields, canals, museums and castles we never ran out.

There are some lovely villages around Northampton which is on fast train link to Euston - 45 minutes. Also some very good schools. Villages like Chapel Brampton, Spratton, The Bringtons, (anywhere near the Althorpe estate which was Princess Di's family home). Coventry is a bit grim and the train line from there takes a lot longer. Mixed reports about Rugby.

Avoid Nuneaton it’s clicky full of bitchy chavs, believe I couldn’t leave fast enough.

Tamworth is good for London train direct to Euston in normal times, we live in Kingsbury near Tamworth buses not brilliant but happy enough.

A lot of people live in villages in that area of North Warwickshire/Leicestershire and although the towns are nothing special they have all the basics and you can head for Birmingham/Leicester if you want decent shops. Its the sort of area you can make friends and get fond of even if its not famously picturesque. I'd look for a large village with a reasonable secondary school.

I’m in a little village smack bang in the middle of rugby and leamington, lovely village primary (as with surrounding villages) and a brilliant secondary in the nearest town. The villages are an assortment of ‘naice’ and very expensive to not so nice and significantly cheaper. I think it’s definitely worth looking around the villages. Good luck!

Sounds like the Solihull area would suit you

If I had £400k I wouldn't buy in Rugby, I'd be looking in Kenilworth/Warwick/Leamington/Stratford upon Avon

I know Rugby very well, it has very little in terms of shops in the town other than a good retail park between the town and M6 but after you've been two or three times it's boring

Leamington is packed with little one off shops, great atmosphere and north Leamington is extremely affluent in certain areas. Kenilworth, very nice. The High Street doesn't compete with Leamington though. Warwick, lovely. The town centre is tiny though. You'll be in Leamington all the time. SoA is stunning, very touristy at times though

Nuneaton, Bedworth.. no

Coventry, a few nice parts. Finham, Stivichall, Gibbet Hill, some of Earlsdon

Villages near Rugby. Dunchurch, nice mostly and very close. Good pubs and quite a few shops for a village. Stratton on Dunsmore is a nice village. Ryton is nice but not as sleepy as Stretton. Bubbenhall, probably won't get much for £400k but I might be wrong. Lovely place. Binley Woods is nice, Brinklow too. Wolston not bad

Cawston Grange is a vast new build just outside Rugby, depends if you want to be overlooked. Daventry, not been into the town but definitely a commuter town. Barby maybe?

HTH

I live in between Warwick, Kenilworth and Leamington. All lovely towns, and I'd live in any of them.

In terms of the train, whilst Rugby is closer to London, I think I'm right in saying there's only one fast train an hour whereas Cov has 3 ( I THINK it's a case of all trains stop at Cov and Bham Intl, and then 1 stops in Rugby, one in MK and one in Watford, but I could be wrong). If you always need to be in London at the same tine, maybe it doesn't matter, but if you have meetings at different times then having the option of 3 fast trains an hour is brilliant). It's expensive though - about £80 for a peak single... if you are near Warwick Parkway though, you can get a much cheaper train. Not quite as fast, but the price difference is staggering. There's one fast train an hour (about 1hr 15) and a few slower ones. I'd always suggest getting this train from Warwick rather than Leamington, as you may well not get a seat from Leam (loads get on there), and getting to Leam station and parking is a nightmare.

Of the 3 towns, I'd choose Warwick - lovely places to eat and drink, and a town centre full of lovely independent shops. Only a stone's through from Leam for cinema/chain shops.

Depending on what kind of house you're looking for, there are LOADS of new builds springing up at the moment. I wouldn't fancy the location of most of them - just because they're out of the way, and on sprawling out of town sites. You could be anywhere. All the towns have a decent housing stock with a good amount on the market.

Surrounding villages generally lovely too (but public transport into towns is pretty non existent, and being cut back all the time).

We moved here by accident (just took a random graduate job) in 1996, and have never looked back!

Warwick is a lovely town. Daventry is not. Guessing Leamington Spa is out of budget, perhaps?

I would go to Leamington. CV32 postcode. The fourth bedroom pushes your budget there, but one of the Scottish roads in the Telford primary catchment area (Milverton school also nice but small catchment area and probably out of range for your bedrooms/budget). Decent sized gardens, you could get a 3 bed with potential to convert the loft in Kinross, Kelvin, Braemar, St Andrews etc roads. May get one with a loft conversion that doesn't yet meet bedroom standards but with a living room extension for £390 wish with some haggling. Lots of families, used to be more expensive than the Granville Street/Wathen Road area of small terraced townhouses with courtyard gardens but fashion changed and there was a swap round of desirability and prices. I think the wish for a garden and more space from neighbours will perhaps change the fashion back over time. you can still walk into town from Lillington. There is a (probate?) property for sale on Rightmove in St Andrews Road might suit if you could get it at the right price. have a scout around.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-90385511.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67828467.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-69202182.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-92585741.html

We're CV47, south Warwickshire, close to border with Oxfordshire abs Northamptonshire. Banbury station is 15 mins away, fast trains to Marylebone. Worth considering?

Avoid Nuneaton. The best way to view it is on the train out of there.
And I speak as an ex resident who escaped.

Some really good options from @LudaMusser
A lot of the villages and towns are really close to one another like Kenilworth, Warwick, Leamington and Coventry. so fairly easy to get to train stations to commute to London

Definitely agreed about Nuneaton dreadful-lace.

We're Kenilworth, pretty handy for coventry station. Your budget is quite low for here though, I think you'd be looking at a house that needed a little work or in a less desirable area of town (though there aren't really any bad parts).
Rugby is a dreadful place, we assumed it would be nice but it wasn't.
No experience with the other areas.
Leamington and Warwick both nice but you can get rough areas and train links not as good.

I live just outside Warwick towards Claverdon/Shrewley. Warwick i tself is generally pricey house wise, there are pockets but a 3 bed terrace is around 250 to 300K dpending - towards Leam a bit more, but then there are pockets where the prices drop and house style is more 70s rather than regency. Chase Meadow is an estate in Warwick as is Hatton Park if you look at prices - they are a good reflection of generally but still mixed housing. Villages I know my side well and we are 5 mins from mainline station but wouldn't want to commute from here - 2 at a push 3 days a week London is Ok. Our station even still has free parking!!! But Warwick has little and Warwick Parkway despite more recent parking additions is still rammed every working day although that may change with recent situation and more people working from home longer term. Leam is great and a great kid friendly community as well with plenty of groups and meet ups etc, Warwick has some but not excessive villages less. Leam has the added advantage of connections to London on fast and slower line. Chiltern Rail is fab for service, frequency, cleanliness etc but takes a tad longer and if you get the wrong train takes a lot longer lol. Coventry train is faster and has connections to outlying areas like Balsall Common (lookout for HS2) Tile Hill and other areas in Coventry area. I can recommend sorting a holiday cottage for a week or so and have a good look around and do some of the things around here - Stratford (btw traffic is appalling in the summer in Stratford and trains to London slow), Leam, National Trust places and none national trust places (Kenilworth Castle).

I have lived Birmingham, Leamington, Warwick and now a village out the other side of Warwick to Leam. We are about 5 miles to nearest supermarket and that can be a pain at times but they all deliver, there are still good buys to be had and areas that are underdeveloped etc. Big estates like Warwick gates are well placed for Leam Station and Motorways however the are enormous and I personally dont like estate living - so enjoy our little row of 7 houses in a hamlet where I know the name of all 7 neighbours and many more around us - we have been here just over 10 yrs

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67810542.html
a bit more but Milverton area between Leam and Warwick www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67953096.html
This one is moving more expensive towards Solihull in Lapworth www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-69277419.html also smaller than you would expect for a 4 bed but moving towards a more expensive area
This one is interesting in Leek Wooten not far off the A46 and easy access to Warwick Parkway station, Kenilworth and also Warwick itself and Leamington a bit further. Cov is about 15 min up the A46.