Anyone know Northampton/surrounding villages ?

[Pottedpalm]

My DS and his partner are looking to move out of London and the Northampton area seems suitable as reasonable distance from both families.
DS needs to be in London once or twice a week. Partner would be looking for a hospital for her work.
None if us know the area; aware there are some lovely villages around. They would have a budget of £500 to £600 thousand , and would probably like s character property.
Anyone got any words of wisdom? Where to avoid?

Anyone?

I'd avoid Northampton and East Northants towns such as Kettering, Wellingborough, Rothwell. However pretty much every village in Northamptonshire is exceedingly lovely. Those to the South are more expensive but there are some real beauties to the East such as Orlingbury, Boughton, etc.

You could look at Bedfordshire with that budget. Shorter commutes to London and lots of hospitals. Luton and Dunstable, Stoke Mandeville, Bedford, Milton Keynes all have hospitals.

Train services to London from Aylesbury, Leighton Buzzard, Flitwick, Bedford, Luton and Biggleswade.

I'd avoid Northampton town, but South Northants and the towns/villages around are lovely. Towcester is a very popular small town. The villages towards MK are lovely too, and you can get from MK station to euston in 37 mins. The difference in price between and MK postcode and an NN postcode is pretty big. Lots of people move out of MK to south Northants as you can get so much more for your money.

With a budget of 500-600k they'd get a lovely house in south Northants!

Some villages near Wellingborough are nice - Orlingbury, Grendon etc and train is 50 minutes to London from W'boro.

Most of the villages in Northants are nice, lots of picturesque stone cottages etc. The towns, less so.

Train options to London are Marylebone from Kings Sutton station - Middleton Cheney / Brackley area; Euston from Northampton and Long Buckby stations and Kings Cross from Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby stations.

Most of the village primaries are good as are the village secondaries due to catchment areas. In Northampton itself the single sex secondaries are academically very strong.

The two main hospitals are in Northampton and Kettering, but an outpatients one in Wellingborough.

Links to some nice properties in desirable locations, close-ish to stations / M1:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112853711#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108014357#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112638149#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113726945#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/115007546#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114499244#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114336860#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113503838#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/100642622#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/80122830#/?channel=RES_BUY

I grew up in Orlingbury. It's an exceptionally pretty village, surrounded by countryside. I think there is only a pub and cafe there so you'll need to drive for shops, schools etc. take a drive around the small villages. Avoid living in the towns if you can x

I would tell them to rent first and get a feel for the different villages before committing to buy.

I lived in Hanslope as a child, between Northampton and Milton Keynes. That's a nice village.

I grew up in Northamptonshire. Like others have said, almost all the villages are nice but stay away from the towns (Wellingborough is awful) and Northampton itself. I had a very happy childhood but left for the big city when I went to university. I think it's a nice, quiet county with some lovely countryside

@Blueuggboots ooh we are very close to there!

Thank you all, especially @SchoolForScoundrels for taking the time to find those beautiful houses!
I hadn’t considered different rail lines; thought it would have to be the Euston line. ( DS in London once or twice a fortnight, not week, my mistake). They are lucky to have a healthy budget as both have properties.
Thanks again.

@Blueuggboots and @Eggsley I used to live in Hanslope and Castlethorpe! Loved it round there.

Assuming use of Northampton station, are there any areas to avoid, in terms if getting to the station? It’s difficult looking at a map to gauge; being seven miles out could mean a nightmare getting to the station.

I wouldn't use Northampton station, parking is a nightmare and the train takes over an hour into Euston. Better to drive to MK and park there so you can get the quick train. Parking at MK station is expensive (I think about £10/11 a day), but you can currently park a bit further away for £0.50 an hour and it's a two minute walk to the station. Plus you can pay by app so if you're running late you can add extra hours onto your time from your phone.

MK city centre has two parking rates, standard (purple) which is £0.50 an hour and premium (red) which I think is now £2.00 an hour. Unless they're private parking, all spaces are either purple or red. You don't have to pay for parking in purple bays after 6pm either.

There are a few Northants villages that aren't too far from Rugby . You can be in London in 50 mins from Rugby Station.

Wellingborough Station is also worth considering

Might be worth looking at market harborough. Appreciate it's not Northampton but not far and has its own station and is actually a nice town.

Look at some of the small villages between northants and Milton Keynes such as Blisworth or Gayton, if you're looking for a small town then towcester or stony Stratford

What is your reason to avoid Kettering? I grew up there and it is a lovely place to live.

There have been threads about Northamptonshire before on Mumsnet. Nice houses but the people are a bit

Check out Milton Keynes - plenty of decent houses at that price, hospital that has recently become tied to Uni of Buckingham, where there is a new med school, some new developments just finished and others planned for specialist services at the hospital, good commuting to London. Could either live in one of the local grid squares close to the station and walk or further out within MK or one of the surrounding villages.
Area itself is very green - full of parks, nice to live in.
And as of today, it's a city, which means there should be a good party to celebrate coming soon!