Moving to Leicestershire

[Eve1989]

Hello everyone,

I posted about last week moving out of London. I have now seen a place I am seriously considering but I don't know anything about it. So, I am coming back to you all for advice.

Leicestershire seems to tick most of my boxes. My son will be able to continue his football and the house prices seems to be within my budget.

The areas though which seems to be attracted to me are, Melton Mowbray and wigston. It would be nice to hear what your views are.

I would also need to travel to travel to London occasionally, so having access to a train station is ideal.
Many thanks

I've visited Melton Mowbray several times and found it to be a very odd place. I encountered some weird people there and felt it had a strange vibe about it. I think there is a reason why property prices are cheaper in that town, I would avoid it if you can.

I am from the Leicestershire area. Have you looked at ashby de la zouch very close to m1 and m42. And Loughborough train station not far straight in to London. Good football teams as my son plays for that area to. X

Of the two, I would go for Wigston. Have you also considered Blaby or Countesthorpe? They don't have stations but easily commutable into Leicester and a little nicer than Wigston IMO.

As above I'd choose Wigston over Melton, Oadby, Blaby and Countesthorpe are nice too. Easy to get to Wigston, Narborough or City Centre train stations from any of those and there are park and rides too.

I think Wigston is nicer than Melton. Just up from Wigston is Knighton and Clarendon Park, and you can walk to the train station from there, although they are a bit more expensive than Wigston. Also Oadby is nice, and has good schools.

Which area of Wigston are you looking at? Some bits are nicer than others.

I lived in east Leicestershire for years (having moved there from London) and agree with a pp on Melton having a deeply odd vibe. I used to go there for the car boot sale and was always relieved to leave again. Having said that, Wigston is pretty soulless, though at a far more convenient distance from enthral Leicester, if you need to transfer to get the train to London regularly. (Melton is on the Birmingham-Peterborough line and much further away.)

What is your budget? If you need to get to London by train on a regular basis, I’d consider, depending on budget, Market Harborough and areas around — direct line to St Pancras — or living in some of the nicer areas of Leicester itself. I’d live in Oadby, Stoneygste, or Clarendon Park before I’d consider Wigston or Melton.

My son and DIL moved to Market Harborough just over 3 years ago, they love it there, great place to bring up future children. I visit them by train (from London), quick 55 mins journey from St Prancas. FYI off peak return for me with Snr railcard is about £20 (30% discount).

I live in Stoneygate, just south of the city centre, and love it. We're a mile from the railway station and a direct train to London St Pancras takes an hour. We have all amenities on our doorstep, with lots of shops / cafés / restaurants on Allandale Road and Queens Road, and it's only a 10-minute drive to the Highcross shopping centre with John Lewis, Next, etc. It's a 15-minute drive to beautiful countryside as well. If you prefer somewhere more rural, you could perhaps look at Great Glen? x

What is your budget, OP, and how old is your son? would he be driving himself soon or need train service?

I am from Wigston and now live in Blaby, would definitely recommend Blaby

I live in Rural South Leicestershire, my husband commutes to London from Rugby and the fast London service is 50 minutes to Euston. I love our village, it has two pubs, a cafe and a fantastic village shop. Waitrose is 3 miles away and a new Aldi a little further. Market Harborough is 20 Minutes by car. We are putting our house on the market in January to move closer to our grownup children as my husband is retiring but have loved our time here. Have a look at Gilmorton and surrounding villages too. Good luck with your search.

OP - the maligning of Melton Mowbray is unfair. It's a normal rural market town, rooted in the farming and local economies, far removed from the glitz of commuters and trophy homes of other areas. There is a lot of community support and spirit in Melton. It doesn't have an easy train commute to London, hence it remains locally and village focussed. Tuesday is proper farmer's market day - Not fancy artisan beers but cattle. Horses and riding are a big part of the lifestyle in local villages. Wigston is very much a suburb of Leicester and has a completely different community and economy.
What are you looking for OP?

I'm just over the border in Rutland.

I'm really not a massive fan of Melton, sadly. It is pretty run down. As mentioned by PPs, Market Harborough would be my choice this side of Leicester, although property prices will reflect that.

Rutland is lovely too although more expensive. Not hugely convenient for London but good enough for occasional journeys. We use Corby Station which has a direct, albeit slow, direct line to St Pancreas and cheap and easy parking. It's about 15 mins drive from our Rutland village.

@grassisgreen

OP - the maligning of Melton Mowbray is unfair. It's a normal rural market town, rooted in the farming and local economies, far removed from the glitz of commuters and trophy homes of other areas. There is a lot of community support and spirit in Melton. It doesn't have an easy train commute to London, hence it remains locally and village focussed. Tuesday is proper farmer's market day - Not fancy artisan beers but cattle. Horses and riding are a big part of the lifestyle in local villages. Wigston is very much a suburb of Leicester and has a completely different community and economy. What are you looking for OP?

I can assure you I’m originally from an absolutely normal farming area, and was, when I lived in Leics, in no way seeking commuter ‘glitz’ or ‘trophy homes’ — Melton still felt depressed and insular in comparison to farming towns I’ve lived in or near. Some nice countryside around it, though.

Some areas of Melton may be a bit run down, (actually less than other areas in Leics). The people are very down to earth and supportive, and are likely to stay there long term. OP you have asked what it's like compared with Wigston, and it is very different. Oadby and Wigston are much more suburban and professional, with expensive lifestyle hubs like Allandale Road, and are far more affluent overall than Melton. All reflected in house prices. The favoured lifestyle around Melton is a village home, and walks to the local pub, whereas Oadby/Wigston has a lot more shopping streets, population and choices; A big house in Oadby has always been thought of as very aspirational. If your son is interested in football I would check the football clubs local to your preferred area - the success of Leicester City means there are flourishing local clubs. There are a lot of other areas to consider in Leics too, as mentioned by other posters. It depends on what you are looking for within your budget.

@lljkk

What is your budget, OP, and how old is your son? would he be driving himself soon or need train service?

Hello thank you- my budget is 275k but I was hoping to get a new build hence Melton appealed to me. I do not know Leicestershire at all so I am hoping that I can get a better idea.

I have only lived in London but I need to get out of the flat and start living a more decent life.

@lljkk

What is your budget, OP, and how old is your son? would he be driving himself soon or need train service?

My son is 8. I drive but I am hoping that I can use the trains more as I need to do more walking.

OP, have you spent any time at all in any part of Leicestershire? I ask because we moved there from London also (not Londoners by birth, but had lived there happily for a decade), because of work, and it was a miserable experience.

@Negligee

OP, have you spent any time at all in any part of Leicestershire? I ask because we moved there from London also (not Londoners by birth, but had lived there happily for a decade), because of work, and it was a miserable experience.

Hello,

No, I have not spent time there. I am considering it because it is not that far from London and I need my 8 year old to continue engaging in football. I initially wanted rugby but when I visited there 3 separate times I wasn't sure.

Any advice would be appreciated

@Eve1989

Hello everyone,

I posted about last week moving out of London. I have now seen a place I am seriously considering but I don't know anything about it. So, I am coming back to you all for advice.

Leicestershire seems to tick most of my boxes. My son will be able to continue his football and the house prices seems to be within my budget.

The areas though which seems to be attracted to me are, Melton Mowbray and wigston. It would be nice to hear what your views are.

I would also need to travel to travel to London occasionally, so having access to a train station is ideal.
Many thanks

Hi everyone- thanks for the response so far. Just to add that my budget is 275 but I can increase my deposit to get something in the region of 300k if I really like it.

My son is 8 years old and I have lived in London for many years but it's time to move on. I need to move out of this high rise flat and initially I was looking at rugby but after 3 visits, I didn't have a feel for it.

Leicestershire seems to tick most of my boxes. I am not fussy about restaurants etc as long as there are supermarkets and green outdoor space as well as easy access to the train station.

Any advice would be appreciated
Thank you

I left again in 2020, after what was an extremely miserable eight years. I’d been living in England for almost 20 years, and this move was made in haste with a small baby, but as I’d lived in England so long, I don’t think it occurred to me that it would constitute such a culture shock.

Yes, we could afford far more space in a prosperous village than in London, but it was unfriendly, insular, xenophobic and extremely Tory. We did all the right things — worked locally, volunteered, used local businesses, had a child at toddler groups and later in school, got involved in local events, but concluded in the end our tribe wasn’t there.

Your experience may be different, and I hope it is, but I suppose all I can say is try to do your research based on more things than ‘How much house can I afford?’

We moved to very near MM from the south coast last February and couldn’t be happier here. I think there are some unfair comments about the people in MM (I wouldn’t hang around a car boot and expect to find “my people’ there), people are (IMO) more friendly than in the south. There are some amazing pubs, the countryside is beautiful! MM has every supermarket you could want (Sainsbury’s, tesco, Morrisons, Aldo, Lidl & a m&s food at the petrol station) there are many sports clubs (football, rugby, swimming, martial arts).

Melton has a station but we would be more inclined to make the short drive to Grantham which gets you to kings cross in an hour.

So, things to consider - from a Rugby resident whose kids went to school in Leicestershire and who works in Leicester :)

Leicestershire school holidays are different so you get cheaper October half term and July holiday options, but they go back in August.

Leicestershire and Leicester City school holidays often don't match, but not too much of a problem if you only have the one child.

Leicestershire offer free music lessons in school.

Leicester traffic is awful. I mean, just mad drivers and it takes bloody ages to get into and out of the city centre. I have to allow 45 minutes to do the 19 miles from home to work, and 30 minutes of that is for the last 4 miles! Very frustrating!

Oadby and Blaby are seen as the nicest areas of Leicester, plus Knighton but that's more expensive.

Rugby has some grammar schools.

I'd personally look at the Swinford, Shalwell, Kilworth, Gilmorton areas and get the train from Rugby.

I love Rugby (been here 20 years) and we only used a Leicestershire school as they had great wrap around care and it was on the way to husbands work anyway so no hassle (3 miles as the crow flies). It meant we actually were in a good position for secondary as they were in catchment for the Rugby grammars but if they hadn't have got places, those that went to the village primaries got priority for the Lutterworth school places, or they did at the time (4 years ago).

I live in a village in Leicestershire called Elmesthorpe

You can get so much house for your money here. 300k would get you something really nice and spacious. We have a large 3 storey David Wilson new build in a leafy area and paid £195000 two years ago (although prices have risen)

There's lots of countryside, nice walks etc. Hinckley is a five min drive away and although it's a bit run down in places there's some decent shops and cafes and hairdressers etc. There's also good sized Sainsbury's, an Aldi and a Lidl.

Local schools are fab.

Also Leicester / Coventry is about a 20 minute drive either way, Birmingham is about 40 mins.

I used to live in Braunstone, just outside Leicester city centre. Now that ^was rough as fuck 🤣😩 shit schools, Jeremy Kyle show type people everywhere(I don't care if that's snobby). I also lived practically next door to one of the many drug dealers so that was nice.

@motherofawhirlwind

So, things to consider - from a Rugby resident whose kids went to school in Leicestershire and who works in Leicester :)

Leicestershire school holidays are different so you get cheaper October half term and July holiday options, but they go back in August.

Leicestershire and Leicester City school holidays often don't match, but not too much of a problem if you only have the one child.

Leicestershire offer free music lessons in school.

Leicester traffic is awful. I mean, just mad drivers and it takes bloody ages to get into and out of the city centre. I have to allow 45 minutes to do the 19 miles from home to work, and 30 minutes of that is for the last 4 miles! Very frustrating!

Oadby and Blaby are seen as the nicest areas of Leicester, plus Knighton but that's more expensive.

Rugby has some grammar schools.

I'd personally look at the Swinford, Shalwell, Kilworth, Gilmorton areas and get the train from Rugby.

I love Rugby (been here 20 years) and we only used a Leicestershire school as they had great wrap around care and it was on the way to husbands work anyway so no hassle (3 miles as the crow flies). It meant we actually were in a good position for secondary as they were in catchment for the Rugby grammars but if they hadn't have got places, those that went to the village primaries got priority for the Lutterworth school places, or they did at the time (4 years ago).

So, would you rate Rugby over Leicestershire? I didn't like rugby town centre area when I went to visit. But that may be just me.