Looking to move to an area within a 1 hour drive of Milton Keynes…

[Mkcommute]

DH will be starting a new job in Milton Keynes soon and we are needing to relocate.

We have a budget of £900,000 (for a 5+ bed or large 4 bed detached) and the house must be within a 1hr15mins drive of Milton Keynes (or about 50 miles).

Does anybody have any suggestions for any specific areas to look? Things that are important to us are:

• nice area to bring children up in
• good schools fairly nearby (open to private and state)
• ideally a semi-rural affluent village or suburb
• not super far out in the sticks nor in a town centre

I’ve been trying to stay close to the M1 for ease for DHs commute but can’t really find anywhere we like the look of. Happy to go as far up the M1 as Loughborough. I think north of MK may be better due to south of Milton Keynes looking incredibly expensive due to being close to London?

Areas that have already been suggested to me are:

• Woburn
• Market Harborough
• Lutterworth
• Ampthill
• Long Buckby

Would be great to hear more about these places too.

Thanks!

Oadby rather than Market Harborough. Would only add 10-15 mins to your journey but give you access to some of Leicestershire’s best state and private schools.

Ask ChatGPT- we live ‘here’ what’s a similar village near MK

I’d look at Berkhamsted or Tring to the south, both on the train line to MK for an easy commute as well as under an hour’s drive. Towns rather than villages but nice places to bring up a family, affluent, easy and quick to get into London for a day out. It’s more expensive but still within budget I’d say.

Oundle might be worth a look.

Oadby rather than Market Harborough. Would only add 10-15 mins to your journey but give you access to some of Leicestershire’s best state and private schools.

Market Harborough has excellent schools, a thriving Market town shopping centre, a theatre, sports facilities, canal basin, good restaurants and a mainline Station direct trains to London. My DS commuted to MK every day, with no problems, there’s even a direct bus!

Oadby is a suburb of Leicester, with poor facilities.

What are your requirements? I live in Cheshire. Moved here around 20 years ago :)

Hello! I was born in Bletchley, grew up in Leighton Buzzard and have also lived in MK but now live in South Northants so hopefully have a decent perspective.

Although I wouldn’t want to bring children up there (secondary school system isn’t great and places for the better ones are postcode based I believe, as is the gang violence), MK is a great place with a fantastic road system. However, prior to getting there, the same can’t be said of the roads that lead to it, so if DH needs to be in MK every working day, then just be mindful of that (specifically the M1 j15 south or j5 north as there always seems to be regular issues.

Personally, if I had your budget I would look at the following places;

Buckingham, Towcester, Woburn/Aspley Guise, Berkhamsted, Tring or Stony Stratford (and possibly Olney but don’t really know it that well) or most of the surrounding villages of these areas.

I would avoid LB, MK, Bedford, Aylesbury, Oxford, Bicester and Northampton too but that’s not to say there are plusses for these places and there are also some great villages surrounding them. Just journey to MK wise and personal preferences really.

From what you’ve said what you are after, I would go for Towcester/Silverstone area (particularly as traffic should be seriously reduced soon due to opening of a bypass) - ticks a lot of boxes and good transport links etc. No station though, but not affected by HS2 and Northampton, Wolverton, or MK stations close by. Plus my favourite watering hole is there so maybe biased based on this solely 🥴

Good luck with your search - I’m now off to pretend I’m you and put 900k in RightMove 😂

Olney is a lovely market town with good schools all the way through and a really lovely community with lots going on. We love it here! Emberton, Lavendon, Newton Blossomville, Turvey, Yardley Hastings....all nice surrounding villages.

We live in south Northants in a village just outside Towcester and love it here, can get to MK in 20 mins, Towcester is a nice little town and we have some great state primary schools and a good secondary school. Also used to live in Olney which is also lovely but not sure on schools there. There are some great villages in south Northants around Towcester and some lovely pubs/ countryside. Woburn also really nice.

I live in Milton Keynes. There are some lovely villages in the city and older towns which it was built around. 900k would go quite far here and you’d be near good non fee paying schools as well as fee paying ones.

Woolstone
Woughton on the Green
Woughton Park
Simpson
Stony Stratford
Calverton
Milton Keynes Village
Willen Village

Have a look at Michael Graham estate agents as they’re good for high value property in the area.

Good links to the M1 & also the train to London from Milton Keynes which is just 30 minutes.

To add, personally I find Woburn and Aspley Guise really snobby.

Tring and the surrounding villages?

Bromham is lovely and close to Bedford for good schools. Mk only takes 20-25 mins.
this house is in a perfect spot - would love to be able to afford this street.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146673659

Good news is your going to get hell of a lot for your money. We are looking to relocate from our ground floor flat in London, to an 6 acre farm near Milton Keynes.
Plenty of villages around, Stowe school is particularly nice so that side of mk is good. Depends on if you need access to London, if not then I would pick a school then a house.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145428944?utm_medium=email&utm_source=emailupdates&utm_campaign=emailupdatesinstant&utm_term=buying&onetime_FromEmail=true&sc_id=33114619&utm_content=v2-ealertspropertyimage&cid=b2807fcf-5379-4451-89d0-c29804ff038d&csg=6d7fd2c058b57f4892db80701a053f505ce1fc25caffe834f060805197b54c5a#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143607746?utm_medium=email&utm_source=emailupdates&utm_campaign=emailupdatesinstant&utm_term=buying&onetime_FromEmail=true&sc_id=33114619&utm_content=v2-ealertspropertyimage&cid=b2807fcf-5379-4451-89d0-c29804ff038d&csg=6d7fd2c058b57f4892db80701a053f505ce1fc25caffe834f060805197b54c5a#/?channel=RES_BUY

Burton Latimer, Barton Seagraves, Isham and surrounding area, lots of villages and small/medium towns, about 45-55 minutes down the A509 to MK.

Flore - beautiful village down the road from M1 junction 16, also just off the A5 so gives you two good ways to get to MK.

I live in Brackley and have done most of my life. It’s a lovely town. I’d also recommend checking out Evenley, Farthinghoe, Sulgrave, Helmdon and Silverstone.

Echoing previous posters about Olney way. Sherington is nearby and the one you want probably with that sort if cash. Milton Keynes is an utter dive and becoming more derelict with each passing decade, so you're right to steer clear.

Stoney Stratford is nice , market harborough is lovely but I would say just over an hour away . Thrapston and some parts of Northampton are nice , you have. Decent budget so would get a really nice place for that

We made a similar move a few years ago. We found some lovely villages around Northampton but the state school provision seemed not great, and we were also not sure that our DC would pass the 11 plus which put us off Buckingham (although I think there is a decent non-grammar there). My advice would be to try to decide whether you are happy to go for private schools or not. If you want good state secondaries I’d go for Towcester, Leighton Buzzard, or Ampthill. These also have nice housing stock, have a bit more going on and they don’t require the M1 to get to MK which is a bit of a nightmare (I regularly drive between MK and LB and it’s fine, takes less than half an hour). Tring also has a good state secondary and is a nice place but the journey to MK is probably a bit longer if there’s traffic.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146542532#/?channel=RES_BUY

We looked at a couple of houses near this one when we were looking- it’s a lovely area, right in the forest, good schools, nice view but walkable to the town/ station (station is probably about half an hour). We went for a village closer to MK in the end but I really liked these houses.

Another vote for olney! Lovely place to live if you have kids. Good schools, very pretty old high street, lots of beautiful countryside nearby, half hour to MK or Bedford in the other direction. Villagey and affluent, a fair amount going on with lots of pubs and places to eat. Lived there 15 years ago and the sense of community was great back then with lots of local events, can't comment on now though.

It's still lovely....lots of events - annual pancake race, booze on the Ouse, food festival, Dickens of a Christmas to name a few. Loads of sports teams and stuff for kids. Infants is an outstanding school and the new head is absolutely wonderful! Middle school is good, new head starting soon so likely to improve some more. Both schools are within the same, very good trust, all the kids have their own iPads at school etc. I believe Ousedale senior school is great as well. There are good private schools around, though most are about 30 mins drive away. The school busses to Wellingborough, Bedford and Northampton pass through and quite a few kids seem to take them.