Moving to Brackley.. where to live?

Sara93

Hi
I will be moving from Amsterdam with bf to Brackley, Northamptonshire. Looking for rent and there doesn't seem to be decent offerings on Zoopla, Rightmove, etc

Based on google search, Breckely  doesn't have any public transportation other than an hourly bus connected to Bicester. To us this is a bit disappointing -coming from busy city living , but wouldn't discourage bf from accepting the job offer.

 I will also be working part-time so wouldn't mind a bit of commute and definitely will stretch up our budget.

Any suggestion on where to rent and live around Brackely?

safe, friendly people, good night life, modern, shops and coffee places, affordable living. 
 Maximum 20-30 minutes by car as I'm diabetic and get motion sickness and dizzy from long driving.

 Any suggestion or feedback is appreciated! Thanks   

ksb76

I don't know the area brilliantly well (only been here a year) but rather than look in Brackley (which is a large village in all honesty) you may be better looking in Banbury or Bicester and having your bf commute to Brackley. Banbury is larger with excellent transport links and would feel a little more bustling and Bicester is both on the london train line and linked with Oxford and is between the two in size. Both approximately 20 mins from Brackley. 30 mins to east is Milton Keynes - larger still, but have no experience at all of it. 

MX5huggy

Got a job a Mercedes F1? It’s about the only thing of note about the place. It’s a medium sized town, 20 to 30 minutes from lots of other medium sized towns. Have you got a job? Milton Keynes and Oxford are different (bigger) if you worked there and he commuted.

What about small village life with next to no amenities? 

Mazza48

I have just moved from Bicester and you will find a huge difference in house prices between Bicester (or anywhere in Oxfordshire) and Northampton.  Brackley is lovely with several independent shops and eateries but public transport is virtually non existent!  You will probable need to stay in Northamptonshire to get the most for your money!

Good luck with your search

fiveacre

Brackley itself is a lovely, small, market town with lots of local amenities - and very much a place where you'd want to own a car to get to large supermarkets or shops. It has a few pubs, cafes, hairdressers etc, but not necessarily a good nightlife, depending what you're after of course! It's also notably lacking in public transport, both rail and bus, but well connected via road to the M40/A43.

As others have said - Bicester and Banbury are nearby, but also Milton Keynes (30 minutes drive) if you want to be in a much larger town.

SmoggyGoose

Brackley is a nice but very small town. The estates around the town feel very very quiet and eeiry.

No railway links (King Sutton is about 6 miles away and the trains aren't regular there) and the drive from the M40 is quite long I find.

Would echo the other suggestion to look in Banbury - larger town, more to do and has better links to London, Oxford, Birmingham, as well as being nearby.

teachfast

Nobody mentioned Towcester yet. It's close and a bit bigger than Brackley.

MX5huggy

teachfast said:

Nobody mentioned Towcester yet. It's close and a bit bigger than Brackley.

I did without naming it, is actually smaller than Brackley (13000 vs 9200 at the last census). I don’t see why you would choose to live in Buckingham, Banbury, Towcester, or Bicester over Brackley if that is where you worked. None are going to get you anything like Amsterdam. Maybe Banbury for the train. 

Maybe it’s too long since I grew up and left Towcester to really know, but an evening in the Bull, and the Oak was the highlight. 

Justonemorecupoftea

Banbury, Bicester or Buckingham would be better bets. None of them are what I would describe as bustling though!! Banbury and Bicester have excellent rail links to Oxford/London/Birmingham. You'll probably be more likely to find a job in one of those places as well.
Maybe Oxford, but that's quite pricey and quite a commute to Brackley.

goldfinches

If you need to rent a place steer clear of Oxford as both the Universities here are getting busier by the day with returning students and staff and the rental market is correspondingly expensive and difficult to navigate unless you are local and can move quickly. 

demontfort

I know the area quite well, it's a pleasant if dull small town, Buckingham and Towcester are very similar but with a touch more character and history. Banbury is livelier with better transport links and shopping but it's a bit rough around the edges with a few run down council estates and the town centre is struggling. Bicester has morphed from a pleasant market town into a mini Milton Keynes and is mostly a mess of identikit new builds sprawling further and further into the poor old countryside. If you're moving from Amsterdam then be prepared for a shock on the nightlife and cafe front, the nightlife in these small towns was never great but it's got worse the past decade. Brackley will have a few largish pubs which get half full with balding middle aged lotharios in rugby shirts on a Saturday night and a kebab shop.