Rugby

T1T2T3T4

Hi guys. Are there areas of Rugby that are better or worse than others? Are there particular areas to avoid? 

I guess I'm asking in terms of safety, school quality, young family community and proximity to shops/restaurants/cafes.

Looking at properties on sale there appears to be some highly priced properties and some that are much cheaper in comparison (in terms of how much house you get for your money). 

We're new to the area so it would be nice to hear from those of you that are familiar to it? 

Thank you! 

stressedout45

We briefly looked at Rugby when we first started the moving process.  

Cawston and Bilton are considered to be the better area. “New Bilton” not so much.  

Brownsover is widely considered to be one of the worst areas.  I don’t think Overslade is too good either.  

You can definitely get more house for your money compared to other areas of Warwickshire but sadly there is a reason for that.  Good areas seem to be very close alongside the not so good.  

There are some nice villages on the outskirts of rugby, mainly the south/west side. 

duckandcover

I live in Rugby - like the poster above said, Bilton and Cawston are the nicer side, plus Dunchurch as well although there don't tend to be that many properties up for sale, but lovely if you can get it. 

Rugby can't compete with places like Leamington or Warwick, but you definitely do get more bang for your buck here, and you don't have to travel far to get to some nicer places, great transport links, only ever a short drive away from nice country walks, farm shops etc. 

I now live in a village on the north side of Rugby (having grown up in Bilton, and then spending a few years in the not-so-nice New Bilton), but to be honest even the 'worst' places are fine - but on the overall scale of things, yes Brownsover itself is probably one to avoid... 

There are loads of new build estates around Rugby too if that's the kind of thing you're looking for - Coton Meadows right next to Brownsover looks very 'stack 'em high', but the one on the other side of the road 'Eden Park', by the Old Brownsover village, looks nice-ish as far as new builds go. Then of course there is Houlton which is going to be huge, and to be fair they seem to be doing a nice job of it. 

Let me know if you have any more specific questions, or if you want to post any houses you've spotted and want to know more about that particular local area, I can do my best!

T1T2T3T4

stressedout45 said:

We briefly looked at Rugby when we first started the moving process.  

Cawston and Bilton are considered to be the better area. “New Bilton” not so much.  

Brownsover is widely considered to be one of the worst areas.  I don’t think Overslade is too good either.  

You can definitely get more house for your money compared to other areas of Warwickshire but sadly there is a reason for that.  Good areas seem to be very close alongside the not so good.  

There are some nice villages on the outskirts of rugby, mainly the south/west side. 

Thank you so much for you reply. 

We started considering it after seeing some area "charts" and it was mentioned on them. 

I don't know if you are familiar with lutterworth and market Harborough but if you are, where would you put Rugby in amongst those two? I saw that Rugby offers large properties which is obviously tempting but like you said, I guess there's a reason for this. 

It's really helpful to get your thoughts because we're looking for a long term home to settle down with and things like safety, etc are a priority. Sounds like there are some good areas though. 

We went to the town center today to have a look around and it was okay.. are there normally any concerns around there?

Thanks again  

T1T2T3T4

stressedout45 said:

We briefly looked at Rugby when we first started the moving process.  

Cawston and Bilton are considered to be the better area. “New Bilton” not so much.  

Brownsover is widely considered to be one of the worst areas.  I don’t think Overslade is too good either.  

You can definitely get more house for your money compared to other areas of Warwickshire but sadly there is a reason for that.  Good areas seem to be very close alongside the not so good.  

There are some nice villages on the outskirts of rugby, mainly the south/west side. 

Also, would Clifton upon Dunsmore be considered a good area or not so much? If you're aware of that area that is. 

T1T2T3T4

duckandcover said:

I live in Rugby - like the poster above said, Bilton and Cawston are the nicer side, plus Dunchurch as well although there don't tend to be that many properties up for sale, but lovely if you can get it. 

Rugby can't compete with places like Leamington or Warwick, but you definitely do get more bang for your buck here, and you don't have to travel far to get to some nicer places, great transport links, only ever a short drive away from nice country walks, farm shops etc. 

I now live in a village on the north side of Rugby (having grown up in Bilton, and then spending a few years in the not-so-nice New Bilton), but to be honest even the 'worst' places are fine - but on the overall scale of things, yes Brownsover itself is probably one to avoid... 

There are loads of new build estates around Rugby too if that's the kind of thing you're looking for - Coton Meadows right next to Brownsover looks very 'stack 'em high', but the one on the other side of the road 'Eden Park', by the Old Brownsover village, looks nice-ish as far as new builds go. Then of course there is Houlton which is going to be huge, and to be fair they seem to be doing a nice job of it. 

Let me know if you have any more specific questions, or if you want to post any houses you've spotted and want to know more about that particular local area, I can do my best!

That's so helpful to hear from a local person thank you. 

I think the houses we saw and liked online were in Cawston and Clifton upon Dunsmore. I can see Cawston is a good area, is Clifton?

We visited the town center today and that was fine. 

We're trying to narrow down our choices and think we have market Harborough, lutterworth and rugby. Are you aware of the other two areas at all and how they compare?

Thanks again! 

duckandcover

Ah I live in Newton which is the next village along from Clifton-upon-Dunsmore - I don't know a huge amount what it's like but they have a decent village shop which was very handy in lockdown! It also has a primary school right in the middle of it which would be handy if you have kids that age. I'm not sure what Lutterworth is like as a place to live but they have Waitrose which is nice - I've just been there actually, so very easy to get to from Clifton. And I don't think I've ever been to Market Harborough - I think it's meant to be quite nice though. It also depends where you need to get to e.g. for work, as Market Harborough and Lutterworth would be better for heading further north/into Leicestershire and the East Midlands, whereas Rugby would be better for the other direction (plus the station for people who commute further, e.g. to London). 

Cawston's lovely as well especially as they've left so much open space there - plenty of fields and footpaths to walk around, plus you have the ameneties in Bilton village and Dunchurch nearby. I think to be honest, there probably wouldn't be a huge amount in it between Clifton and Cawston in terms of day-to-day living, especially as you'll probably be getting in the car anyway to go places - if it was me I'd probably base it purely on which house I preferred. Both are perfectly safe and neither have any particular red flags that come to mind, so defintiely places somebody could come and settle down long-term. 

The town centre is rather 'meh' as you'll have seen, certainly no real shopping to speak of but there are some nice places to eat and drink, like Cafe Vin Cinq, CV22, Bacco Lounge, various other pubs and cafes. Plus the connections to neighbouring towns are really handy.

demontfort

I know all 3 towns pretty well.

Rugby is pretty nice around Rugby school, Hilmorton Road and Clifton Road and housing stock in these areas is good quality but a lot of houses are being bought in these areas by people leaving London for silly money. Bilton and Cawston are ok but lack character, the north side of town and Lawford Road are a bit rundown and industrial and some of the tower blocks by the river and streets towards the station aren't so easy on the eye. The town centre like most towns is slowly dying so don;t expect any cafe culture or boutique shopping but all in all it's no different to more prestigious and more expensive Warwickshire towns like Leamington Spa. However prices have rocketed up in recent years and it's now overpriced.

Lutterworth is a very small town with good motorway and road links to the M1 and A5. But it suffers for having no station and feels more like a large viillage. It's dominated by the vast Magna Park otherwise there's nothing good or bad to say about it.

Market Harborough is a lot bigger than Lutterworth but half the size of Rugby and like Lutterworth is too small to have any bad areas. Whilst it's quite pretty with the nicest town centre, it feels snobby and unwelcoming to me and is losing it's rural charcter as it gets swamped with new builds. Plus you'll pay a premium simply for the pleasure of living there. Great Bowden is the area's "millionaire row" whilst Little Bowden is cheaper and more down to earth, there are nice town houses along Northampton Road but it's not cheap. If you're flexible try Melton Mowbray it looks the same as Market Harborough without the Waitrose and overpriced coffee shops but is much cheaper or if you want real value have a look at Nuneaton, Bedworth or Hinckley.

fiestaman87

I’ve lived in Rugby for all my life.

I currently live in New Bilton which, apart from parking, isn’t too bad. It’s cheap because it’s mostly terraced. It depends on your budget.

If money is no object then choose Bilton (particularly south/east of Bilton Road/Lytham Road/Overslade Lane) or Dunchurch. Hillside is nice. Rokeby less so but still ok. Hillmorton/Paddox/Eastlands are all pretty good.

The best suggestion with Rugby is stay south of the railway line (except Clifton village or the new Houlton development).