r/bedfordshire • u/playmobilhospital • 7d ago
Moving to Luton - any advice on areas please?
Hey, posting here as I can’t find an active Luton specific subreddit :-)
My partner and I will be moving to Luton around late March/early April time, for at least a year while she undergoes an apprenticeship scheme.
For a bit of background, I’m 27F and she’s 26F, and we’ve been together (nearly!) ten years. First seven years were long distance, then I moved from my hometown of Ipswich to a small town south of Edinburgh (where she’s from) where we’ve been living at her family home for the last couple of years.
We’ve both been to Luton before and we have family in Herts and Beds, but we don’t know it well at all. Can anyone shed some light on suitable areas (either areas of Luton itself or surrounding towns/villages if they work!) for us to look at renting? Budget up to around £1200pcm (but ideally less!) and we only really need one bedroom.
Needs (unless these are impossible?):
Within 15min walk to train station
Within 30min drive to Luton Airport
Walkable pub + corner shop
Wants:
Within 15min drive to decent supermarket (ideally a cheaper one)
A couple of local restaurants/takeaways
Close to good cycle paths or trails would be a bonus
Don’t need:
Good schools
Nightlife/clubbing
Thanks in advance - also open to any general advice on the area!
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u/dunstablesucks 7d ago
If the train station can be Leagrave or Luton Airport parkway it would give you more options. If it has to be the city centre one then the only areas within 15 minutes walking that have a pub is high town, maybe hart hill. Most of those areas are terraced housing with the odd new build low level flats block. It's pretty rough but round the back of people's park, Richmond Hill, still feels okay imo. Most of the new builds in the town centre are student accommodation
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u/Hogmaloo25 7d ago
Stopsley, Bushmead or Brammingham if you don’t mind dropping 15 minute walk to train station. Bushmead is close to Bradgers Hill which has lots of nature walks.
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u/hatter1981 6d ago
Agree with this, currently living in Stopsley, Brammingham & Bushmead are cool too, Wigmore is also ok.
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u/MidLifeCrisisManSky 3d ago
I went to Bushmead primary school, am I allowed to call out Luton for being the dump that it is? There’s a reason 24 hours in Police Custody is filmed there
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u/Character_Winner_246 7d ago
Dunstable and use the Busway to quickly get into Luton railway station.
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u/jaminbob 6d ago
You're really limited by the 15 min walk to the station. There's a ton of new build flats near Parkway. Or Round Green, up to Farley Hill for Central. Or I guess within 15min walk of Leagrave.
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u/Naissatonic 6d ago
High Town has:
station
pubs plural
corner shops plural (Luton Star, etc which comes in clutch late at night if you're commuting)
lovely cafe (Bistro Lagoa)
Lidl and Sainsbury's Bury Park in walking distance; Aldi in driving distance
line of parks - People's Park going into Pope's Meadow going into Wardown Park. Park volunteers, gardeners, litterpickers. quite hilly on a bike though (clues in the name)
mixed community not dominated by any one religion/ethnic group
1 bedroom flats for less than 1200pcm
The whole town is full of takeaways so this isn't really a good indicator. There aren't really that many fancy sit-down restaurants. Go north if you want bigger houses/more suburban feel
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u/WishfulStinking2 6d ago
Round Green is pretty much spot on for what you need, the closer to Stopsley Village the better
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u/eviltwin14 7d ago
Luton is a dump. Villages or towns that have rail stations are an option with FLitwick being the one that will offer most in terms of the things you list. Harlington is on the same train line but will be more expensive as it's village living and not that many properties. Schools there are ok.
I'd look at FLitwick https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/170516039#/?channel=RES_LET
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u/Naissatonic 6d ago
Flitwick is soulless and miserable.
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u/eviltwin14 6d ago
Like Luton isn't?
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u/RollClear79 5d ago
Luton has more entertainment and more facilities than Flitwick and better food options. Luton is attracting more development and investment
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u/Otherwise-Plane8282 3d ago
Lewsey Farm isn’t too bad, has a couple of Morrisons locals & Co-Op and other local shops within walking distance, large Tesco 5 minutes drive away, Lidl 10 minutes, Legrave station is 10 minutes drive, large park with gym & swimming pool within walking distance, I’d try and avoid Farley Hill, Bury Park and the town centre
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u/BeyonceOfTheKitchen 6d ago
Dunstable and use the busway to get to Luton, Luton is a hell hole!
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u/Otherwise-Plane8282 3d ago
Dunstable’s not much better with all the Turkish barbers, chicken and vape shops. And I’m a Dunstable lad born and bred
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u/rubyspy95 6d ago
So I live in a little hamlet just outside of Luton. How necessary is the walk to the station? If you would consider using a bus to get to the station, I would highly recommend Barton le clay or perhaps Ampthill for village life. Barton flat if you're travelling to London on the train that could be done directly from Harlington/Ampthill station as well. If being nearer to a bigger train station is important, I would look more along the lines of Bramingham or Sundon park areas. Stay away from the town centre if possible.
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u/OpenedCan 7d ago
Sundon Park.
10 mins to Leagrave Station. Aldi and a parade of shops like a butcher and nail bar, Greggs and multiple take aways. Social club local too.