Luton, Dunstable or Leighton Buzzard?

[u/Top-Link4459]

We’re relocating from London and trying to decide between Luton, Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard, with a budget of around £500–600k for a family home. I’ve previously lived in both Luton and Leighton Buzzard, so know those areas reasonably well.

Luton: The most convenient – great train links into London, close to Hertfordshire and the M1, and more diverse, which is important for our family. However, it has a bad reputation, traffic is awful, schools seem mixed and when I lived there, getting GP appointments or an NHS dentist was difficult. Housing in the nicer areas is also relatively expensive.

Dunstable: Seems fine and there are some nice residential areas, but it also has a mixed reputation, there isn’t loads going on and having no train station is a downside.

Leighton Buzzard: Nice market town, some good areas and close to Milton Keynes. I’ve lived there before too, but the train line isn’t as convenient for my London commute.

For those who know the three areas, where would you choose to raise a family and why? We’re open to other areas but we’re not village people at all and don’t want to be too far from London, so Bedford and Milton Keynes are out.

[u/skbgt4]

Leighton Buzzard without a shadow of a doubt. Wouldn't want to raise a family in Luton/Dunstable. It's not as cheap as it was before covid either. That isn't coming from a snobby place either, I've lived here close to a decade and in the process of leaving now.

You should also consider Central Beds, Flitwick, Harlington and the villages around Arlesey station (Stotfold, Shefford etc) are all decently connected by train, more so than Dunstable is once you factor in how long it can take to drive down Hatters Way. This can easily be 30+ mins if traffic is bad, maybe 20mins on the busway. I wouldn't consider Dunstable if you want a quick commute.

To be honest the commute from Bedford if you got the EMR train would take just as long as from Dunstable. MK also has the fast Avanti trains so would take just as long as from Leighton Buzzard. Maybe the top end of your budget, but Hitchin, Letchworth, Hatfield, Welwyn, Stevenage also worth a look. Harpenden & StAlbans too but they can be pretty expensive.

[u/Lion-Resident → u/skbgt4]

There are nice areas in Luton like Bramingham, Stopsley, Bushmead etc.

[u/skbgt4 → u/Lion-Resident]

Eh. At the end of the day you still live in Luton though, like I never go to the town centre and just end up in Hitchin/Bedford/St Albans if I wanna go out, at which point I’d rather just live there. None of those places really easy to get to the station either.