A Guide to Living in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a county in the East Midlands of England and is home to some attractive areas including Wellingborough with its lovely old buildings, Rushden with its many parks and lakes or Corby with its fantastic new-builds with modern amenities. The University of Northampton has an excellent reputation for teaching while there are top schools available all over Northamptonshire providing high-quality education for children aged 3–18 years old.

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Best places to live in Northamptonshire

HomeViews Top Rated Development ranking takes into account the Star Rating and HomeViews Transparency Rating of every development in the area

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Where is Northamptonshire?

Northamptonshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire and Rutland to the north, Bedfordshire to the west, Buckinghamshire to the south-west and Hertfordshire and Essex to the east. It has a population of approximately 868,000 people and covers an area of 2,074 square kilometres. The largest city in Northamptonshire is Northampton.

Areas in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a county made up of several areas. Northampton, Corby and Kettering are the largest towns in this region which includes Daventry, Wellingborough and Rushden. There are also many smaller communities including Finedon, Irchester, Weldon and Little Houghton.

Some of the more popular areas for prospective homeowners include:

Northampton – This town is the largest in Northamptonshire and offers a great range of amenities including schools, shops and restaurants. It has a population of over 210,000 people.

Kettering – This town is located close to Northampton and has a population of around 78,000 people. It offers plenty of local amenities as well as good transport links.

Corby – Another popular town in Northamptonshire is Corby which has a population of around 60,000 people and offers many amenities including schools, shops and restaurants. It also has easy access to the A43 road network.

Wellingborough – This town is also located in Northamptonshire and has a population of around 53,000 people. It offers great transport links to the surrounding areas including London.

Daventry – This town is located close to Northampton and has a population of around 34,000 people. Daventry offers many shops and amenities as well as good transport links including the M45 motorway.

Rushden – This town is located within Northamptonshire and has a population of around 32,000 people. It offers great transport links to the surrounding areas including London as well as shops and amenities.

Wollaston – This small village in the East of Northamptonshire has a population of only around 2000 people but it does offer great links with Birmingham City Centre and the surrounding areas.

Universities in Northamptonshire

Northampton is home to the University of Northampton, a well-established university with a long history. The University of Northampton offers a wide range of courses across many faculties and has been praised for its teaching quality.

Top Schools in Northamptonshire

There are a number of excellent schools located in Northamptonshire, including the following:

Queens’ School – a girls’ school located in Northampton which is rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and has been ranked as the top-performing school in Northamptonshire.

St Andrew’s Roman Catholic High School – a mixed secondary school located close to Kettering which has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted and is one of the highest achieving schools in Northamptonshire when it comes to GCSE results.

The King’s School – an all boys’ school also located in Northampton which is rated as ‘good with outstanding features’ by Ofsted and has been ranked as the top-performing school in Northamptonshire for A level results.

Magdalene College – a co-educational sixth form located in Oundle which is one of the highest achieving schools in Northamptonshire when it comes to GCSE, AS and A levels.

Population of Northamptonshire

The population of Northamptonshire is just over 630,000, mostly located in the south of the county.

Featured developments in Northamptonshire

Reviews in Northamptonshire

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Upkeep could be better

Verified Resident

Review Date Jan 2023

Only 2 local shops , dog waste bins collection very poor. Also main road out of estate very noisy as most people leave by this exit , bad planning on route to leave

Please review your development:

House design very good with a good rear garden. Front of house to close to the pavement people looking in all the time . Green space who look after the outside green spaces are a joke . Poorly maintained bins not emptied generally being let to run down Whicker is a shame as it was a very nice area . I do not know what they do for their money never see anybody doing anything!!

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

That the alarm didn’t work had to install a new one , also solar panel do not work and electrical problems

What is the best feature of your home:

Good design and living space with a decent back garden and good size garage

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Standard Persimmon Development

Verified Resident

Review Date Dec 2022

Lots of visitors parking on the estate. Small town so plenty of near by shops. Good transport links.

Please review your development:

Site has been adopted by the local council so no management fees which is great as I certainly wouldn’t be happy to pay anyone Persimmon appointed.
Location is great, just a short walk to the main town and local shops. Lots of visitors parking and the roads aren’t really narrow like most new build sites.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

Get a professional snagger! We found so many snags with an untrained eye, I dread to think what we’ve missed.

What is the best feature of your home:

All the work we’ve done ourselves, wasn’t overly impressed with any of the work done by the developer.

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Great new site

Verified Resident

Review Date Dec 2022

We have lots of space on the estate and are about 10 mins work from Rothwell town centre which has a number of pubs and places to eat and takeaways. At the minute no problem with traffic, parking or anti social behaviour.

Please review your development:

Lots of green space on our estate, also feels quite spacey for a new development, the design of the house is great and the site workers tend to be tidy and keen to help as and when needed. Also Persimmon customer care team have always been good with fixing any issues in a timely manner.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

There is a Woodland Valley facebook group which people ask questions on that is answered, I was first on the estate so had no one to ask!

What is the best feature of your home:

Finished to a good standard, no issues and any fixed quickly

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A great place to live but tweaks required.

Verified Resident

Review Date Dec 2022

It’s a lovely quiet area to live in. Shops that are within walking distance are limited at the moment although hopefully this will improve with time. There is a small Sainsbury’s and large Tesco’s within 5 – 10 minutes drive. There are also some fantastic restaurants in the area which are a short drive away and walks in the countryside are virtually on the doorstep.

Parking availability is usually okay, some households do not make full use of their driveway which sometimes causes unnecessary parking issues. Bin collections have always been fine and I haven’t witnessed any anti-social behaviour.

Please review your development:

The general design of the development is good and there is now a small park for children to play in.

It would be better if roads were adopted more quickly as there are ramps at the side of the road for the driveways which although needed get in the way when navigating the road. Roads are muddy and could be kept cleaner and the contractors/ tradespeople drive too fast around the development.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

We already knew the area well so there wasn’t any surprises, good or bad in that respect. However our moving in day could have been a lot smoother! Apparently you need any appointment to collect your key from the sales team (I wasn’t informed of this) which resulted in having the unload our first van load into the garage and garden as weren’t allowed access to our house. Fortunately it wasn’t raining!