Leicestershire: Key Areas & Locations Guide

Are you looking to live in the leicestershire area?

The county of Leicestershire spans over 832 square miles, so there is a significant range of property prices and types of location.

Even a farmhouse on the edge of one Charnwood Forest village might sell for £150,000 more than an almost identical property in the next settlement along – simply because of a conservation area boundary, a sought-after primary school, or a faster road into Leicester. As well as working within your budget, getting the location right will have a major impact on factors such as your lifestyle, the accessibility to places of work, schools and local amenities.

The county wraps around the city of Leicester and divides into several distinct zones: the market towns and rural villages of the south and east (Harborough district), the commuter belt and Charnwood Forest settlements to the north and northwest, the Hinckley and Bosworth area to the southwest, the Melton Mowbray corridor to the northeast, and the Blaby district immediately south of the city.

Each area has its own pricing, its own buyer profile, and its own reasons to be preferred or avoided depending on what you’re actually looking for. This guide works through those zones in detail.

Notable Locations in Leicestershire

The county’s most consistently sought-after locations share a handful of characteristics: conservation area or village setting, good access to the A6, A47, or M1/M69 roads, proximity to an Ofsted-rated Outstanding primary school, and a period property stock that hasn’t been heavily altered.

Here’s a few prominent areas worth considering if you are keen to move within leicestershire.

1. Great Glen, Kibworth Harcourt, and Kibworth Beauchamp in Harborough district are among the most reliably in-demand villages for family buyers relocating from Leicester or buying into the county from outside. Great Glen sits on the A6 south of Leicester with direct bus links into the city; Kibworth’s two villages share a strong community and a highly regarded primary school. Sold price data for LE8 postcodes shows detached properties in these villages regularly completing above £420,000, with larger homes on plot frequently exceeding £700,000.
2. Market Harborough itself warrants a separate mention. The town has a direct rail connection to London St Pancras in around an hour, and that commuter pull has made it one of the most competitive markets in the county. The streets immediately surrounding the town centre conservation area, like those off Coventry Road and in the St Mary’s Road quarter, carry a premium for Victorian and Edwardian terraces and semis.
3. Groby, Newtown Linford, and Woodhouse Eaves in Charnwood represent the premium tier for buyers who want Charnwood Forest access combined with Leicester commutability. Newtown Linford, which sits at the entrance to Bradgate Park, is the most expensive of the three: the village has a designated conservation area and a limited housing stock, which keeps supply tight and prices high. Woodhouse Eaves, a mile or so further into the forest, attracts buyers who want the same landscape without the Bradgate Park footfall. Both villages sit in the LE12 postcode, where detached property prices have consistently run above the Charnwood district average.
4. Uppingham Road corridor and Oadby deserve a note for buyers focused on the southeast fringe of Leicester. Oadby (LE2) has long been associated with the catchments of the Oadby Grammar Schools, and streets within the catchment boundary, particularly those closest to Gartree Road and the Wigston Road axis, carry a measurable premium over comparable properties just outside it. It is advisable to check the admissions criteria and catchment areas of specific schools before deciding on a location, if this is a high priority.

Distinct Areas within Leicestershire

Harborough District: The South and East

Harborough is consistently one of the most expensive districts in Leicestershire. Its combination of attractive market towns, well-preserved villages, and the Market Harborough rail connection makes it the first choice for buyers priced out of comparable Northamptonshire or Rutland locations. Beyond Market Harborough itself, villages such as Husbands Bosworth, Lutterworth (technically Harborough district boundary), and Fleckney offer more accessible price points while still sitting within the district’s generally well-regarded school provision.

Lutterworth has grown considerably since the expansion of the M1 junction 20 logistics corridor. That growth has brought new housing and a substantial proportion of Lutterworth’s stock is post-2000 but it has also brought road pressure on the A426. Buyers weighing Lutterworth against the more established village settlements further east should factor in the town’s ongoing residential expansion, which includes large allocated sites on its northern edge.

Charnwood: The Northwest Arc

Charnwood district stretches from the northern suburbs of Leicester up through Loughborough and into the Charnwood Forest itself. The district divides clearly into two buyer markets. The first is the Loughborough catchment: a university town with a younger population profile, strong rental demand, and a housing stock that ranges from Victorian terraces in the town centre to newer detached estates on its fringes. The second is the Charnwood Forest villages of Woodhouse Eaves, Swithland, Newtown Linford, Quorn, and Mountsorrel, each with a distinct character and price point.

Quorn and Mountsorrel both sit on the River Soar and have good road access to Loughborough and Leicester, making them popular with buyers who want a period village feel without the full rural trade-off on commute time. Swithland has the most distinctive architecture of the Charnwood Forest villages, with its slate-roofed cottages, a conservation area covering the village centre, and almost no new development. Stock turns over rarely, and when it does, competition tends to be strong.

Blaby District: The Southern Commuter Belt

Blaby district sits immediately south of Leicester and functions primarily as commuter territory for the city. Blaby town itself, Countesthorpe, Broughton Astley, and Whetstone are the main settlements. These are predominantly suburban in character, with a mix of post-war and more recent housing estates. They serve buyers for whom Leicester access is the priority and the village premium of Harborough or Charnwood isn’t justified by their budget or requirements.

Broughton Astley has expanded significantly over the past two decades and now functions almost as a small town rather than a village. That growth has brought facilities, but it has also diluted the village character that some buyers initially come looking for.

Melton and the Northeast

The Melton district, centred on Melton Mowbray, is the most rural of Leicestershire’s main market town zones. Melton itself is a traditional agricultural market town with a lower average property price than Harborough or Charnwood, reflecting its distance from the Leicester road links and the absence of a rail connection to London.

That said, the villages east and north of Melton, Scalford, Somerby, Cold Overton, and the Waltham on the Wolds area, attract buyers specifically looking for the most rural Leicestershire experience, often with equestrian land or agricultural buildings.

Hinckley and Bosworth: The Southwest

Hinckley and Bosworth district covers the southwestern corner of the county, from Hinckley town out to the Bosworth battlefield area and the villages of Market Bosworth, Desford, and Ratby. Market Bosworth is the standout location in this district: a small market town with a well-regarded independent school (Dixie Grammar), a conservation area covering the town square and surrounding streets, and a price premium that clearly reflects both the school pull and the town’s architectural quality.

Buyers comparing Market Bosworth with villages elsewhere in the district will find a considerable step up in both price and competition.

Overlooked & Understated Locations

Not every good area to live in Leicestershire is well-known. Each of the locations below are excellent places to live and are well worth further consideration.

• Fleckney in Harborough district is a working village that doesn’t carry the profile of Kibworth or Great Glen, despite sitting in the same general area. It has a reasonable range of local facilities, good A6 access, and property prices that sit noticeably below its better-known neighbours. The village has seen some industrial development nearby (the Venture Park site off Churchill Way has outline consent for up to 10 units), which may be a consideration for some buyers, but the residential streets away from that corridor are quiet and largely unaffected.
• Quorn is underrated relative to Woodhouse Eaves and Newtown Linford. It has the River Soar, a good range of independent shops and pubs, a strong village feel, and easier road access to both Loughborough and Leicester than the other villages in the forest. Prices are lower than in Woodhouse Eaves, and the housing stock is more varied, which means there are more entry points for buyers who want Charnwood Forest proximity without the top-of-market commitment.
• Barrow upon Soar sits just north of Quorn and is similarly undervalued relative to its setting. The village has a working quarry on its edge, which affects its profile, but the residential streets away from the quarry access roads are pleasant and well-connected. It’s a village that buyers who know Charnwood well tend to look at but those searching from outside the area often overlook it.
• Earl Shilton in Hinckley and Bosworth is a town that has attracted little attention from buyers looking for the commuter belt market, despite sitting within reasonable reach of the M69. It’s primarily a working-class town with a mix of pre-war and post-war terraces, but it offers some of the most affordable three-bedroom housing in the county for buyers whose priority is space over postcode.
• Somerby in Melton district is a genuinely attractive rural village that doesn’t appear in many buyers’ searches because Melton Mowbray doesn’t have the commuter profile of Harborough. For buyers who work remotely or have a local employer, Somerby offers stone-built village character at prices well below comparable villages in the Charnwood Forest or Harborough corridors.

Rental and Owner-Occupier Character

Leicestershire’s tenure mix varies sharply by location. The villages of Harborough, Charnwood Forest, and the market town fringes are overwhelmingly owner-occupied and private rental in these settlements is limited. Landlords looking for yield-driven buy-to-let investments rarely find the numbers work at the prices these villages command.

The rental market is concentrated in Loughborough, Hinckley, Melton Mowbray, and the suburban Blaby and Oadby settlements. Loughborough is the most significant rental location in the county, driven by its education institutions Loughborough University and Loughborough College, and a large student and young professional population. Streets within a mile of the university campus have a high concentration of HMO properties, and landlords buying in this market need to be aware of Charnwood Borough Council’s Article 4 Direction, which restricts the conversion of family homes to HMOs in designated areas without specific planning permission.

For landlords looking at the county more broadly, the Hinckley market offers better yield potential than the southern villages, with lower entry prices and consistent demand from workers in the logistics and manufacturing sectors that operate around the M1/M69 junction. Melton Mowbray similarly has a more accessible price point, though the rental pool is smaller and more locally oriented.

The Oadby and Wigston area has a mixed tenure profile where the streets closest to the grammar school catchment are strongly owner-occupied, with families buying specifically for school access, while the wider suburban streets have a higher proportion of privately rented properties, many of them three-bedroom semis.

Development & Infrastructure

In Lutterworth, the continued expansion of the logistics corridor around junction 20 of the M1 is driving residential development pressure. Large allocated housing sites on the northern edge of the town are progressing through the planning system, which will add significantly to the town’s housing stock over the next decade. That growth brings infrastructure pressure as well as opportunity: the A426 through the town is already congested at peak hours, and buyers considering Lutterworth should factor in how that may develop.

The Fleckney industrial site at Venture Park (Churchill Way Industrial Estate) has outline planning consent for up to ten commercial units on a 3.28-acre site. This is a relatively modest development in terms of its likely impact on the residential streets of the village, but buyers looking at properties closest to the Churchill Way area should be aware of it.

In Market Harborough, the town centre has benefited from ongoing public realm investment, and the rail connection to London continues to underpin demand. No major disruptive development is currently proposed for the town centre conservation area, which gives buyers there reasonable confidence that the streetscape they’re buying into is unlikely to change materially.

Looking to Buy or Invest in Leicestershire?

Having worked through the county’s locations, the practical next step is talking to an agent who knows which streets and villages are actually moving and at what price. Whether you’ve identified a specific village or are still weighing up districts, contact us to discuss what’s available and where. You can also browse current properties through our Leicestershire property search to see what’s on the market across the county right now.

Frequently Asked Questions