Living in Leicestershire: A Complete Area Guide

Wondering where to live in Leicestershire and what it’s like to move there?

Our guide gives you a brief overview of the key towns, villages and locations you’ll find – whether you’re looking for a family home or a tract of land to buy.

One of the main appeals of living in Leicestershire is affordability compared to other parts of the country but there are many other benefits that are often overlooked. The county gives you market towns with genuine character, a countryside that runs from the rolling Charnwood hills to the broad Vale of Belvoir, and property prices that still make sense relative to what you get.

The commute to Leicester city centre is short, and for those who need London, the train journey from the East Midlands is under an hour on the fastest services.

The county covers around 832 square miles and is home to roughly 712,600 people, spread across a mix of market towns, villages, and suburban fringes. It borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south, and Warwickshire to the west. The city of Leicester sits at its centre but is a separate unitary authority. What the county offers is a range of former mining communities of North West Leicestershire, the commuter towns of Charnwood and Blaby, the quieter rural parishes of Harborough district, and everything in between.

People are drawn here for different reasons at different life stages. Families come for the schools and the space. Buyers priced out of Nottingham or Northampton come for the value. Those relocating from London come for the pace. And increasingly, remote workers come because the infrastructure is good enough and the cost of living is materially lower than the south-east.

Why Live in Leicestershire?

The most straightforward answer is that Leicestershire offers a lot of what buyers want without the price premium that comes with equivalent areas further south. Average sold prices across the county sit meaningfully below the national average while still buying you a substantial family home in a well-served town or village. The county also emerged as the UK’s leading county for new-build developments in 2025, which means choice is growing in areas that have historically been undersupplied.

Beyond price, the county has a genuinely varied landscape. Bradgate Park in Charnwood is one of the East Midlands’ most visited open spaces, Rutland Water (just over the border) is within easy reach of the eastern parishes, and the National Forest covers large parts of North West Leicestershire. Market towns like Market Harborough, Loughborough, Hinckley, and Melton Mowbray each have their own distinct character and a self-contained high street, which matters if you want to live somewhere that doesn’t require a car for every errand.

The county also has a strong employment base. Loughborough University is one of the country’s leading research institutions and a significant local employer. The logistics and distribution sector is heavily concentrated in the M1 corridor around Lutterworth and Hinckley. And Leicester city, though separate from the county administratively, sits at the centre of the travel-to-work area for most of Leicestershire’s population.

One further factor worth noting is that the county is undergoing significant structural change. The government set out plans that from April 2028, the current two-tier council structure will be replaced by two new unitary authorities, one covering an expanded Leicester and one covering the rest of Leicestershire and Rutland. However, these plans are currently being reviewed and buyers purchasing now should be aware that the local government landscape could look different within a few years.

Who Is Leicestershire Best Suited To?

Leicestershire is probably least well suited to buyers who need fast, frequent rail access to central London as a daily commute. It is also not the right choice for those who want a self-contained urban lifestyle without a car because outside the main towns, public transport coverage is patchy and a car is essentially necessary.

Leicestershire Property Market and Prices

The county’s property market covers a wide range, from terraced housing in former mining towns in the north-west through to substantial detached farmhouses and period manor properties in the rural south. The average property price across Leicestershire was £302,472 based on the most recently published figures, which is slightly above the national average but there are lots of locations where property prices sit below the national average, including Leicester (£227,000).

Detached homes dominate the aspirational end of the market in villages and the outer fringes of market towns. Semi-detached properties are the workhorse of the county’s volume market, particularly in Charnwood, Blaby, and Oadby and Wigston districts. Terraced housing is concentrated in the older urban cores of Loughborough, Hinckley, and Coalville, and tends to offer the best entry-level prices in the county.

New-build activity is substantial. Leicestershire’s position as the country’s most active county for new development in 2025 means that buyers considering new homes have a wide range of sites to consider, particularly around Hinckley, Melton Mowbray, and the Harborough district.

Below are the average prices across the different districts of Leicestershire (Leicester excluded)…

Property prices & average rent across Leicestershire

Transport in Leicestershire

Leicestershire’s transport position is defined by the M1 corridor to the west and the rail connections through Leicester city. Road access is generally good – rail is more variable depending on where in the county you are.

Cycling infrastructure is improving, particularly around Loughborough and in the National Forest area, where traffic-free routes have been extended in recent years. The Midland Main Line electrification programme, has been paused and there is uncertainty whether the plans will be resumed.

Schools and Education in Leicestershire

Leicestershire has a broad spread of state school provision, including a selective grammar system in parts of the county.

The table below covers a representative selection of well-regarded schools; families should check the Ofsted website directly for the full picture across their specific district.

Loughborough University is the county’s most prominent higher education institution and is consistently ranked among the UK’s top universities for sport science, engineering, and design. For families, the Charnwood and Harborough districts tend to offer the strongest concentration of well-rated schools, though provision varies considerably between districts. Buyers with children should verify current Ofsted ratings directly, as inspections are ongoing and ratings change.

Local Amenities in Leicestershire

Market Harborough has a well-kept town centre with independent shops, a covered market, and a Waitrose. Loughborough has a larger offer, including a twice-weekly open-air market that has traded since the 13th century, a covered market hall, and a full range of national supermarkets. Melton Mowbray’s market, held on Tuesdays and Saturdays, is one of the most established in the region and draws buyers from across the county.

Hinckley has undergone significant retail investment in recent years and now has The Crescent shopping centre alongside its traditional high street. Coalville has less retail options but it serves the practical needs of North West Leicestershire well, and the £300,000 Vitality Fund launched by North West Leicestershire District Council is targeted at improving the retail and public realm offer in six town and village centres across the district.

For buyers in the rural parishes, the market towns are within reasonable driving distance for weekly shopping, and most villages have at least a convenience store and a pub. The larger villages, particularly in Charnwood and Harborough, often have farm shops and delis that reduce the need to travel for higher-quality food shopping.

Restaurants, Pubs and Bars in Leicestershire

Leicestershire has a strong pub culture rooted in its rural character, and the county’s village pubs are generally better than average. The Cow and Plough in Oadby is a long-established real ale pub that brews its own beer and has been a fixture of the local scene for decades. Sapphire Seafood Kitchen in Leicester, and the Hammer and Pincers and John’s House in Loughborough have excellent reputations and are considered to be some of the best restaurants in the county.

In Loughborough, the town centre has a good spread of independents alongside the national chains, with the Needle and Pin and the Swan in the Rushes both well regarded for their real ale selection.

Melton Mowbray is worth singling out for food. As the home of the pork pie and Stilton cheese, it has a food identity that most market towns would envy, and the town’s delis and food producers reflect that. The annual Melton Mowbray Food Festival is one of the better-attended food events in the region.

The rural south of the county, particularly around Market Harborough, has a good spread of gastropubs in the surrounding villages. Buyers moving to that part of the county will find that the local pub is often a genuine social hub rather than an afterthought.

Local Medical Provision in Leicestershire

GP provision across the county is delivered through a mix of single-site practices and larger health centres. The picture is broadly adequate in the market towns, where population density supports larger practices with extended hours, but more stretched in rural areas where practices serve dispersed populations across multiple villages.

The county’s main acute hospitals are University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, which operates the Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield Hospital, and Leicester General Hospital. Glenfield Hospital, which specialises in cardiac and respiratory services.

Parks and Green Spaces in Leicestershire

Leicestershire’s green space offer is one of its strongest selling points. Bradgate Park, covering around 850 acres in Charnwood Forest, is the county’s most visited open space and one of the few places in England where red deer roam freely. It has a rugged, moorland quality unusual for the Midlands, with granite outcrops, woodland, and the ruins of Bradgate House adding historic interest.

The National Forest covers a significant portion of North West Leicestershire and extends into Derbyshire and Staffordshire. It has added millions of trees to the landscape since the 1990s and now offers an extensive network of walking and cycling trails through maturing woodland. Beacon Hill Country Park in Charnwood is another well-used green space, with panoramic views across the county from its summit.

In the south of the county, the Welland Valley and the Grand Union Canal corridor provide accessible walking and cycling routes through open farmland. The canal towpath between Market Harborough and Leicester is particularly well used by walkers and cyclists. Rutland Water, just over the county boundary, is within easy reach of the Harborough district and offers sailing, cycling, and birdwatching around one of the largest man-made reservoirs in England.

Community and Lifestyle in Leicestershire

Leicestershire has a distinctive local identity that is easy to miss from the outside but becomes clear quickly once you’re living here. The county’s food heritage of Stilton cheese, Melton Mowbray pork pies, and Red Leicester cheese all carry protected geographical status, and the local food and farming culture is genuinely embedded rather than marketed for tourists. The Melton Mowbray Food Festival, held annually, draws tens of thousands of visitors and is a good measure of how seriously the county takes its food identity.

The county’s tourism economy is substantial, worth £2.67 billion and growing, with over 32 million visitors to the city and county combined. The county portion of that figure reflects the draw of Bradgate Park, the National Forest, the historic market towns, and the growing rural tourism offer around the Vale of Belvoir and Charnwood. For residents, that means the infrastructure to support visitors, including good independent accommodation, food, and leisure facilities, is also available day-to-day.

Sport is woven into the county’s identity in ways that go beyond Leicester City and Leicester Tigers, though both clubs command much local loyalty. Loughborough’s sporting infrastructure, built around the university, makes it one of the best places in the country to train at an amateur level across a wide range of disciplines.

The county also has a strong voluntary sector. North West Leicestershire alone has over 800 active litter-picking volunteers, and community groups are well organised across most of the market towns. For buyers moving from a more anonymous urban environment, the level of community engagement in Leicestershire’s smaller towns and villages can be a genuine adjustment, in a good way.

Looking to Buy, Rent or Invest in Leicestershire?

King West covers the Leicestershire market across sales, lettings, rural property, and land – with a team that has detailed knowledge of the county’s towns, villages, and investment opportunities. If you’re ready to start your search, you can register as a buyer or tenant to be matched with relevant properties as they come to market, contact us to discuss what you’re looking for in more detail – or search for our properties directly.

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