A Guide to Living in Derby

If you’re looking for a place to settle down and raise a family, Derby is a great option. Located in Derbyshire, England, Derby is a town with plenty to offer its residents. There are several areas in Derby that are perfect for families, as well as some great schools and universities. In this guide, we will take a closer look at Derby and all that it has to offer prospective home buyers!

4.52

Average Location Score

Excellent

63%

Very Good

25%

Average

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Best places to live in Derby

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 Derby?

Derby is located in central England, making it the perfect location for those who commute to other cities such as Nottingham. It is situated on the River Derwent and has a population of around one hundred thousand people.

Areas in Derby

There are lots of areas within Derby that you could choose from if you’re looking for somewhere to live. For example:

Derby city centre – Derby city centre is perfect for those who want to be close to all the action. It’s home to a lively nightlife and plenty of restaurants and shops for you to visit.

St Thomas and Arboretum – This area is a lovely place to live if you want an inner-city location that’s also close by the coast. It has lots of parks and green spaces, including Markeaton Park which hosts an annual food festival called Derby Festé.

Allenton – Allenton is a great place for families to live if you want somewhere with affordable housing prices. It has lots of parks and green spaces, including Allenton Park, and a range of schools to choose from.

Chaddesden – Chaddesden is perfect for those who want to be close to the city centre but also have easy access to the countryside. It has some lovely parks like Chaddesden Park and Stenson Fields Recreation Ground, which are great places for walking your dog or taking kids on a bike ride.

Spondon – Spondon is well known as an area with large detached houses, so it’s popular among those looking for a bigger property. It has some lovely nearby parks such as Markeaton Park and Alvaston Park, both of which are great places to walk or exercise outdoors with friends or family members.

Universities in Derby

Derby has two universities, the University of Derby and De Montfort University. Both universities have received high rankings in recent years, with the University of Derby being ranked as one of the top universities in the UK for employability.

University of Derby – The University of Derby has a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as strong links with businesses in the area. It’s also ranked highly for its employability, making it a great choice for those looking to start their career after university.

De Montfort University – De Montfort University is known for its arts and media courses, and also has a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Schools in Derby

There are a number of good schools in Derby, both state and private:

Merchant Taylors’ School – an independent school that has been rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. It takes both boys and girls up to the age of 18. In 2015, 35% of its students were awarded A* or A grades in their GCSEs.

Littleover Community School – a secondary school with around 1250 pupils. It was rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in 2009 and 2013 but was downgraded to ‘good’ in 2017.

Derby High School – an independent school that takes both girls and boys from ages 13-18. In 2015, 64% of the school’s GCSE students received grades A*-C.

The Moravian School – a private, Christian school with just over 200 students. It has been rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted on all occasions it has been inspected.

Population of Derby

Derby’s population is around 250,000 people, making it the seventh-largest city in England. It’s a diverse and multicultural city, with a wide range of different cultures represented.

Reviews in Derby

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It’s a good Accomodation in a good location

Verified Resident

Review Date Jun 2024

This location is one of the best because it’s close to the town , the clubs , nice corner shops that run till 4 am in the morning .

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It’s got an amazing Lounge , it’s got good security with locks on each floor as well .
Though the kitchens in the apartments need a window rather than just aircons.
The elevators are good but could be better .
Mail box needs to be more secure in the building

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

The fact that the kitchen didn’t have windows and doesn’t feel very ventilated

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

They’ve been swift in attention to issues like fire alarms among other things

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Facilities are really good but can sometimes be difficult to get in touch with estate agent

Verified Resident

Review Date Jun 2024

Sometimes it can get noisy living in the city centre but the building is very secure and parking is secure

Please review your development:

Facilities are really good but can sometimes be difficult to get in touch with estate agent, took me over a week to get a response a few times.

Estate agent I use is based in Manchester so there isn’t a branch I can go into which makes it hard if you want face to face communication

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

Response times from estate agent and how hot the flats get… difficult to keep them cool especially in summer even with windows open

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

It takes a while to get a response through email and phone lines can be difficult

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The area is quite close to all the necessary conveniences and the city centre

Verified Resident

Review Date Jun 2024

The area is quite close to all the necessary conveniences and the city centre. The parking is not sufficient for all the residents but there are a few paid parking facilities near by. Lidl is the closest supermarket (4 mins walk) while Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Iceland are all within 10-15 mins walking distance.

Please review your development:

The rooms are all ensuite and are very spacious. However the kitchen does not have sufficient ventilation and has often triggered fire alarms when someone cooks something slightly smoky. The building management is quite good, there is adequate garbage disposal facility and the maintenance team is responsive most of the time.

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

The security of the place, while it has improved a lot could be slightly better.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

I have had a few issues relating to the electricity meter and my rent account. The team was quite responsive in both the cases.

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Gone downhill

Verified Resident

Review Date Apr 2024

It’s a great location. Very close to the town centre with plenty of shops, bars and restaurants down the street. It can be rough/busy at times but that’s to be expected in a city centre.

Please review your development:

This used to be a well maintained building, good to live in as you can see from my previous review. However it has gone down hill under the new management in recent years.

-the carpets/floors are no longer cleaned throughout the building. The carpet particularly at the side entrance smells overwhelmingly of urine. The lift floors are also sticky and/or smell like urine often. It is embarrassing to invite people over.

-the lifts never all work at once there is always at least one out of order. The ones that do work have no lights or sound indicating the floor level or that the lift has arrived.

-the car park is frequently flooded and can take days to be drained . It also has large pot holes and mould growing in the walls

-the mail boxes are frequently broken into and left – when management was contacted about this nothing was done to resolve it.

-there are cracks and marks all over the building one of the doorways is coming off.

Over all rent has increased in this building and I assume the maintainence fees will have as well yet the it is not maintained well at all

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

Post boxes get broken into don’t get anything important delivered here it will be stolen

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

The building management were contacted regarding the quality of the building maintainence and the broken in mail boxes. The asked that we give them time to fix the issues however nothing has been done nearly a year later.

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