u/Top-Link4459

I’m writing on behalf of my parents, who are having a really tough time on their street.

They’ve lived in their home for years — it used to be a nice, quiet area — but lately things have really gone downhill. Cars are parked terribly, there’s more litter about, crime has gone up, and now they’re facing behaviour that feels quite threatening.

My mum has told me she’s starting to feel unsafe. We don’t know exactly who’s behind it, but rubbish keeps getting thrown into their back garden (it could be from any of the four houses that back onto theirs), and her front garden has been damaged — her rose bush has been trampled more than once.

One horrific incident while visiting my parents, was when my husband parked outside a neighbours house, the neighbour came out and told him he couldn’t park there, my husband said he could as it’s not a dropped curb and that we were only going to be a couple of hours. This person in particular started shouting at my husband telling him he needs to move his car and then said that he will ‘r*ape his mother’. This was really shocking and was reported to the police.

This situation is really getting us all down. They love their home, but it feels like they’re being pushed out. We’ve tried going to the council and the police, but neither have been any help.

Has anyone dealt with something similar, or have any advice on what they can do next?

(They’re in Luton, if that makes any difference.).

Thanks in advance.

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.