What it's like to live in Buckingham

Buckinghamshire is a county of owner occupiers. Across the council area, 70% of homes are owned outright or with a mortgage, 15.7% are privately rented and 13% are social rented, below the England figure of 17.1%. Housing association homes make up most of that social housing at 10.3%, with council stock just 2.6%, so many tenants here have a housing association rather than the council as their landlord.

The largest social landlords across the county are Fairhive Homes with 8,534 homes, Paradigm Homes Charitable Housing Association with 7,056, Red Kite Community Housing with 5,367, London & Quadrant Housing Trust with 3,105 and Hightown Housing Association with 1,494. Average weekly social rents in 2024/25 were £117 for a one bed, £134 for two beds and £151 for three.

The age profile across Buckinghamshire is close to the national one, with 19.7% under 16, 27.3% aged 45 to 64 and 18.8% aged 65 and over. For context, 2,729 households were on the county's housing register at 31 March 2025 and 1,370 social homes were let through the council in 2024-25, which is why a mutual exchange is often the quicker route.

For a town this size, the school choice is unusually good. Within half a mile or so of the centre you have George Grenville Academy and Buckingham Primary School, with Bourton Meadow Academy at 0.7 miles, Maids Moreton C of E School at 0.8 miles and St James & St John Church of England Primary School at 1.2 miles. That is five primaries inside a short drive or a manageable walk, depending where you live.

At secondary level, Buckingham School is half a mile out and the Royal Latin School just beyond it. Akeley Wood Senior School and Stowe School are also within three miles, both independent. As always, check admissions criteria and catchment areas directly with the schools, as popularity and distance rules change year to year.

Family life outside school hours leans on the parks and the community centre. Bridge Street Park is a couple of hundred metres from the centre, with Heartlands, Stratford Fields, Chandos Park and Verney Park all within half a mile. Buckingham Library is close enough for a regular after-school visit. Around a fifth of residents across the wider Buckinghamshire area are under 16, slightly above the England average.

Being a compact town, Buckingham is easy to get around on foot if you live near the centre. The library is about a tenth of a mile from the middle, the hospital and main supermarket are similarly close, and most primary schools listed sit within a mile. For many households, the daily routine of school, shops and pharmacy can be done without a car.

We do not have detailed bus or rail information for Buckingham in the facts we hold, so we will not guess at routes or journey times. If a bus link matters to you, check the current timetables for the town before you commit to a swap, and ask the person you are swapping with what they actually use.

For drivers, the town is a natural hub for the surrounding villages, and places like Padbury and Akeley are only a couple of miles out. Cycling is realistic for short local trips given the distances involved, though country roads around the edges are best judged in person. Walking between the town centre, the parks and the schools is straightforward.

Green space is one of Buckingham's strengths. Five parks sit within half a mile of the town centre, including Bridge Street Park, Heartlands, Stratford Fields, Chandos Park and Verney Park, so a walk, a kickabout or somewhere for the dog is rarely far. The countryside and villages around the town add to that if you like longer walks.

The town centre has a decent run of pubs for its size: the Kings Head, 13, The Three Cups, The Buckingham Inn and The White Hart are all within a tenth of a mile of each other, which makes an evening out easy without needing to travel. The Film Place, about 0.4 miles away, covers cinema nights locally rather than you having to drive out to a multiplex.

For exercise, there is Fortified in the centre and Bourton Mill Health and Leisure Club just under a mile out. Buckingham Library is right in the middle of town, and the University Library is a short walk further on. Buckingham Community Centre hosts local activities, and the village halls at Maids Moreton, Gawcott, Akeley and Padbury widen the options if you are happy to travel a couple of miles.

The employment picture across the wider Buckinghamshire council area is strong. At the 2021 Census, 61.6% of adults were in work, above the England figure of 57.4%, and unemployment stood at 2.8% against 3.5% nationally. More recently, unemployment-related benefit claimants in August 2026 were 3% of 16 to 64 year olds, compared with 4% across England.

Those numbers cover the whole county of 553,078 people, not Buckingham itself, so treat them as background rather than a guarantee. In a town of around 14,300, local jobs tend to come from the schools, the community hospital, shops, pubs, leisure and the university presence, alongside small businesses.

Be realistic about commuting. Many people in a town this size travel out to work, and your options will depend on whether you drive and how far you are willing to go. If you have a job lined up or you are moving for one, check the journey yourself before agreeing a swap. If you work from home, the mix of a quiet town with shops and a library in walking distance works well.