What it's like to live in Cirencester

Housing in the Cotswold district leans heavily towards ownership: 65.1% of homes are owned, 17.4% are privately rented and 15.4% are social rented, a little below the England figure of 17.1%. Only 1.7% is council housing; most social homes, 13.7%, belong to housing associations, so your landlord here is far more likely to be an association than the council.

The biggest social landlord by some distance is Bromford Housing Association with around 4,900 homes, followed by Cottsway with 457, Sovereign Network Group with 447, Stonewater with 340 and The Guinness Partnership with 285. Average weekly social rents in the district for 2024/25 were about £104 for a one bed, £126 for two beds and £142 for three.

The population skews older than England as a whole: 29.4% are aged 45 to 64 and 26.1% are 65 or over, with 15.9% under 16. Demand for social housing is real, with 1,775 households on the Cotswold register at March 2025 and 303 homes let through the council in 2024-25, which is part of why swapping is worth pursuing.

There is a good spread of primary schools for a town this size. Powell's Church of England Primary is about a third of a mile from the centre, with Cirencester Primary and Watermoor Church of England Primary both around half a mile, Chesterton Primary under a mile and Siddington Church of England Primary just over a mile out in the villages. Most families here have more than one realistic option within a walk or short drive.

For older children, Cirencester Kingshill School and Cirencester Deer Park School are both around a mile from the centre, and Paternoster School, which is a special school, is closer in at about half a mile. Check admissions and catchment with Gloucestershire County Council before you plan a move around a particular school.

Outside school hours there is plenty to fill a weekend without spending much. The Abbey Grounds and St Michael's Park are both within half a mile, City Bank is a little further, and Cirencester Library is right in the centre. Community buildings such as The Bothy, St Peters Hall and the Parish Hall, plus village halls at Stratton and Siddington, tend to be where local groups and children's activities happen.

Cirencester is a town you can cover on foot more easily than most. The library, the shopping and arts centre at New Brewery Arts, pubs, pharmacies and the Abbey Grounds are all within about a quarter of a mile of the middle, and Waitrose is barely further. If you live centrally, a daily shop or a trip to the doctor need not involve driving at all.

From the outer neighbourhoods the distances grow but stay manageable. Chesterton, Watermoor and Stratton are roughly half a mile to a mile and a half from the centre, which is a walk or a short cycle for most people, and the larger supermarkets at around a mile out are set up for car parking.

We do not have reliable bus or rail detail for Cirencester in our figures, so check current timetables and nearby station options yourself before you commit, especially if you commute or do not drive. Ask anyone you are swapping with what the real journey times are to work, school and the hospital, and try the trip at the time of day you would actually do it.

Green space is one of the town's strong points. The Abbey Grounds sit just behind the centre and are the default spot for a walk, a run around or a sandwich at lunchtime. St Michael's Park is a short stroll away, City Bank adds another option, and the larger Cirencester Park is about two and a half miles out for a longer walk.

In town, New Brewery Arts combines shopping with a creative centre, and Cirencester Library is right in the middle for books, computers and the sorts of free sessions libraries run. There is a second library block within a mile, linked to the local college campus.

For evenings out, the centre has a decent cluster of pubs and bars, including The Black Horse, The Crown, Seventeen Black, Somewhere Else and The Mad Hatter, with ReVA for later nights. If you like keeping active, there are several gyms within a mile, from Snap Fitness and PureGym to smaller studios such as F360, P.I.Lates and Elite, so you are not stuck with one option or one price.

Across the wider Cotswold council area, 57.8% of adults were in work at the 2021 Census, just above the England figure of 57.4%. Unemployment was low at 2.1%, compared with 3.5% nationally, and the unemployment-related benefit claimant rate was 2.1% of working-age people against 4% for England. On paper, this is a district where work is relatively easy to come by.

That said, these figures cover the whole district of 90,832 people, not just Cirencester. As the biggest town, Cirencester carries much of the district's shops, hospitality, arts and public services, including the hospital, schools and the college campus, so town-centre and service jobs are a realistic part of the local picture.

The age profile hints at the other side of this. Only 20.4% of the district's residents are aged 25 to 44, below the England figure of 26.6%, while 26.1% are 65 or over. Some younger workers commute out to larger centres. If your job is elsewhere, check the journey carefully before you agree a swap.