Where to live between London and Cambridge

[bootswind]

Hi wise Mumsnetters

Looking for location ideas where one of us can commute to London (North) and the other can commute to Cambridge.

Budget up to £500k for a house.

Decent restaurant choice a must!

Some friends of ours live in Newport Essex, which serves both of the ear travel needs. Can't comment on restaurants though.

Bishop’s Stortford

I have friends who do this who live in Letchworth Garden City, it’s quite twee though if you don’t mind that!

Stansted Mountfitchet, Newport, Clavering, saffron Walden, Great Chesterford, whittlesford ( train stations at Audley End for saffron Walden on fast line, whittleford and mountfitchet on fast line, slow trains from Newport and great Chesterford)

Are you the person who posted this thread under a different name? (Same question basically)
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4448529-Where-to-live-commutable-to-North-London-and-Cambridge

@Minorissue

Stansted Mountfitchet, Newport, Clavering, saffron Walden, Great Chesterford, whittlesford ( train stations at Audley End for saffron Walden on fast line, whittleford and mountfitchet on fast line, slow trains from Newport and great Chesterford)

I haven't heard of any of these apart from Saffron Walden, I will have a look! Thank you!

Royston or any of the surrounding villages such as Shepreth, Meldreth abs Bassingbourn. Good train links to both though it depends what kind of house you want for your money as won't go as far as those further off the train line/ from Cambridge.

There are lots of new builds popping up in Royston which is a great location for London and Cambridge (37 min fast service to ldn and 15 ish to Cambridge) however I’m not sure you would get much for 500k. Hitchin is lovely but pricier. Villages like shepreth, foxton, meldreth/Melbourn are worth a look. Welwyn/Letchworth could be options… Saffron Walden is really nice however the train station is quite far from everything.

500k is going to be a bit tight for this area but depends on what your expectations are? Saffron Walden is lovely and so are the surrounding villages.

If you don’t drive, lots of people cycle from Walden to the train station, or there are frequent buses to the station that take 8 mins. If you do drive, there’s a cheaper (by half) car park just down the road from the station. If you’re looking for walking distance from a train station I’d maybe look at the smaller villages on the Liverpool Street line but there are fewer restaurants/amenities.

Lots of nice pubs and restaurants around the whole area.

Sawbridgeworth is nice, although expensive. Bishops Stortford is larger, so more choices. Usually less expensive.

Depends whether you want to come into Kings Cross or Liverpool Street (with option to change for the Victoria line at Tottenham Hale) - those are the two train lines to Cambridge.

Bishops Stortford is a good shout if you don’t mind Tottenham Hale/Liverpool Street. Ditto places like Elsenham, Newport and Saffron Walden/Audley End - the trains are less frequent to Elsenham and smaller stations so if you’re commuting daily, you may prefer Stortford or Saffron Walden (which is a cycle or short drive to the station at Audley End). Or just be very militant with timings.

I see no-one has been brave enough to mention Harlow....
To be fair, the housing budget of 500k would get you a bit more there.

St Neots or villages, if one of you is happy to drive towards Cambridge?

@SiobhanSharpe . Yeh, the silence on that front is deafening…

Old Harlow/church gate street is moderate but isn’t Harlow town one of the worst areas for country lines issues? Have heard some horror stories from teacher friends there

Hitchin is lovely. What are your expectations re the house? For 500k you could get a pretty 3 bed terrace with decent garden.

@carseatnightmare

Hitchin is lovely. What are your expectations re the house? For 500k you could get a pretty 3 bed terrace with decent garden.

3 bed would be perfect. Needs to be walking distance to a train station

Letchworth

Another vote for Hitchin, it's lovely. You should be able to get something for your budget.

So am definitely biased here, but we're looking to upsize this year and will be putting our three double bedroom Victorian terrace on the market in a couple of months- will likely be on for around 450 ish so you can definitely afford something similar! (If not our actual house 😂) ours is a v short walk to the station, also walk into town and good schools. So for you it's definitely worth looking into Hitchin from the sounds of it. We love to hear having moved from London a few years back.

The only thing I would say is there aren't many houses on the market in Hitchin at the moment. Spoke to an estate agent earlier this week who said there are about half the usual number- but that they're getting a lot more valuation bookings through now. So don't be disheartened if you look now and don't see much choice- should be more stock from the spring.

For full clarification, we also looked into surrounding towns eg letchworth, Welwyn, Stevenage, knebworth etc and although all of those options allow for better house for your money, in our opinion (which has remained unchanged), Hitchin has far better schools, a much prettier town and a lot more going on with great independent restaurants, shops etc.

Also the trains in Hitchin are extremely regular and fast both to London and Cambridge which makes a difference to the commute time, whereas from letchworth and Knebworth they are less regular and often slower.

Having said all of that, if schools and commute times etc aren't that important then definitely consider the cheaper areas for a bigger house! There are some beautiful houses in letchworth (I'm just not a big fan of the town centre personally!)

Ah, Hitchin. I used to go out in Hitchin. There was a saying: go to Hitchin, come back scratchin’.

Hitchin is really expensive and it's not all that really. Bishops stortford is nicer, slightly better value for money and on the Stansted Express so better trains. (I've lived in both). There are lots of houses going up around Stortford too so more on the market, both older stock and new build.Schools are great and the surrounding countryside is prettier. It's also an easier drive to Cambridge if needed.
And easier for day trips to the coast in Essex, and Suffolk if that's your bag.
Stansted mountfitchet is also nice and on the same Trainline if you want something more villagey.

I wouldn't say bishops stortford is better for trains. Hitchin trains are faster and thanks to a new line they go into multiple London stations- great for north London in particular.

Hitchin is more expensive but that's for a reason (well, a few reasons actually).

Do agree it's expensive though!!

Hitchin is beautiful. Brill independent shops and restaurants, outstanding schools (both primary and secondary) and close to beautiful countryside.

Anyone recommending Hitchin- do recommend some restaurants there please I didn't see many when I visited other than pizza express!