Cambridge or London?

[carolineofcanton]

I previously posted about moving to Britain. Me and my family are relocating from abroad, and we were advised to consider setting up in London first. We have narrowed our choices down to Cambridge and London. We have visited both cities as a family, but we have no idea what they're like to live in. DH studied in England (not London) and has been to London many times, both as a student and later in his working life.

If London, what are some nice, family-friendly areas? We're from a city that is very safe and have heard that parts of London are dangerous. Not sure if exaggerated. What areas to avoid as a family? Our dream is to live in a house with a garden. I'm not a driver so good public transport is a must or I will have to earn a new licence/rely on my husband as chauffeur Does Cambridge have good transport links into london?

Milton is home to the Cambridge sewage works and frequently smells awful - wouldn't recommend it at all!

Where is work or family based? Epsom is ok but very urban and variable areas.

OP you need to clarify your work situation - where will you or DH be commuting to? Epsom and Cambridge seem very random dispersed options so what is your draw to the UK?

You're generalising too much about Chesterton and Arbury; neither are estates (although there are estates within them) and they're both mixed areas. There's social housing but also some very middle class areas with expensive houses. As a general rule West Chesterton is pretty expensive and East Chesterton has more social housing and also a section where travellers live. There are plenty of people with jobs in academia/science/tech and all sorts of other professions living in CB4.

DH has secured a job in Clerkenwell.
Can someone explain to me what is an estate?

An estate (or more fully, council estate, not to be confused with a country estate or even an estate agent, very different things!) is an area of high density, sometimes low quality housing build by the authorities in the post-war through to around 1970s period, mainly to house working class and poorer families. Think tower blocks, lots of packed in low-rise small houses etc. These days the ownership of most estates will be mixed, some local authority or housing association owned, some private owned or private rented but particularly outside London they're still very much associated with poorer people and all the (real or perceived) issues that go with that, higher crime rates, antisocial behaviour etc. Plus on many estates the original build quality wasn't great and has now deteriorated over time and most of them weren't particularly aesthetically pleasing even when new. Not totally dissimilar to US "projects" although not quite as rough, many people live very happy and safe lives on estates, but to describe an area as strongly associated with a particular estate is to call it out as very un-middle class and therefore no MNetter would or should ever want to live anywhere near there😂sorry OP, you'll have to get used to all the class-based nuances if you come to live here!

Cambridge is lovely but the commute to London is long and expensive.

I'd look at Upminster or Gidea Park which are in the outer London borough of Havering. Very regular trains into London and as it's in the London travel area (zone 6) the cost is fairly reasonable. Lots of reliable, frequent bus routes too (I live in Gidea Park and don't drive, I can easily get everywhere I need to go.

We've got good schools, lovely parks, plenty of decent cafes and restaurants and loads of family/kids activites. You'd get a really nice house for your money.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139211051#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/131733122#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/138811949#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140778155#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139779017#/?channel=RES_BUY

Haha, I wouldn’t describe Epsom as ‘very urban’ as one PP mentioned. Suburban yes, ‘very urban’ absolutely nooooo! Epsom’s got some very nice, affluent areas and like Cambridge and the nicer parts of London, your budget won’t go as far there as some other places. I’m also surprised that some PPs recommended Milton. Fine, yes, but if you’re attracted to the beauty of Cambridge, it’s just a standard village you could find anywhere, nothing special about it and it’s the wrong side of Cambridge for the railway station.

Plenty of people live in Cambridge and commute to London. It’s doable, but you want to be living near the station, otherwise traffic to get there will be a nightmare and parking expensive. I’d be suggesting somewhere south of Cambridge. Bishop’s Stortford isn’t a bad idea as it’s halfway between the two and very quick into London. Your money will go further there for housing and there a plenty of good schools. Ideally I’d rent first and get to know some of these places before you make a potentially costly mistake.

I don't think estates just refer to council estates though - they can also refer to new build or new ish build estates - i.e. a collection of houses planned as a whole rather than building up over time and they can vary massively in quality.

i should also mention Saffron Walden, absolutely gorgeous and also roughly halfway between London and Cambridge.

If you live in Cambridge you can get away without driving (in fact with Cambridge traffic you’d be mad to drive). Avoid the villages as public transport is nonexistent. Milton isn’t great - the primary school is in special measures.

Lots of new builds going up in Cambridge - Trumpington and Marleigh.

Can’t help on London but if you can’t drive I would avoid any of the commuter towns on the train line.

Surely you can narrow this down with need to commute to work and schools? I would start there.

traffic and transport will make or break your decisions.

Clerkenwell is near Kings Cross so you might want to look up and down the Thameslink rail service (although reliability has increasingly become an issue) - St Albans perhaps. Cambridge is doable but any commuting will cost you and agree if you don't drive it limits access to the station where housing supply might be limited nearby. How often is he needing to commute?

King's cross/St Pancras and Farringdon are the most convenient mainline stations for clerkenwell.
Trains to and from Cambridge go to both of those stations, but as PP say a season ticket would be pretty expensive, also public transport is very good in most London boroughs but can vary (and is more expensive) outside London.

With a job in London I don't think I'd move to Cambridge, the commute is expensive and time-consuming. That said, there are some nice enough places on the train line into King's Cross. They won't have great public transport though! I'd go for London if I were you.

You could definitely get a house with a garden in north west London for £600-£800k. Harrow has really excellent schools and good transport links and has a lot in that price range. Some parts (like Pinner or Eastcote) are a bit nicer than others but it’s mostly nice. Very multicultural.

We have similar housing schemes granted by the government. It's usual for middle class housing to stand adjacent to public housing. They are completely safe. I was raised in middle class housing, but people in the nearby public housing were school friends, colleagues. Etc.

Thank you everyone for all the information very helpful

Milton primary school is fundamentally a good school - it got Inadequate for one specific thing which was dealt with. It got good for most things.

But I wouldn't live in Milton and work in Clerkenwell.

This. There are several estates near us that are far from council houses. Lots of nice 4 bed detached. All privately owned.