Possible move to March, Chatteris, North Cambs. Advice please???!!!!

[binweevil]

My husband may have a job in Cambridge, but due to the potential salary and the value of our current house in Yorkshire we can't really afford central Cambridge or its suburbs prices. Houses in March and Chatteris appear to be very reasonable but I'm not sure whether they are nice places to live? We don't need to be near rail links to London and he doesn't mind a longish drive to work as he currently commutes approx an hour each way. We have two kids of primary age, so a half decent school is important though I am not obsessed with league tables and ofsted etc... I have seen a few threads on March, Chatteris etc... and they seem quite negative but they are a few years old so I would really appreciate some honest up to date advice. Do you live in these areas/know these areas? We currently live in a small market town outside of Leeds so we are used to being a fair way out from the city, but enjoy having a little town to shop in etc... Could you recommend any areas? We would be looking at spending approx £200,000 on a 3 bed house, pref with a garden. HELP PLEASE???!!!!

Hello! I live Not In Cambridge, quite a few people commute from my village (Sawtry). In fact, we moved here because DH was working in Cambridge and the houses are cheaper here. There's nothing wrong with March or Chatteris, some may say they are a bit backwards but it depends on what sort of pace you like in life! There are nicer towns that are commutable. Also the transport links are a downside, the fen roads can be pretty crappy. You might prefer somewhere closer to the A1M or the A14, or perhaps close to the guided busway because the drive into Cambridge can be hellish.

You could defo get what you are looking for where I live and the primary school is pretty decent from what I know (my two are not school age yet).

You might want to take a look at St Ives, Godmanchester and Huntingdon. The villages vary quite a bit and some of the villages close to the US air base near Alconbury can be pricey due to demand.

Hope that helps a bit.

I live in the other direction South East of Cambridge, 30 mins drive away. near a town that sounds rather like Helluverhole.
There are some nice villages and small towns around and the houses are a lot cheaper than in Cambridge.

I'm also Not in Cambridge but nearby.

As EauRouge said the fens can have a bit of a "reputation" - webbed feet etc. However those that I know that have lived there have always seemed quite positive and they've usually been from out of the area so I guess reputation becomes less of an issues.

I'd definitely also second looking around the huntingdon / st ives / godmanchester / brampton areas.

I live in one of the above so I'm happy to give you more specific advice via pm if you'd like.

I also near Helluverhole - and there is plenty of more reasonable housing there, especially on the Cambridge side.

I worked in a factory in Helluverhole one summer when i was in sixth form! It was fab!

Again I live Not in Cambridge but north in the same sort of direction as Chatteris and March, but not as far. I second the horrible fen roads which may make your husband's commute from either of the two places mentioned much longer than 1 hour. I would suggest looking for houses on the same side as Cambridge as your husband's work e.g. St Ives, Huntingdon, Waterbeach for the Science Park or town centre and Haverhill for South Cambs. If your husband works in the town centre it may be worth looking at a slightly more expensive house on a train line and then ditch one car. Commuting to work by train and bicycle is very easy to do. Ely and Littleport are both very good places to commute in from with Ely being nicer (in my opinion - guess where I might live ) with better schools.

My friends rave about Swavesey!

We lived in Godmanchester many years ago. We were close to the Post Office and DH drove a bus for Whippet.
My only concern would be lack of public transport if you are out on the fens.
He used to do a route that went round the small villages collecting people to take them to either St Neots or St Ives.
They'd have 20 minutes shopping time before he turned the bus round to do the drop off.

Hi, I agree with all of the above comments. The other option is to consider a different area entirely but which is still commutable to Cambridge such as Bury St Edmunds. BSE itself is perhaps slightly out of budget but the surrounding villages are cheaper and somewhere like Elmswell has a train station with a train direct to Cambridge. Haverhill has massively improved in the past 10 years too but for preference if I couldn't be in Cambridge itself I'd head over to BSE.

Having done it the commute on the a14 if at peak rush hour will be a nightmare! Perhaps look at one of the cheaper towns with a train station such as Huntingdon or Peterborough but be warned - those areas both have some lovely and truly awful areas so do your research!

Just done a rightmove search and there are 3 beds in that budget way nearer than March - as people said depends on where your DH is working -eg which side of cambride
most schools in south cambridgeshire are good - but in some areas very full so might be worth looking into which ones have spaces as well
BSE is very nice - I work there - and loads of people commute to cambridge and there are loads of houses in your price range

There certainly aren't many houses in Cambridge for under £200,000 but there are a few - they are towards North Cambridge in the Kings Hedges/Arbury area and the gardens are not large but there are loads of parks/open spaces and being in the city itself means most things are walking/cycling distance if not then busable. We've moved recently from Godmanchester to Cambridge and got rid of the car as an expense for this very reason.
I know Chatteris/Huntingdon/Godmanchester are good communities in their own right but it is a PITA after a while to drive 30 mins to get anywhere.
Know the area well though so shout if you like :)

Ely is definitely worth exploring, as another poster said. Good primary schools, lots of parks and green spaces for children, reasonable range of shops, some decent pubs and a couple of good restaurants, and it's just over 15 mins from Cambridge on the train, or a good half hour in the car (rising to about an hour at busy times).

If I was going to commute into Cambridge, I wouldn't want to do it from March/Chatteris. Rush hour on the A10/A14 is not fun, and it's about a 50 min journey outside of rush hour, assuming you don't get stuck behind a tractor...

I reckon on your budget you'd get something about 5 miles outside of Cambridge that meets your spec - have you looked at Bar Hill, Longstanton, Swavesey, Willingham etc...?

I want us to buy this gorgeous place Ramsey is in the march/chatteris sort of area, and dh is working there at the moment. we live in central cambridge ansd this is a bloody bargain!! Try Ramsey, Warboys etc. Cheap houses, and not too bad area!

when we were looking to move from London, we had March in our minds. I am bloody glad that we didn't do it!! I don't know what commuting is like in Yorkshire but the roads out here are such a struggle. I often work in the fens and go "against" the traffic going to the bigger towns and it crawls along. Not to mention trucks on the roads slowing things down. You can't get anywhere quickly.

I don't know what living in March is like but I have worked in several schools in the area. The children are lovely and very well behaved. So, there's a plus :)

my opinion is that anywhere technically 20 miles north or west of Cambridge city will take twice the usual driving time on the motorway at peak hour. I agree with all of the villages that have been suggested - Sawtry, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Swavesy St Ives. St Ives also has a good link to the infamous guided busway.

The A14 is such a slow road that even Swavesey would be a 1 hour commute and that is only 12 or so miles from Cambridge. It has great schools and is on the guided busway
here
March and Chatteris have their own subculture and are frankly scary imo but then I am a city girl. There is a reason property is cheap there.