What is Newmarket like as a place to live?

[Avocadosmoothie]

Hello, I am relocating to Cambridge next year with my husband and we are wondering what Newmarket is like as a place to live? I am pregnant and we would be looking to raise our family there. Are houses easy to find? We have a budget of c £600 and would like something rural / semi rural so probably the outskirts of a town. Thanks!

NM is a nice little town. Are either of you planning to work in Cambridge?

You won't get much more than a 1 bed place for 600 I'm afraid, even on the outskirts.

Do you mean £600k or £600pcm for rent?

Newmarket is expensive. But loads of lovely villages in and around that area....

You won't get much at all for 600 a month rent however 600 K sale will see a decent range of places. Cambridge is horrendously expensive but as you move away cheaper, but you have to go quite some way.

And as long as you into horses of course;!

Have a look on Rightmove.

Oh yes I had assumed 600 pcm but I guess it could be 600k which is far more useful.

Bottisham is a nice village

Thanks everyone, sorry I missed off a critical k - I meant £600k! My husband would be working close to Addenbrooks. When I look on google maps it says that drive would be 23 mins without traffic. Would it be horrendous at rush hour?

Is it quite a busy town? My main reservation at the minute (before we've visited) is that it would be too urban as we would like somewhere semi rural. How does it feel as a town? Urban? Busy? What kind of character does it have. Really need to get down for a visit. Thanks for any help you can provide in the meantime though!!

I read this yesterday and wondered £600pcm or £600k, then got distracted and didn't reply.

If you are looking to spend £600k I wouldn't choose Newmarket.
It is a town of extremes - there is an amount of wealth and lots of poverty.
The town itself isn't very good in terms of shopping, there are lots of bookies, the obligatory coffee shops and mobile phone shops, charity shops, Poundland, QS, Savers etc. Plus a rubbish M&S, Boots, WHSmiths, and a couple of independents - newsagents, butchers, clothes shops.
The Academy (secondary) has a poor reputation and most people I know who live in catchment have sent their children elsewhere.
All traffic in Cambridge is horrendous at rush hour. When late-DH was in Adeenbrookes last year I could do it in just under 20 minutes at say 10pm, in rush hour it would be normal for that to take 40 minutes, and not unusual for it to be an hour.

For a more rural feel, I'd be looking at one of the villages on the Newmarket side of Cambridge. Depending on how close in you want to be your £600k budget would get you a reasonable 4 or 5 bed as long as you didn't go with one of the new developments.

Bury is a lovely town, but an even longer commute.

Newmarket always feels busy to me. As well as the shops listed above it does have a Waitrose and a Tesco pretty central and some nice restaurants. My kids love the horse racing museum.
It would definitely be longer in rush hour to Addenbrookes.
I do think NM is quite a nice town though.

Yes I wasn't listing food shops.
The Waitrose is in town and is pretty good.
There is a new Tesco Extra on the outskirts, and a small Asda, Pets at Home, Halfords and a Homebase on a retail park just next to Tesco.

There is also a leisure centre with a pool & gym next to the Academy. It's only a few years old.

No cinemas - Cambridge, Bury or Ely for that.

There are a number of restaurants, and this had improved over the last decade.

Lovely house for sale near me for 625. Been on the market 2+years. Nothing wrong with it. Bet if you offered 600 they would take it.

bottisham

For your own sakes and everyone else's, please find somewhere to live which doesn't involve driving to the Biomedical Campus. The congestion is already bad, and that's before Papworth, AZ and Abcam all open in the next 18 months. Train, P&R, P&cycle would all be infinitely preferable alternatives.

With a £600k budget and a job at Addenbrooke's I would be looking in Cambridge personally. Commuting by car to Cambridge is awful no matter which side of the city you live on.

And I echo everything Chasing Squirrels said about Newmarket.

How about Saffron Walden. Lovely town in the right side of Cambridge for addenbrookes.

Yes I keep seeing saffron walden, is that smaller than NM? Would probably prefer something closer to a village. We would love to be able to get an old house on a non estate location, although appreciate that's going to be hard to come by on our budget. We don't like new builds and new developments e.g like Trumpington area. What is SW like? Would be fab in terms of commute!

Depends what time your husband starts work. Trains are quick but only once an hour. I drive to Cambridge every day. Before 7am it takes 25 minutes. Can take up to hour after 8. I always avoid the A14. Can't comment on schools as I don't have any children but I like the town, it has all the things you need on a day to day basis. Shops, pubs etc. If not Newmarket, fulbourn is nice, Wilbraham too. And bottisham.

Also try Linton. Saffron walden is nice, a small town not especially "villagey"

Newma To Addenbrooke's in rush hour would be a nightmare!

Better off looking at Villages south of Cambridge but you do get more for your money north of Cambridge. Try the Shelfords or Whittlesford Harston/Haslingfield

I live west of Cambridge and love the village I’m in.
A few of my friends live here and work at addenbrookes.

What age children do you have op?

I'm pregnant with our first so schools etc an important factor

Which village are you in?

Bourn. Amazing primary school, lovely nursery and 2 great cafe’s
Thriving pub, hairdressers and the nicest doctors surgery I’ve ever encountered.
I’ve lived here for 14 years and my kids both went to the primary school and catchment secondary.