Where to live in Cambridge/ Cambridgeshire, please?

[Batlou]

Our daughter and her boyfriend are thinking of moving out of London.

Heres the criteria:

She would need to get to work in the Hills Road area
He mainly works from home but will access to trains to London a couple of times a week
They need to get to the A11 to drive to Norfolk to visit us!
They need a good primary school and to live somewhere where they can settle, make friends and build a nice family life.

I don’t know the area at all. What would you suggest, please?

Thanks in advance.

Have a look at Sawston, if she's prepared to cycle to Hills Road area. Can you estimate budget?

We need to know budget. Cambridge is very expensive and varies quite a lot in different areas.

Hopeless without a budget. Cambridgeshire can be as expensive as London.

Huntingdon and Hemingford Grey always used to be lovely, though I haven't been for a few years.

Cottenham. Good primary school, good links in to Cambridge with guided bus route. Lots of young families. Right side of Cambridge for Norfolk

And from Cottenham can get train from waterbeach to London

They need south Cambridgeshire to have easy access to train stations, Hills Road and the A11, although they could probably compromise and go for somewhere on the Cambs/Suffolk border like Mildenhall or Lakenheath which would give good access to the A11 but is a tricky commute to the centre of Cambridge. It’s be much much cheaper than South Cambs,

Budget will be a huge factor. A lot of Cambridge is expensive. We bought in an area classed as less desireable (it was fine) but it still wasn’t cheap. Most of Cambridge you can bike to from another part of the city quite easily. I used to push my double buggy across the city a lot.

All depends on budget. Sawston and Great Abington are lovely. I live in Haverhill which is a 20min drive into Cambridge and like it here, it's also quite a lot cheaper.

Thank you so much for your replies. I think their budget will be in the region of £500k.

I live in Haverhill which is a 20min drive into Cambridge

Good grief, how fast do you drive?

Here's one in Babraham (which has a teeeeeny primary school, a pub, a science park and pretty much nothing else -- though it's a few minutes' cycle ride to Sawston for shops)

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-88709726.html

Maybe Sawston? It's a decent sized village with schools etc and just next to Whittlesford where there's regular trains to Liverpool Street and into Cambridge.

Sorry, make that £700k.

Thank you.

Great Shelford in that case! Lovely little village, cycle, bus or train into town, right side for the a11.

With £700K they should be able to get something in the city. Queen Edith (Near Addenbrooke's hospital) area is near Hills Rd, the A11, & the station, and has some pretty substantial houses. Schools would be Queen Anne or Morley Memorial and there are lots of families in that area. It also means no ferrying about as Cambridge is VERY congested so driving in the city is to be avoided where possible.

@Tingalingle at the speed limit. It takes me 20 minutes to get from home (outskirts of Haverhill) to Addenbrookes when the roads are clear.

Ah. I tend to queue nearly that long just trying to get onto the 1307 when it isn’t quite so clear.

Do they want city or village? If city then there are houses in Romsey or the Cattle Market area for their budget. Easy cycle to Hills Road area and to the station.

If they want a village then, as others have said, Sawston is a good place to look.

Just outside Cambridgeshire but Saffron Walden may work - train goes from nearby Audley End into Cambridge and London, excellent schools, very friendly and very family orientated.

Cambridgeshire villages maybe Linton, Sawston. Otherwise Cambridge itself not too far from train station.

I used to live in Newnham Village, part of the city of Cambridge. It was PERFECTION - everything you describe. I now live overseas, but would move back there in a heartbeat.

@Ruthietuthie I agree Newnham is lovely but not doable for £700k.

There’s a 3 bed terraced house currently for sale in Newnham for £600k.

Houses under £700k in Newnham do come on the market occasionally, but EmmaGrundyForPM is right that most cost more than that.

Very handy for the M11/A11!

I stand corrected!

St Ives is beautiful.