Moving to Cambridge area – anyone know the area? We are considering Haverhill

[My1isnearly1]

I found an earlier thread that says ?Haverhill was developed to house the London overspill in the 1960's and it's like being in East London?

Is that a bad thing? Is it a nice area?

I'm sorry if there's anybody living in Haverhill who is offended by the following....but, don't do it! I'm sure there are some lovely parts of Haverhill and some lovely people living there but generally it's not very nice, crime is much higher than the surrounding areas and the schools are not good. In fact I was just driving through the town centre this morning and thinking 'thank goodness we didn't move here'! There are some really lovely parts of South Cambridgeshire which is where we live and the villages on the outskirts of Haverhill like Keddington are also nice. I guess the good thing about Haverhill is that house prices are much lower, but we personally decided to go for a smaller house in a 'nicer' area because of the things I mentioned before.

It's not especially nice, I don't think . I don't live in the area any more but I grew up near Cambridge and my family are still there. Haverhill was (and still is I think) always a bit of a nothing place, really. There's a reason it's cheaper than other places around there tbh. Villages around it are nice though, and if you go a bit further Bury st Edmunds is lovely too (but possibly more expensive).

How near to Cambridge do you need to be? There are some nice places a bit further the other side of Haverhill too - Clare and so on. Do you particularly want to be that side of town?

DH is going to be working in Harston, South Cambridge. Cost is an issue though. All advice GREATLY appreciated!

we are just north of cambridge, which is cheaper than the southern villages, haverhill has bad reports, but there are nice villages around there.

Oooh DaisyMOO I used to live in Kedington nr Haverhill!
Absolutly no idea what the area is like now though! Not been back for many years now!

We nearly bought a house in Kedington a few years ago. Seemed like a really nice village but was too far from dh's work and too close to Haverhill

Harston quite a long way from Haverhill though isn't it, off the other side of the M11? The villages out towards Royston are quite nice too and probably cheaper than South Cambs.

Why don't you try looking for places between Harston and the A428, Comberton, Hardwick, Barton, they are all nice places and close to Harston and Cambridge too! I'd even suggest you looking at places in Cambourne as the prices are much more reasonable there and the nursery and school there got good reports I think, and it is a pretty safe place to live and good for kids (or so others tell me) maybe someone who lives there could offer better advice! Visit it and see what you think, as it isn't for everyone.

I'd just avoid Haverhill TBH, only because there are much nicer places to live around that area... (but I know the prices are ridiculous )

That?s exactly our problem ? prices are ridiculous!

I?ve been looking at the estate agents all around the area. There is no way we can afford anywhere around at all. The cheapest area is Haverhill, and it would appear, for good reason!

How can we afford to live in an area we would be happy raising our children? We only have one salary as we have chosen for me to be a SAHM so we raise our child the way we want.

Do we now have to sacrifice our precious and very limited time with our baby in order to live somewhere nice? I?m so upset by this!

Thanks so much everyone for your advice. I would love to live somewhere nice. We live in Highworth, Wiltshire at the moment, and it?s a lovely place! Somewhere like here would be great!

You might be able to get some top up from the council for your rent (unless you were thinking of buying?...good luck if so!) because the prices are so high, I don't know.

I'm constantly in at the prices of housing here, especially the prices houses are selling for, how does anyone afford them? But they sell soooo quickly that obviously there is a market for them!

My sympathies, it really is ridiculous, even though Cambridge is a wonderful lovely place! seems so unfair. Good luck

Could you look the other side of the M11 eg. Baldock area - I think that's cheaper than East of the M11...I've got friends who live there and it seems nice in my opinion!
My dh has been working just north of Cambridge since the autumn and we are in the process of moving near Saffron Walden, but it's pretty expensive. His colleagues are moving near Ely because it's more reasonable, but I guess that's too much to a commute to Harston.

Ely is a bit far, but what?s Newmarket like? That seems do-able!

Are we talking about the same Harston?! Newmarket is miles away, and would involve a fairly long stretch of the A14 which is a bloody nightmare at the best of times! Baldock and Royston are much closer and are quite affordable (well, relatively )

parts of newmarket are ok, but parts are dire, its fairly split between the lots and lots and LOTS of money (horses) and the rest. Nice villages nearby (we are in one of them), but really for harston then south west cambs is a better bet. if you start looking at newmarket villages (burwell, exning, swaffhams etc) then they are lovely but all different. Let me know if you start looking at any of them and I can give some more info.

Newmarket would be hard to get to Harston from tbh - the A14 is a bit of a nightmare I believe.

Second Royston area - more convenient for you. Saffron Walden is where I grew up (just outside, actually) and I would go back there like a shot.

I think the prices vary very much around there almost village by village - some of the more out of the way ones are much cheaper than the ones with easy M11 access. If you go further south you need to check out how the area is affected by the proposed Stansted development too.

sorry yet again I have just said exactly what Daisy said!

btw - definately agree that the newmarket area is too far, though u wouldn't need to do the A14, you could go down the A11 then accross.

Oh yeah, I was thinking of Bury which is on the A14. Newmarket would still be a loooong commute though.

There's a house for sale up the road from me, ex-council so cheaper than many but still quite nice and our village is luvverly

Royston/Saffron Walden FAR TOO DEAR!! Is Bury (St Edmunds) a good bet then?

Sorry to shout - didn't mean to!

Is newmarket much cheaper than royston then? that does suprise me. I wouldn't think that bury would be either - its really nice, though that bit extra out of cambridge, but you are also making the commute even worse.

what about cambourne, bourne etc over on the west side.

Cambourne, Newmarket are just as dear as Royston/Saffron Walden TBH. But Bury St Edmunds is more affordable. It's about 45 min communte according to the AA. DH says that's do-able! Your thoughts?

my thoughts are that the AA isn't doing it at 8am on a weekday morning.

I used to commute from bury into central cambridge, that took me about 45mins, but that was also based on leaving at 7.15am to get there at 8am. Leave about 8am and it would take at least an hour. Maybe harston is better to get to as it doesn't have the cambridge private school run traffic - which is appauling.

Also its along the A14 (although one of the better parts of it). I did it for 6mo while we were renting there and looking for a house, 6 years later I still sometimes breathe a sigh of relief on the way home when I just cross over the A14 and don't have to get on it.

we now live 12 miles from my work, in the middle of the night it would take me 15/20 mins, in the morning i can get in by 8am as long as i leave by 7.30am, any later than that and it takes me at least 45mins, the end of the year (sep - dec) it can take well over an hour. But that's definately a central cambridge thing.

Further away, (but actually not too bad a drive along the new speedy A120 and then up the M11 one stop I think) would be Braintree - which must be pretty cheap.

The AA says Braintree would be about an hour from Harston. Bury would be 45 mins. I know rush hour is a diff. matter though!

Thanks so much all for your advice!