Houses in Cambridge - Newnham?

[fasterthanthewind]

Any views on whether Newnham would be a nice place to live? In particular, can anyone tell me about schools - primary (2 children joining post-reception, 1 reception), and secondary? Its looking a few years ahead, but is Newnham WAY out of the Hills Rd catchment?

Apologies if I'm telling you something you already know, but even by Cambridge standards Newnham is very expensive for what you get. You won't get a 2 bed terrace for under about £400K, for example, and a Victorian 3 bed terrace is usually around the £600K mark.

Newnham is very expensive and a desirable place to live. As far as Hills Road is concerned, you would definitely be within catchment - all your DCs will need to do is get excellent GCSEs (or whatever may be in place by then) as it is very selective. Secondary school might be Parkside, but there is a lot of new building going on in Cambridge at the moment with a new secondary planned for Trumpington, so catchment areas might change.
You could post on the Cambridge local site as you may get more responses there.

It's got a very quiet, almost rural feel, as it's separated from the rest of town by common land and sports fields. There's a convenience store, but anything else is in centre of town about 15/20 mins walk away.

Don't know many families who live there, as it's eye-wateringly expensive.

There have definitely been a couple threads about the schools on Local.

It is INSANELY expensive, isn't it. just looked at a house that went for (wait for it) more than 50% over its asking price...

The comment about a lack of families is very interesting - I suspect that means that even if we could afford somewhere there, then we might not want to.

Which areas should we be looking at, do you think? We want 5 beds and a decent garden...

It depends on your budget...

I have been house hunting for 3 years and so know the area fairly well.

What are your requirements for schools?

There are loads of young families in Newnham, so that should not be an issue if you can afford to live there. Every house that becomes available around where I have contacts has been sold to a family.

Budget is generous, I hope! (we're selling a London house...)

Schools-wise, we currently have pre-school and school-age children, moving on to secondary school in a few years.

Primary school: Newnham Croft

Nursery school: Millington Road Nursery.

We were very happy with both.

Newnham is a multicultural area in the best possible way. Lots of academics from the whole world that come with their families.

Newnham has a tiny coop, deli with newsagents + post office, bakery, butcher/greengrocer and pub. Common with playground where there are always (mostly naice) kids as the gardens are mostly small. Plenty of independent schools within cycling distance.

Hi OP, for 5 beds and a decent garden in Cambridge proper (the city not the outlying villages) the minimum is probably going to be about £800K (for 1960s or 70s house) going up to £1.5m - £2m for a large Victorian house in one of the pricey areas (Newnham, de Freville, parts of Petersfield, the private roads in the Hills Rd/Trumpington Rd/Long Rd triangle). Because Cambridge is such a small city, there are very few of these types of houses, so the desirable ones tend to go very fast. If you're really committed to a 5 bed then I would think about looking more widely than Newnham, since there just isn't going to be much of that size on the market. It's all worth it, though - Cambridge is great!

Ah OK, I have an inkling of the house you may have looked at...

If I was moving to Cambridge with a generous budget wanting 5 beds and a decent garden, I'd be looking at Newton Road, Bentley Road, Barrow Road, Chaucer Road, Latham Road etc, off Trumpington Road. In catchment for Hills Road and you'd probably get places at Newnham Croft or St Pauls for primary.

These houses are all detached 5-6 bed character houses with large gardens and good schools nearby. But you do need a generous budget...

Oh lovely! I was at the college and loved wandering/running around Newnham. Nice Thai place too.

Living the dream OP

We're looking too. The house we've just viewed is likely to go for £800k over guide price - I suspect a developer as it needs loads of work.

It's very expensive - decent bit of London expensive.

Oh it's all crazy, isn't it! We looked at the extraordinary farm out near Addenbrookes too (Netherhall) - anyone know what it went for in the end? But we'd rather be closer in...

Faster have you moved yet? Anyone do Cambridge local thingy?!

Hills Road "catchment" is currently open to any child living in the catchment of one of the 18 feeder secondaries in the Cambridge area, ie all the Cambridge secondaries plus all the surrounding village colleges. HRSFC goes on predicted A level grades. It's got a very good reputation but doesn't suit everyone, and there are other 6th forms to look at as well - I have several friends whose children have done brilliantly at Long Road. Parkside has a recently opened 6th form offering the IB, and Comberton Village College has a recently opened 6th form offering A levels and the Pre-U. But if your kids are a way off 6th form I wouldn't worry about it yet.
Newnham is, I imagine, a lovely place to live. If I win the lottery that's where I will be heading! But there are other nice areas of Cambridge as well, plus lovely villages. Good luck with your house hunting.

Thank you MrsGrowbag. As far as I can tell you're spoilt for choice tbh for primaries and secondaries.