Cambridgeshire areas. Help please!

[LilyFlower2222]

We're first time buyers moving from London. Budget of 280k. Have 13,3 and 1 year old. Ideally good secondary school as DD is very academic. Walk to train station if possible as will need to commute to London. Please help as no idea what the areas are like.
Thanks for reading.

Considering that it's the arse end of nowhere, Cambridge is bloody expensive.
We sold a 4 bed house in Wimbledon and thought we would either buy a mansion in Cambs or else have money left over.

We bought a 5 bed house well outside Cambridge and had enough money left over to only buy curtains

Ha, yes, sold my flat in London to buy in Cambridge, by the time everything had gone through I no longer had enough cash to buy in Cambridge and bought in a village outside instead. Why are you moving? What bit of the county do you need to be near?

£280k won't get you v much at all in Cambridge itself.
Nephew in law brought a 2 up 2 down terrace in Cherry Hinton last year for £360k.
Near to stations, ie south villages will be even more expensive.

Waterbeach is quite nice and has a station but I don't know what the prices are like.

It might be worth looking at market towns like Huntingdon and St Neots. Both have a direct line into London (about 45 minutes) and property is affordable within walking distance of the station. Cambridge is easily reached by car or bus. I don't live there now so can't tell you much more, but grew up there. Is there a reason why you wanted Cambridgeshire in particular?

You're money would go further in St Neots but the secondary schools are only ok. You could afford a larger property in Loves Farm which is a new development next to the station and it would be walking distance to Longsands Academy.

Huntingdon is similar price-wise and has hinchingbrooke, which certainly used to be very good.

Agree with others that £280 won't get you anything suitable for 3 kids withing walking distance of the station. Assuming you want 3 bedrooms (with those age gaps) then you'll find nothing other than shared ownership at that price in town.

Get yourself over the Cambridge board on MN local where there will be people who can advise about the surrounding villages and places further out as well. Basically though you'll find N Cambridge and surrounds are cheaper but that is because they are nowhere near the station. Also which station in London do you need - the line splits so both Kings X and Liv St have trains. You can go North and West of Cambridge for Kings X, if you want Liv St you need south.

Get yourself up to Lincolnshire, excellent grammar schools and £280 would get you a good house.

Check out the train fares from Cambridgeshire if you haven't already, it is a lot and will need to be budgeted for.

Thanks for the replies. We're moving from south London because we can't afford to live here due to requiring a bigger property. Definitely know we can't afford Cambridge itself it's the surrounding areas we were considering. Station- kings cross or st Pancras are fine. We also considered Kent but it seems if you're not able to get in the grammar schools then the secondary schools can be hit and miss according to our friends. We would be happy to move anywhere at our budget so long as it's commutable to London and has decent secondary schools.
Thanks.

Try Ely for houses in that price range 10 mins to Cambridge on train - just over an hour to Kings Cross

"Basically though you'll find N Cambridge and surrounds are cheaper but that is because they are nowhere near the station. "

Cambridge north station opens next year. It will be very easy to get to from anywhere on the Guided busway line (Histon, Impington, Oakington, Longstanton, Over, Swavesey, St Ives, and Northstowe when they finally build the bloody thing), and Milton, and will start to be priced accordingly.

Or Royston. Not sure what the secondary school is like there though.

I would recommend St. Neots. I'm not sure if you would get a four bed for £280k but if you could it would probably be in loves farm, which is within walking distance to the station. It's under an hour to kings cross. Longsands is the nearest secondary to loves farm. I think it's ofsted rating was good but the exam results aren't fantastic. It's a great place to have children in though, very friendly.

Ely ? Bloody cold though.
Cambridge north station has been delayed 2-3 times already - you could chance it before it opens when prices might be cheaper. I'm not sure on the schools though.

We live in South Cambridgeshire village. £280k is a very small budget for the area, I'm afraid. You will struggle mightily to find anything in CambridgeCity in that price range, let alone near the train station. You might want to look into Waterbeach near that train station? Or Ely?

You'll also need to contact the Secondary Schools. All the good ones of are full or over subscribed and won't take your child. Fully half of the Cambridgeshire secondaries are already full or over-full for next year's intake. (I have a Rising Year myself...)

Shared on the Local Cambridgeshire facebook page.
As others have said Huntingdon/St Neots have the train station within walking distance of housing. Loads of development happening in both towns. I would recommend reading the Hunts Post for a feel of both towns & housing costs

I think you might have to compromise... Waterbeach is very expensive and secondary school is...Ok..
If you're prepared to live slightly further out what about Burwell? You may find a house for the right price and think it's in Bottisham Village College catchment which I know used to be very good.