Moving to Cambridgeshire/Suffolk - advice needed

[magdarose]

We're considering moving to either Cambridgeshire or Suffolk. We're in the South West at the moment so quite a move and we don't know anything about the area so hoping to get some advice here.

We'd like to be close to a good school as we have a 4yo who's due to start school education this September (scary!!). Husband will need easy access to Harston for work and I'm hoping to return to work later this year so easy access to Cambridge would be good too.

Any ideas where to look or which areas to avoid? We'd like to rent to start with.

House prices north of Cambridge are much lower, but travelling south during rush hour is a nightmare, especially if the A14 is involved. I know this from bitter experience!

If you need to be in Harston then he could cycle to work if you lived in Harston, Haslingfield, Foxton, Shepreth. If you want a bigger village Melbourn also good. All have great schools but none cheap!
The Shelfords and Sawston also fab. The former pricey the latter less so.

Thanks for that. I'm currently looking at Bury St Edmunds but I'm guessing that would involve A14 travel as well?

Yes, that would involve the A14, for some reason delays seem to be better going west. The Cambridge to Huntingdon stretch is notorious but they're currently rerouting it so it should improve. Bury is lovely.

Bury is really nice but I think that the commute from there to Harston could be a bit of a pain. A friend commutes in the same direction (A11/A14) but a shorter distance as she lives west of Bury and travels just east of the M11, and it takes 30-40 minutes. I guess it all depends on what you consider easy access. Lots of the villages to the south/west of Cambridge are nice and most schools in the area are very good.

I think the main guiding factor will be your budget. We've ended up in a fairly ordinary location (not pretty or characterful) because our budget just wouldn't stretch that far!

I would suggest living on a train line if possible because its the easiest way to get into Cambridge, would depend on your location for work though. I work in South Cambridge and get the train from Ely daily. Takes me 17 minutes on the train but can take me well over an hour if I even attempt by car, however, I also have the A10 to contend with which is an absolute nightmare of a road!

My friend has just moved to Royston from Bury because she was really struggling with the drive from Bury to Shepreth. She was fed up of spending 2-3 hours a day sitting in slow moving traffic. So that might be worth considering as that is close to Harston.

There are lots of lovely villages south of Cambridge. If you can I would go for a drive around them and see what you think.

As a PP said North of Cambridge is a lot cheaper for houses we bought ours for a very reasonable price compared to houses we looked at in the villages south of Cambridge, but it works for us, I don't know whether it would be ideal in your situation. Your DH would spend his life sitting on the A10

Thanks for all the suggestions! As soon as DH signs the job offer we'll head to Cambridgeshire and drive around. We both hate sitting in traffic so sounds like Suffolk may not be an option for us at the moment. With school run looming we probably want to be as close to the office as possible.

Scary times ahead!

What’s your budget and what type of property are you after.
That will make a big difference where you can look.

I live in a lovely village not far from Harston
The primary school is fantastic and the secondary school is very high achieving
(most secondary’s are very good around Cambridge though)

If you want access into Cambridge then it just either be in Cambridge or have a train connection because driving in is a nightmare. Tbf, as someone living in Cambridgeshire I would say that Cambridgeshire is a bit of a wasteland. The only good schools are in Cambridge, Cambridge villages or in really random villages that you really have to search for. I wouldn't really reccomend it.

If you can afford to live close to Harston, do it. Cambridgeshire traffic is absolutely horrific. Harston/Hauxton has loads of new houses going up, both have primaries and you could also consider Foxton (trainline) and Fowlmere (I've heard very good things about the school there at the moment, it's got a new head). Most schools are good but tend to be small village primaries with combined years. Half an hour drive in Cambridge morning traffic is almost always quicker to cycle.

Our rental budget is up to £1200pcm (ideally less) and we need somewhere with a garden as we have a dog.

I'm hoping we can find something reasonable for that kind of money.

Forgot to add, we need at least 2 bedrooms.
2 and a box room or 3 would be ideal.

Try something like this in Shelford (which is mostly lovely)?
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-63940363.html

Or this, but depends if that garden is dog-secure -looks like it might wrap round the house:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-63587602.html

My friend lives in Bury and travel is a real pain to get anywhere. Her hubby picks her up a lot from Ely train station.

This is a possibility for living near a train station and pretty close to Harston. Nice garden for a dog too. Would have to go view to see how secure it is but they state pets welcome on the advert so they may have a secure garden, or be opening to making it secure.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-52481001.html

Also very close to a primary school.

Not sure the kitchen is my cup of tea but for short term I could live with it!

Thanks for the links guys! These would definitely be okay to live in for a year or two until we decide on somewhere to buy.

Really appreciate your help. Feeling a bit more positive about the move now.

Glen's house would be great for the dog because it's spitting distance from the off-lead dogwalking route on the Gog Magog 'hill' (the big square green bit on the map).

The Gog Magog looks good!

We're worried we'll find it hard to adjust to the flat countryside of Cambridgeshire (after living between Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor) but looks like there's hope :-)

Everyone cycles in Cambridge. (Massive over exaggeration but it sometimes feels this way!) So when I moved here and bought my first bike I was so grateful for the flatness, I use to live in Yorkshire, hills everywhere!

It is very beautiful though and we are currently in the process of relocating up north to York and even though I'm desperate to be back close to my family I am so attached to this area I am getting quite emotional at leaving my lovely little village, with all the lovely people, who look out for you and genuinely care. Getting my self all sad now ha!

Good luck OP!

Thanks Glenscoconut and good luck to you guys!

We used to live in North Yorkshire, still missing it.