Moving from London to Cambridgeshire or not

[catandlemur]

Currently live in house not far from London. I work in London, DH by Cambridge. Wondering about moving out to by Cambridgeshire - has anyone done it? Any regrets, advice? 2 kids both at secondary from Sept, both academic, one ASD. DH drives, I don't. I currently wfh due to ill health and wondering if makes more sense to be by DHs job. Thinking of Linton, Saffron Walden (Essex) or Cambridge itself or similar. Prefer old. Budget anywhere from £350k to £650k depending on how we do things, 3 bed ideally. 90sq metres plus. DH is worried we will regret it and want to move back but we are by a pub where we are and hate the noise. Advantage is easy to get into London. DD hates her school. At up to £450k ish we could buy then sell this later (better for us as not well enough to have people visiting / sort house / gives option to return ) but not much in that price range. Another option is rent whilst look. Thanks. Kids sporty and one into languages.

Bishops Stortford is very commutable to London and Cambridge, with great schools (including Hockerill for languages). Definitely within your price bracket for a 3-bed.

I would also suggest looking at Stortford
Saffron Walden is lovely - iirc you need to be in the town to get into the high school

It is lovely! The town centre is nicer than Stortford (but the difference between nice and very nice, rather than nice vs shit pit ). But the train station is at Audley End so you'd need to drive or cycle. There are more frequent, and faster, trains from Stortford.

By within your price bracket, I mean you could get a 3-bed in Stortford for £450k or under.

But an older property would be at the upper end of that.

I would and did that move but nearer to the cambridge/suffolk boarder. The only thing i would really suggest is that you do need to learn to drive if you can. It would open your options far more in terms of properties as there are loadsof villages where you could get a lot of house for your money but its only really in town that there is public transport.

I wouldn't live in Cambridge itself personally.

Thanks very much.

We did look before and decide Stortford was the sensible place and prices are good there but something always holds us back, I think we only like it and also when we looked on the weekends it seemed overrun with loud drunks when we went. Also has seperate boys and girls schools and I have one of each. Hockerhill looks ideal but we will be transferring one in y7/y8 and one as late entry so don't think we would get in. But we should look there again and it is the most sensible place.

We used to live in Saffron Walden and loved it but moved out due to commute but since my work has moved to Liverpool Street which takes 30 mins off each way. School is excellent and large. Its where DH wants to go but I have fallen in love with house in Linton which is excellent value compared with Saffron Walden, school is good, sports facilities good but its going to be tricky to get to and from work. Am fairly well paid so taxis are an option if reliable and DH can drop me off in am. Daughter was really anti living in Cambridge bizarrely as she said its for old people, I love it but its very pricey and think good school places could be an issue. I should really learn to cycle. My contract at work is only short term and I hate working in London, I may be able to negotiate just going in twice a week or find a job in Cambridge. I maybe able to learn to drive in future but places I can get jobs are more public transport. We can just manage on one income but wonder if I would get very bored, also pays for summer holidays. Thanks very much.

Sorry I missed the not driving bit

You really need to be able to drive. Kids at secondary will want to be driven places and there is next to no public transport in most of Cambridgeshire