Moving to Cambridgeshire

[MelBD123]

Hello Mums in Cambridgeshire

Urgently need your advice as to where to live in Cambridgeshire.

We are planning to relocate to Cambridgeshire due to job changes. Need to commute to Cambridge city centre at least twice a week. I have a school age DS, and a nursery age DD. And I don't drive!!

Budget for house is between £650k and £750k. Of course the lower end of the budge is preferred because of the high mortgage rate these days. 4-bed detached with a good sized garden would be great. Hopefully, there would be easily accessible shops/facilities for entertaining kids nearby. Also, good local primary and state secondary schools are required.

I've looked into in-year transfer for DS. It seems to me that selling current house and buying new house on chain would not be a good idea. I want to avoid the tragic situation that the chain takes ages and when house purchase is finally completed and the school place is gone! So to be on the safe side and to secure a place for DS in a desired nearby school, renting first would be a better option (correct me if I am wrong!)

So far we've considered 1. Meldreth/Melbourn, 2. Water beach and 3 Ely.

Option 1 (Meldreth/Melbourn) is significantly more expensive than other two options. There are 2 primaries in the area and 1 village college there. Ofsted reports are good for each one but academic performance does not appear to be outstanding (correct me if I am wrong). There is just 1 nursery and I don't know whether I can secure a space for DD. Also I am not sure whether it would be easy for me to get by because I don't drive.

Options 2 and 3 seem more reasonable priced. Not so sure about waterbeach because of the new town development plan. I've heard a lot of good things about Ely. I can see that there are several decent primaries and a lot of nurseries in Ely. So I assume it would be easier to find a school and a nursery for DS and DD.

We also considered other villages (harston, newton, comberton) in south Cambridgeshire. They are nice, but how to commute to Cambridge seems to be a problem. The buses appear to run at 7:30am-ish and 9:30am-ish during rush hour, without any services in between?! How do people living there travel to Cambridge then?

Which area would you recommend in my situation? In addition, if there are ways to commute from south cam villages (which are not on the train line) to Cambridge, we will definitely consider them again.

Thank you very much for your time.

I'd also say Ely in your situation! Most places have terrible buses but at least there you can get the train to Cambridge or London very easily.

I commute from near Bury to Cambridge and driving it's fine but the trains aren't great - they're once an hour except morning rush hour when they're less frequent 🙄so e.g. I'd have to get the train either before my son's nursery opens or not get to work til around 10. I wouldn't want to rely on them as my way to get to work.

You definitely have to visit Cambourne before you move there. I have various friends who live there, and I see why they do, but I wouldn't want to live there and if I did live there I definitely wouldn't want to live there without a car.

Melbourn VC has been not great for a long time. If you're looking in S Cambs I'd very much recommend trying to be near the biggest primary you can find, and in a village that feeds into Sawston VC.
Lots of people love the idea of a little village primary, but there are so many economies of scale and improved flexibility and organisation in a larger primary school.

Whittlesford or Duxford or Sawston plus a bike to whittlesford parkway station could be a good idea.

Thanks for your comments. I did briefly consider cambourne because of its great village college and an upcoming new train station between Oxford and Cambridge, but a guardian article titled "welcome to toy town" put me off a bit. 🤔i know that the house prices are very reasonable there, and I might go there to take a look myself. Btw, how is the bus from Camborne to Cambridge like? Which line is the best, how long would it take during rush hour? Also, which part (upper, middle and lower) is nicer and more convenient? Many thanks! 🙏

I’d totally go for a nice Victorian terrace in the city itself. It’s a great life there - DPs mum is there and I would move in a heartbeat. Great schools, lots to do.

@Octavia64 thanks for the info about Melbourn VC. I didn't know that. Royston is convenient but the problem is that none of the schools have places for a reception kid (DS), except Roman way academy (which seems that no one wants to go to)!! I feel that I cannot risk DS's education just for my job change😕

If you could possibly be in Cambridge itself then that would be best. It's a fabulous city to live in. Especially if you could be somewhere close to Chesterton secondary. I'd pick a smaller house in town every time.

@MyCatIsPlotting thanks for your reply. No particular reason, I just haven't thought about them apart from Shelford (both primaries there have no place for DS). Regarding whittlesford and great chestford, which area is easier for a non driver? I will then take a look. Many thanks. 🙏

@Scrabblingaround thank you! I know that sawston VC is a great secondary. Agree with your point of larger primary schools. I have some doubts about mixed year classes in small primaries.

Something to consider carefully if you're considering continuing not to drive in the longer term is where the kids activities etc might be. It can get really tricky if you're somewhere small without a car - a bigger village where most activities are within walking distance makes life a lot easier
(and much later gives teenagers more independence-might seem a lifetime away but it rolls around quickly!)

@Cheeseand2veg @Sinead4ever @bloodyhellKen22 @Findapath @Scrabblingaround Thanks for recommending Cambridge city! Not having to rely upon trains and buses is indeed a luxury. Please may I ask which area of Cambridge city is a no-go zone, and which areas are more suitable for families? (I just saw some fixer upper houses between Ardury and king's hedges which are not crazily expensive, but I don't know whether they are wrong areas.) My office will be at the south of Cambridge close to the train station. Thank you for your time and help.

Arbury is traditionally the 'dodgy' part of town, but I think it's fine these days really.
Going a bit further north there's Histon/impington. Great schools and they have the busway to the station which runs mostly off road so a lot quicker than normal buses. I have friends there who love it. Feels much closer to town than south Cambs. You've got the Cambridge north station a cycle away too.

Cherry Hinton/Fulbourn on the south side worth looking at too - not Cambridge city but pretty easy cycle to the station zone.

If this is intended to be a long term home, I'd also suggest accepting a smaller/non detached home and living in Cambridge.
Your children's lives will get more complex as they get older with friends/hobbies/parties/etc and while living in some of the named places might be ok for commuting into work on public transport, they won't be much good for getting one child to football practice at 11am on Saturday and another to birthday party somewhere else at 3pm. Things will be spread much further apart in addition to lack of public transport

Living in Cambridge will make it possible to do that by walking and cycling (tern make great e bikes for transporting you and two kids and their stuff)
Everything is much more likely to be within a small area - school catchments are small so friends will live nearby, hobbies are more likely to be nearby etc.
Plus there will be more families that don't use a car so you won't stick out in a way you will in villages.

If your office is near the station I would recommend going for a three/four bed semi detached in Trumpington, Queen Edith or Cherry Hinton or further out to Stapleford and Sawston which are better served by regular buses.or you can cycle into town easily. I would stay away from the west villages if you don't have a car, including Camborne.

Saffron Walden has really good schools, train line to Cambridge (Audley End about 2 miles out), lovely community and shops and lots of families, very safe. Reasonably priced.

Building on two of the last three posts, I’ve done a Rightmove search. There are properties in your price range on the south side of the city. No 4 bed detached ones, though.

Some have been reduced in price, so living in Cambridge itself is not an impossible idea.
There are others to rent, but expensive.

Arbury and king's hedges are traditionally the more "dodgy" areas.

The council has been investing money into them - for example they are trying to encourage people to cycle and have remodelled arbury road so it has cycle paths both sides.

People who work in the science park do live there but most choose Chesterton or Milton.

If your work is by the train station that is quite a cycle to get there.

The secondary school for arbury, north Cambridge academy, has good facilities but many parents try to get their kids into Impington.

Arbury and kings hedges are in the CB4 postcode which sometimes gets a bad rep. But there are also parts of Barnwell and Trumpington that are less desirable also. We’re taking Cambridge though, not inner city London! There are so many great bits and it really isn’t the stereotype people love to go on about that is now a bit out of date. There is also Chesterton in CB4. I would say Arbury and Chesterton are really good options. I wouldn’t choose kings hedges but just depends on the road. I live in CB4 and love the north. We have never had any problems. There is the odd road which is less good than others but when/if you view, it will be obvious. Location is fab for town, local amenities, schools, clubs, the river, the north station, A14/A428/M11 for travel…. It is also a bit cheaper than other areas but is still eye wateringly expensive. For us it is worth it for the lifestyle. We really don’t need a car. Kids gym, football, swimming is all within 5 mins on bike. We cycle into town in 10-15 mins. Friends and schools on our doorstep. We used to live in Cambourne when our kids were in preschool. It was so lovely and had an amazing sense of community but I was without a car and felt isolated and cut off from the outside world until my husband was around at the weekend. Ultimately we downsized for Cambridge. We moved to a 3 bed terrace with garden and garage and now with kids 7, 9, 12, the independence and opportunities available to us all are wonderful and would never have been possible from Cambourne. Loads of non drivers live her and love it. You just have to accept that house prices are nuts. Ultimately that is worth it for us for the lifestyle.

I lived in CB4 for a while and it was fine. Not amazing but really just fine. I think I would want to have a proper look round and see what the neighbours were like and the street I was on but Cambridge's version of "a bit rough" really isn't that bad. Would need to check out the schools though, I didn't have kids when I lived there so that wasn't a consideration for me then.

I should add there are 2 secondary's for CB4 depending on catchment. NCA and has a new head and is on the up. Friends there are very happy. There is also Chesterton which is excellent but quite pushy and academic. You are unlikely to get into the one that isn't your catchment as schools are full. Impington village college is probably not an option if in cb4 as is now oversubscribed

Second St Ives - really nice market town with guided bus (so avoids traffic and is v quick) to cambridge/Addenbrookes/science park

If your office is near the station I would go for not living in the city.
Waterbeach station will move soon and be better than it currently is. It's 10 minutes by train to town and much more reliable than the bus.

Milton is also a good bet - you could cycle to Cambridge North.

Stories I've heard of friends who used the guided bus to get in from St Ives or other villages were pretty negative. Unreliable service and very busy. Not as quick as you would expect.

If you could afford it I would say Histon or Impington - nice village, some amenities, on the bus way and can cycle into town and good primary and secondary schools. I wouldn't live in king hedges, arbury or orchard park personally - all more dodgy areas. Waterbeach is ok, secondary school hasn't always been the best. Camborne is big and soulless in my opinion. Cambridge centre is lovely but v v expensive