Moving to St Neots

[cjm1979]

We're considering moving to St Neots from London for more space. DD is two and a half; DS is nine months. Am especially worried about a lack of things to do with the kids, and also walkability (I don't drive, but DH does). Are there many good local classes and activities for small children? And what's the bus service like if I need to get from one end of town to another?

Think Histon and Milton beyond our budget and would add too much time to the commute unfortunately :(

Hi OP, I live in Cambridgeshire. You can absolutely find a 3-bedroom house in Cambridge with your budget. Don't dismiss it yet. I know there are well regarded Primary and Secondary schools and plenty of people who live there rely on bikes or buses. I'd move there with young children.

That's interesting. I'd sort of dismissed Cambridge without looking as I assumed you had to be a millionaire to live there! I'm guessing we could only afford somewhere on the outskirts so would it be easy enough for me to get a bus to the centre and for DH to cycle to the train station?

It's only a few minutes' cycle down the guided busway from Histon to Cambridge North trains.

But Royston much faster to London and yes, possibly cheaper. A quick glance at Rightmove suggests your budget is entirely possible there.

I don't think it's so much that you'd be stuck way out in the outskirts of Cambridge on your budget - more that you'd have to go for a slightly less 'nice' area. But honestly even the traditionally less desirable areas are much better than they were. Buses in Cambridge are dreadful - I wouldn't bother. You can walk or cycle everywhere you need to. If transporting small children you can get a Dutch bike. Have a look at Arbury, King's Hedges, Cherry Hinton, Chesterton. All less expensive areas but easy enough for town centre etc.

You get some decent house in Royston for Ur budget. I would

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148094567#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143986043#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145099526#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thanks. I'd always dismissed Royston because of its rep, but those are nice houses. We'll have to visit it when we can

I'd much rather commute to London from St Neots than Cambridge. Trains are far quicker on the mainline. Agree Ely is lovely, but not lovely enough to be worth the super-long commute.

Cambridge 3 - 4 bedroom, £400k - £550k here.

Cambridge has a lot more to offer families than St Neots

I quite like Royston. I'm from South Cambs. When I was growing up I always thought Royston was quite well off, my auntie lived in Orwell and always wrote Orwell near Royston Herts as her address instead of Cambridgeshire. That was in the 1980s though.
I spent a lot of time chatting to taxi drivers when my parents fell ill and I was having to dash between their house near Comberton and Addenbrookes and the train station. The consensus was that nowhere in Cambridgeshire was proper rough like London.
Friends of my parents moved to St Ives and really like it for amenities. If you can get onto the guided bus route that's a win, I love the guided bus.
I found buses in Cambridge itself quite good. Personally I would buy in the city and have a smaller house and all the gorgeous amenities not to mention the lovely architecture of the University than live in any of the towns and villages. The schools are great and the VIth forms very good. Also if your children grow up seeing all the colleges they start to assume academic study is important and become brainwashed into working hard at school like me!

Royston is ok, but it's secondary school doesn't seem to have a great reputation either. There's no sixth form and lots of people opt for village schools instead.

Depends on what you value I guess, but those houses are really small, grotty and far from a proper commuter station, compared to what you'd get for that money in St Neots. Obviously if you are a city person and that sort of lifestyle is really important to you it's a compromise worth making, but there's definitely night and day between house prices in the two places.

I remember my mum doing the 'Near...' thing on our address. Definitely an 80s thing! 😄

Yeah that is what appeals to us about St Neots - we would like an upgrade on our small 3-bed in London and it looks as if we could afford somewhere much bigger in St Neots. But I accept it's nowhere near as pretty or nice as Cambridge.

Agree that St Ives is lovely but not great for commuting to London. Have you considered Godmanchester or Brampton? They are lovely villages within in walking distance of Huntingdon ( which is admittedly less nice but has lots of amenities) and you can get to St Pancras in under an hour (it’s just 10 mins longer than St Neots)

Personally I prefer it because I'm not fond of cities except for popping in and out. You'd easily be talking good-sized detached with decent sized garden and garage for that money in St Neots. I don't know it hugely well, but I think the area is charming, the river and nature reserves are lovely.
I live in Herts on the Kings Cross-Cambridge line that goes through Royston and on to Ely and although there are a decent number of trains on that line, it's much slower and you're not going to get your sub 1 hour journey time into London in the places others have mentioned.

I know that you've already turned down Peterborough as being too far away, but if you/your DH go on LNER then Peterborough to Kings Cross is 50 minutes.

"Max budget is £525k. Need a 3-4-bed house"

OK, no problem. What are you looking for?

A new build? Loads of those. For example this one for £500k; 4 bed, 2 bath, 181 sq metres, backing on to a lake. According to google maps, it's 6 miles from the railway station and takes 14 mins in the car - although obviously longer by bus

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146871272#/?channel=RES_BUY

or this one which is nearby on the same development, also for £500k:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142065656#/?channel=RES_BUY

The local primary school in this area is very good and achieves above average results in the Key Stage 2 attainment figures (the year 6 SATs)

Or if you prefer more 1970s-1990s homes (which give you more space than new builds) then plenty of those as well, for example this is typical, a 4 bed detached with a nice sized garden for £490k. It's under 3 miles from the station and takes about 8 mins to drive there.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/131863205#/?channel=RES_BUY

Or 1930s homes? Here's a 1930s 4 bed detached with a good sized garden for £480k that is less than a mile from the railway station, so you can walk there in 15-20 mins. It is also literally less than 100m away from one of the top state secondary schools (the Kings School, Peterborough) not just in Peterborough, but the whole of East Anglia - at least, according to the Times & Sunday Times School League Tables 2024.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147342293#/?channel=RES_BUY

Or this 1930s property. 4 bed, 3 bath, 161 sq metres on a plot of 0.4 acres (it has a huge garden) for £475k. It's 2 miles from the station or about 6 minutes:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147016487#/?channel=RES_BUY

Or do you fancy a really old, stone built cottage, with sash windows, about 167 sq metres, 4 bed semi-detached with a reasonable sized garden? About 3 miles or 8 minutes from the station:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144320675#/?channel=RES_BUY

There's quite a lot to choose from at that price point.

Kings School

and there are threads here about how to get into that school

@Another2Cats that stone cottage is gorgeous!

Royston is fine - swimming pool, M&S, Aldi, Tesco, health centre and good sports on the heath. Secondary school is on the up, but as a PP said there is no 6th form and people go to Cambridge. Would rather commute from Royston than St Neots, and wouldn’t go anywhere near Peterborough.

Depends on what you consider small and grotty, but the first one in the search, 14% under budget at £450k, is a traditional 30s semi in a quiet road 0.7 miles from Cambridge North and 2.5 miles from Cambridge Station, both traditional commuter stations.

I don’t suppose the OP wants a flat, but the only property actually listed at £525k is this one , an easy mostly off-road cycle ride to Cambridge Station and a mile’s walk from the city centre, in Newnham, one of the best places to live in the UK and the 2015 Sunday Times best place to live.

If that development (Amhurst Court is in Pinehurst) was good enough for Stephen Hawking… but your standards must be higher than mine.

Those are lovely properties - especially the stone cottage! I've not been to Peterborough for many years but I know it has a rep for being economically depressed and druggy - would be interested to know if that's still the case...

Try Sandy or Biggleswade. Not sure what your expectations are for things to do - museums, big attractions etc, no. Countryside, walking and a friendlier vibe - definitely. I love St Neots but Cambs is generally expensive. You could try north Beds too, beautiful villages.

I know Royston quite well and my folks live in South Cambs. I've never heard of Royston having a bad rep, of course, like any place, there are nicer areas of Royston, but I've never felt unsafe walking around. Don't have children so can't comment personally on schooling but I do have friends with children who have mentioned that the schooling isn't great around here. Commuting is a breeze - only 40 mins for the fast train, but it is chocca in the morning and you will have to stand. The high street is dire, many vape shops and charity shops, but it's non offensive. There is a real community spirit here, there are often street parties, and events happening in Priory Gardens or on the Heath.

With your budget of £525k, you'll be able to find something quite nice. I wonder if you've considered Meldreth too? Pretty village, way more remote than Royston, but does have a village shop/hall/primary school. There is also a beautiful river walk around the back of the pub there - often with chickens/goats running around, very idyllic. There are currently houses in your budget there and also still on the train line.

As I said, if you desperately want to live in Cambridge - and you clearly do - then it's a compromise worth making. No-one's saying you are wrong to make that choice, but there's easily 100-150k difference between like-for-like properties in Cambridge and St Neots and other people would prefer a bigger house in a less urban environment.

I should also add that I have also been to St Neots on multiple occasions and it's beautiful there. I actually think, aesthically nicer than Royston as the high street has more happening, but I've never lived there so can't comment on the amenities.