where to buy near-ish to Cambridge

[crowgift]

A recently divorced friend is moving from Scotland to the Cambridgeshire possibly Hertfordshire area and as I live in the south we'll be looking at properties for her together (but I know nothing of the Cambs/Herts area). She will have occasional meetings in Cambridge so will need to be in driving/public transport distance, but it will be less than once a week. She does not need to consider school catchment and is prioritising a safe, relatively quiet area. Budget is around 250,000 but she might get up to 280,000, two bedroom minimum so she can have a home office, preferably a house rather than apartment and not a doer-upper. I have just started looking at Cambourne, Over, Papworth Everard and Longstanton, many of these make a big deal of school catchment areas, so I wonder if she could get more for her money in other areas as she doesn't need that. Are there any other places we could be looking? Or avoiding?

She isn't getting a 2 bed house for £250k in those areas.

She could get a flat in Ely which is on the train line to Cambridge

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E483&maxBedrooms=2&maxPrice=250000&propertyTypes=&includeSSTC=false&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

or a flat in Royston also with direct trains to Cambridge

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1150&maxBedrooms=2&maxPrice=250000&propertyTypes=&includeSSTC=false&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

But really unlikely to get anything but flat with a budget that low in that area.

Very unlikely to get anything for that price near Cambridge

This looks nice

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149370203

Try slightly further out places such as Godmanchester , Brampton , St Ives , Fenstanton. I wouldn’t recommend Huntingdon itself but some of its outlying villages are lovely .

In general south is more expensive (closer to London) and north is cheaper.

Ely may be a good call as it's a short train ride into Cambridge.

This is a 2 bed terrace near the station in Ely.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144197027

She definitely isn’t going to get anything in the Cambs/Herts area for that price. She’d be lucky to get a flat. For a house in that price range and on public transport to Cambridge, she’s looking at March (Fenland), an Ely suburb (East Cambs) but probably not Ely itself or Peterborough. She might be able to buy a 2 bed house in Huntingdon and take the guided bus into Cambridge, it’ll be liveable but with a dated kitchen and bathroom.

You can get a two bedroom house for that money in halstead, Haverhill and Braintree. I wouldn’t live in Haverhill and it doesn’t have a train line. Halstead im less familiar with, also no train line. Braintree is fine, but will take a while to drive.

if she’s willing to go to 280, she could get something in Great Sampford or Steeple Bumpstead. Both decent areas, choice would depend on what amenities and public transport options she wanted.

Ely or St Ives would be lovely places to live, both with good transport to Cambridge.

If it's only once a week I'd look at Bury St Edmunds. Not on the direct line to London which is a down side, but takes about 45 minutes on the train or 30 to drive if it's the outskirts of Cambridge. It's a lovely little town itself with good shops and restaurants etc.

Teeny two bedroom not sure on parking but near the station for £210k: https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/64519433/?search_identifier=642c721d18c8e3c3aaae276f4ead594c2b4a956aa52f4fec660f159736f42ea5
Less teeny but still not big with permit parking and nice looking gardens but near A14 so would have to see about road noise: https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/67851909/?search_identifier=642c721d18c8e3c3aaae276f4ead594c2b4a956aa52f4fec660f159736f42ea5

There are others a bit more of a walk from the station etc. Key things for me is that the town itself is lovely rather then being primarily a commuter hub for people going into Cambridge.

Thank you this is great information and lots of interesting places I'd not heard of - looks like she'd have much more choice if she can stretch to 280,000. And to consider apartments.
@Spirallingdownwards the Royston and Ely flats are an interesting option - thank you and @Octavia64 that house is an excellent find.
@mouseyowl that's a good find, it has character.
@Cupcakegirl13 thank you those villages look promising
@TipsySquirrel the guided bus looks interesting and could be really convenient
@TheStateOfTheArt excellent recommendations - those Haverhill-bordering villages look promising
@Ineffable23 Bury St Edmunds looks like an interesting place, will take a serious look at those links.

Suggest you get a few more preferences out of her. What other towns/areas might she want to access - even if just for visiting family/friends. Will she still want to get up to Scotland at times - and if so prefer car or train. These sorts of things can help narrow down the areas that will work for her.

Newmarket comes to my mind as a place that would be in budget and is close to Cambridge - but it is over on the East of Cambridge so if she wants North/South transport links, other places could be better.

Why does the second house have a rack of trainers in the dining room?!

ha good spotting - are they collectors items (?!)

Lord only knows! I have a friend who collects Nike trainers in special boxes (it's not her house) but maybe it's like that?!

It’s further away, but easy by train, and a lot cheaper and really nice - how about Norwich?

Someone above mentioned Peterborough and I'd also second Peterborough or any of the small towns nearby.

Lots of three bed homes and bungalows at £280k. For example this relatively new build 3 bed detached which is about 4 miles from the railway station

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146106587#/?channel=RESBUY

Or this one in another part of the city about 3.5 miles from the railway station

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148570967#/?channel=RESBUY

Or to keep things within the £250k budget this relatively recently built (I think it may even be a new build) 3 bed detached in a small town just outside Peterborough:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143215265#/?channel=RESBUY

Or this older 3 bed semi about 2 miles from the railway station:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149235779#/?channel=RESBUY

Plenty of choice at these levels.

Peterborough to Cambridge on the train is about 50 minutes on Crosscountry Trains but slightly longer if you want to go to Cambridge North.

@geumsandpeonies good idea - I had a great holiday in Norwich. Norfolk-way Downham Market has also popped up?
@Another2Cats thank you for finding those - Peterborough is worth considering.

Can any of you clever people advise on Bar Hill and also what the deal is with Northstowe?

Bar Hill is grim, it's just a giant Tesco and a few other parade shops. Northstowe has been forgotten about (no shop, pub etc.) but Labour apparently want to get it moving again. Cambourne is ok, I live there but £250k wouldn't get much. Very easy to get into Cambridge.

St Neots is nice though!

With that budget she could look at Stevenage snd surrounding villages maybe. Old Stevenage is actually lovely. 40 mins train to Cambridge and an hour in the car.

Thank you have put Stevenage and St Neots on the list. Will do more research tonight.

Does she want public transport? Which bit of Cambridge will she need to get in to?

I've heard that in some of the villages/towns on the Cambridgeshire/essex border (eg Linton, which is commutable to Cambridge by car or bus), there can be a significant discount in price if you're on the Essex side. If that's true it may be worth her being aware of.