Cambridge property

[Mins]

Hi
am very new to this so not sure about all abbreviations and smileys, links etc. We have just received an asking price offer on our house in NW London and are looking to move to Cambridge. Ideally we'd like Histon/Impuington but not much is on the market there. Thinking about Waterbeach too. Does anyone have any info about any of these places? Or have a place they want to sell even???? Thanks for reading.

Hi Mins

Never been to Cambridge, I'm afraid. But hoping this will bump it for someone else to come along.

Good luck with the sale and the potential move.

Hiya!
Yes, I know all about Histon / Impington, and some about Waterbeach.

What would you like to know? Why did you pick those two villages? I may be able to suggest some alternatives if you tell me what you're looking for. Are you trying for the Impington Village College catchment area, for example?

A friend just sold his house in Waterbeach - what kind of house are you looking for, and what price?

I will warn you that you may not find many bargains in Cambridge - prices have dipped slightly, but my friend sold at very near asking price within a week.

Hi GrendelsMum

thank you so much for your reply. We chose Impington as we've viewed a few houses there and really liked it. Also it's very close to the centre of Cambridge and has all of the schools there (and very good ones too it seems). It's also got quite a few shops and is not too small - which I'm a bit concerned about moving from NW London. However the downside is it's not ideal for my husband who needs to get to the station for a commute to London each day. As for Waterbeach we hadn't considered it and haven't even been there but a really nice house has come up for sale there this week. The advantage there is it has the train station, the school seems good but I was a bit bothered about the army camp - should I be? We will be visiting this weekend and hopefully viewing the house (if it hasn't already been sold!) so any info you have would be great. We are looking for an older house with character features, 3/4 beds and can pay up to around £300,000. Sorry for such a long post!!!

Waterbeach has nothing there, if you're worried about a bit of 'bustle'.
histon is bigger & v v pretty.
impinton a bit smaller, but the college is v good & does int bac.
cambridge has some of the worst traffic in the uk. don't do a londoner's sneer, oh how bad can it be - the m11 has accidents every other day, average speed of traffic is about 2 mph in rush hour, and it did once have a 12 hour 'gridlock' situation.

find out where the new guided bus route will be ging - i can't remember, but that could be one way to get into cambridge.
will any of you be commuting into cambridge? from histon to city centre is about a half hour drive in rush hour, or a ten minute bike ride. parking is about 3 pounds an hour in the centre, with not many places allowing more than 4 hours.

we lived north of camb (near st ives) until oct, and sold our 4 bed house for over 350k, house prices are ging down but cambridge will never be cheap.

there are quitee a few cambridge mner, and some old threads along similar lines to this (do a search to find them). i'm sure someone with more up to date knowledge can tell you.

also, a bit more detail, e.g. daily journeys, age of kids, so we can give more help.

To be honest, that's not a great deal of money for a house for a London commuter, and you are going to have to make compromises (as I'm sure you realised pretty quickly). I'd guess that your husband is going to have a pretty awful commute, or that you'll have to drop the idea of a character property.

Frankly, if I was commuting to the station every day, Hist/Imp would be one of the last places I'd want to live. How on earth is your husband going to get to the station? As Kickassangel says, it's 30 mins to the town centre itself, and congestion charging may well be coming in before too long. Please don't buy a house to the north of Cambridge before actually doing a test drive / cycle / bus ride at the time that he'd be communting. The new guided bus route goes via Histon, but I don't think it would be practical to get to the station - it's geared up to take people to the science park and then the centre, if I remember right.

I wouldn't exactly call Histon a bustling metropolis (or even very pretty, to be honest), but it does have enough shops to save you going into town, and there's the football team .

Impington VC has a very good reputation, but a friend who used to teach there didn't particularly like it (he left a year ago). I could never put my finger on exactly why, but I think that he didn't really feel it lived up to its aspirations / way it presented itself.

Waterbeach sounds logical for the commute, because of the station. I'm told the primary school is lovely - a friend volunteers there. I've never heard my friends who live their complain about the army barracks - but I don't know how lively it is. I can't imagine it's any less lively than Histon.

Moving from London, and commuting into London, I'd be looking to live someone within cycling distance of the station and Mill Road. Something more like this

www1.housescape.org.uk/cgi-bin/full.pl?&vin1&&VIN1000736 (for size)

or this

details.vebra.com/property/671/17638415 (for character)

You might like Barton and Comberton - very good schools, and you get to go to Burwash Manor with the kids and shop while they look at lambs. Barton's also very pretty. 30 mins cycle to the station, or 10 mins in car not at rush hour. Burwash Manor is more fun for shopping than Histon, if slightly less practical, and at least there's a cafe. The pubs in Histon are much better, though.

This house might not look terribly exciting, but it might not be a bad bet, and with that huge garden there's loads of room to extend and you'd certainly have the budget for it:

www.homesonview.co.uk/Scripts/ShowProperty.asp?css=&CompanyID=REDMCAMB&AgencyID=REDMCA MB&ID=RCP00164

Hope that's helpful!

Hmm. We live in Cambridge and like just about everyone else we know here, moved from London, and DH commutes to London every day (as do I once or twice a week).

First - in general house prices around London have gone down a lot more than those around Cambridge. So if you're hoping to move here to find a less expensive way of life, I think you'll be disappointed.

Second, for the budget you have, you'll do better to be out in one of the villages - we live near Mill Road ourselves at the moment and house prices have hardly budged - too many properties are owned by the universities, or by landlords who let to students, don't have mortgages, and aren't selling any time soon. I think for that price you're going to struggle to get something nice which is family-sized or with any sort of garden (if that matters to you), near Cambridge station.

Waterbeach has a good reputation, nice feel, and train station right there - that's worth a lot, but it is small. As far as Histon/Impington, as someone else said, I would really think hard about adding a drive across Cambridge, through traffic and roadworks, to an already long train commute (plus presumably your DH has a tube journey as well once he reaches London) - you will never see him.

If you're up for being south of Cambridge, Great Shelford has a station right there and some small shops including a couple of fancy "London" type delis, though it can be pricey (though nothing like central Cambridge). Royston is another big place for commuters as it's a bit closer to London but also not too far from Cambridge, and there are some cute little villages around there too.

I wondered about suggesting Royston as a handy place to commute to London from - but would you really want to move to Royston for any other reason? Nothing wrong with it, but it always feels a bit run down to me despite the historic associations. It's probably quite a bit cheaper, though, and you could get an older house with a garden for your budget.

Hi all

I did post another message earlier but this seems to have got lost in the system! Thank you to all who have replied - all very useful comments.

We realise we are going to have to make some kind of compromise and that we will get more for our money in the villages rather than close to the station. DH can walk to work from Kings X and would probably cycle to the station if we moved to Histon/Impington. I am hoping to find work in Cambridge a couple of days a week so will also need to be able to travel - hopefully not by car though as I take kickassangel's point about Cambridge traffic.

Thank you so much Grendelsmum for your comments and the links - the character one looks very nice but I think it may have gone - will check in a mo. (Third link didn't work though). Have thought about Royston but never been there - it's possible I suppose.

Our dilemma is we are very keen to move out of our present area which is going downhill and Cambridge appeals for lots of reasons - but all those reasons make it expensive! However we do need somewhere that is commutable to Londond for DH and near a city/big town for all of us. Don't want to be too isolated as DS is only 7 now but when he's older want him to be able to get out and about.

Waterbeach looks like a strong possiblity at the mo - we are going there on Fri to look at 2 houses which are both well within budget. Train station there is a big advantage but am a bit worried it may be too small - but trying to think positive!

Mizzan am interested in why you moved to Cambridge when DH and yourself still commute? Hope that's not too nosey a question?? We've looked at a few houses around Mill Rd which have the character we want but parking seems really bad and schools round there didn't seem too good. How do you find living there after London?

A real problem seems to be that there are very few properties on the market and despite all the so called crisis in the housing market houses that come up (esp nice ones in good areas) are going very quickly. We are really sticking out for a character property - I think this is one thing we're not prepared to compromise on.

Keen to here more thoughts if anyone has any!

I know both Histon/Impington and Waterbeach really well. Going through the options:

Histon/Impington: good schools, strong community vibe, nice people(!), helpful shops, easy trip into Cambridge.

Waterbeach: good primary school, few and rubbish shops, longer to get into Cambridge (although still only 20 mins to the centre). Less of a community feel. The Army camp is really not an issue - they're Engineers and I think largely keep themselves to themselves.

In terms of travel to London, you have two options, Waterbeach or Cambridge stations. Cambridge has a good service (depending on the train) but unless you live v close to the station (and thus pay nearly London prices), you've got an unpredictable commute to the station and expensive parking once you get there. Waterbeach is a good option, with lots of direct trains, and cheap parking. I am biaised as I travel to Waterbeach station 3/4x a week with no problems.

Other places to consider are Milton, Horningsea, Landbeach and Cottenham. None of these (or Histon or Waterbeach) are buzzy, but they have a proper community feel, good and free schools and are populated by many ex-City people who dip into Cambridge for their urban fix. And it is a fantastic fix, many coffee shops, restaurants, great shopping, culturally brilliant (particularly if you like music). I lived in London for 10 years and love the similarly young and cosmopolitan vibe.

I would echo GrendelsMum in that there aren't huge bargains to be had for character properties in this area (for example, I just made enquiries about a character 4 bed detached house in Histon which looked really expensive - it's now off the market as more than one offer was made over the asking price). The prices fall dramatically with distance from Cambridge, for example the price differential between Histon and Cottenham, the next village up from Cambridge is about 60k on a 300k house.

If I was in your position I would actually rent for a while, there's more rental properties around and it would give you a better feel for the area.

Any more questions, ask away!

My husband has to go down to London a couple of times a week - the issue for him is balancing clothes and cycling! If he cycles fast, he needs to shower and change when he gets to his destination - which is okay if you have an office with space to store towels, shirts and a suit. If he cycles slowly enough not to get sweaty, it takes longer and he gets frustrated. I cycle 7 miles from our village into the town centre into work every day, and just change and do my hair and make-up in the loos at work. Changing in the station loos is pretty grim. We don't have any parking facilities in my office, so all staff have to cycle, walk or come by public transport. Some people who live quite a way out drive to the outskirts of town and then walk in, but this will probably change when / if the congestion charge comes in. You can cycle from Waterbeach into the town centre, though - again its about 7 miles.

Have you checked the cycle journey planner to find out how long your routes might take? It's a handy tool.

www.camcycle.org.uk/map/

I'm afraid that there doesn't seem to be much on the market in Cambridge at the moment (We moved from Histon to another village last year, and since then been looking for my parents who are thinking about moving to be nearer us). There are nice houses which go instantly, there are not great houses which go quite fast, and there are houses which look great and turn out to have something wrong. Our old house sold at the asking price to the second set of people who viewed. (Our new house sat on the market for a year, but that's because it's slowly collapsing and no-one else was daft enough to take it on.)

I think I've guessed one of the houses you're interested in in Waterbeach - is it an older house near the station? If so, the one negative thing I do remember hearing about Waterbeach is the flooding by the station. I remember my friends laughing about the cars flooded out in the station car park. I'd check the flood history carefully.

This may sound like the most bizarre advice ever, but the other thing you might run into in the villages is the adorable looking 17th century house at an excellent price - there are quite a few which are former cottages knocked together and which are now joined together on the ground floor, but which are still totally separate on the first floor, meaning that to go from one bedroom to another (or from the bedroom to the bathroom) you have to go through each of the downstairs rooms and up a different set of stairs.

I'm not sure that any of the schools in Cambridge are particularly bad - people in Cambridge have a tendency to be very shocked by fairly minor things, if you ask me. I'm told by another friend who moved from teaching at 'the worst primary school in Cambridge' (the place that took in all the kids excluded from other primary schools) to a certain private school in Cambridge that the teaching was much better at her previous school, more effort was made to enrich the curriculum, and that the kids were brighter and more ready to risk having a go at a difficult task / question.

You can subscribe to emails with details of all the crimes in Cambridgeshire ares / villages that you're interested in - I'm not sure how, but my husband gets them and finds them quite addictive. The crime rates in the villages are generally low (lots of bikes being nicked), but there are still occasional horrible crimes in peaceful villages.

Rather a brain-dump, I'm afraid, but I hope some of this is helpful. Could you try renting for a while to get a feel for what you like and don't like?

Oh yes - it might be helpful to know that certain University employees are offered top-up loans for house buying if they can't get a mortgage for the full extent - which adds an extra twist to the Cambridge housing market.

And you might also not have heard of Northstowe, a new town to be built near Histon. We were all wondering what effect it's going to have on the traffic...

Oooh thank you again GrendelsMum & LuubyLuu- very useful info. My head is spinning with all this. We'd rather not rent unless we really have to as we're lucky enough to have a very low mortgage so renting would probably treble (or more) our monthly costs but we'll see. Will check out the cycle routes and also the flooding - that was something I really hadn't thought about. Yes both of the houses we're seeing are near the staion - in fact both are on Station Road - one is detached and looks really nice but it's right on the street and doesn't have parking. Any ideas what parking is like on that road?

Thought about Cottenham but it seems too far out for a regular commute to London although I can see it's cheaper. I think as Lubbyluu says we're looking for something with a nice community feel, relatively good for transport and also easy access into Cambridge for the urban fix! Not sure if we would get that community feel in the centre of town even if we could afford it?? Can't take in any more now - need to get to bed.

Oh - actually one more thing - does anyone know anything about the waste composting place in Waterbeach? Is it a problem living close to something like that - I've no idea how you find out about stuff like that....

Yes, I guessed right on the Waterbeach house you were looking at! You'd bettter check it at rush hour to see how much traffic's going past and whether people park all over your front door. I think there are quite a lot of people who drive to Waterbeach station to commmute in London...

Are you meaning Donarbon recycling, source of free compost to the gardeners of Cambridgeshire? It's only notionally in Waterbeach as far as I know (I go there to get my free compost!). I can't see that it could be any kind of problem.

Have you thought about the Saffron Walden area? I know someone who moved to Ickleton to commute to London Liverpool St - he's just a mile from Gt Chesterford station , which makes it easy to get to either Cambridge or Saffron Walden:

www.bidwells.co.uk/view_property.php?property_id=SAF080133&property_type=residenti al

Thanks again - checking at rush hour is really problematic for us living 50 miles away but hopefully going tomorrow in the middle of the day we'll get some idea what parking is like on a weekday. Yes I think it is Donarbon recycling - didn't realise they provided free compost! Have seen some really nice properties in Saffron Walden (and very reasonable too) but DH works very near Kings X station so the train to Liverpool St is not good for him as he'd then need to do a tube journey once he'd got off the train. Will let you know how we get on tomorrow!

I'd second Shelford or cycling distance from Royston, then you can each whizz off in different directions from the station. Royston to Cambridge (about 20-25 mins) or Shelford to Cambridge (about, ooh, 10 mins!) would give you plenty of trains to choose from. The Liverpool street line is frankly rubbish for getting to Kings Cross.

Good luck!

But isn't Shelford very expensive? I've always thought it was even worse than the town centre? (But I stand by to be corrected)

Sorry I have nothing of use to add but am relocating to Cambridge soon (renting) and was wondering if GrendelsMum had any more info on the crime stats emails?

Would be very handy if you have, thanks

Here we are - as I say, I don't get them, but my DH does:

www.cambs-police.co.uk/myneighbourhood/ecops/

Mins - I've actually changed my mind - if your husband's up for the commute to the station (or thinks he is...), you should take him up on it straight away and move to Histon. I think you personally would have a much nicer time there than living in Waterbeach, and he's not on here reading our comments about the commute .

Grendelsmum - interested in your change of mind? I must say I'm feeling not so keen on the house in Waterbeach at the mo - I think it's mainly to do with it being right on the street but am trying to reserve judgement until we see it. My husband is definitely up for the commute to the station - even after I read out some of the comments on here! Just out of interest why did you move from Histon - it seems to us that nobody ever wants to leave there. We've looked at about 6 houses there and all the owners were adamant about not leaving the village. Unfortunately we weren't in a position to offer then but now are and all those houses have gone. Apart from one on Water Lane which is really nice but too small. Must say I'm feeling very stressed about the whole thing now but do feel that for whatever reason my heart is in Histon/Impington - very strange I know........... Was thinking about putting flyers through doors of houses on streets we like - Kirstie and Phil say this never fails. Is this something you experienced when you lived in Histon?

Lancelottie - have thought about Shelford but not much has been available there in our price range - you do definitely seem to get more for your money north of the city.

can't remember how far it is from histon to waterbeach, but could your dh cycle to waterbeach for a train? there are a lot of cycle paths in/around cambridge.

milton is another place, but don't get too close to the a14 - there's a sewage plant just the other side of it & you do sometimes get a waft. but there is a cylce path & park & ride from milton/science park into cambridge, so dh could cyle into station (about 10 - 15 mins) & you could bus in no probs. there's more in milton than histon/impington, and some older properties, though a lot of modern. be careful to check out the neighbours, thoug, a LOT of students live in the newer houses, about 15 to a room, so you could end up with some noise, but if you buy a period property, you should be ok. def worth driving around, specially the east side of the 'main' road in milton, to get a feel.

I never liked my husband cycling to Waterbeach from Histon in the dark - it's along a very busy road, or by the river. He did it a few times, but it made me nervous.

Why did we move? Very personal reasons, really. I come from the north, and I'm used to spending my weekends walking in the hills - I couldn't bear the flat countryside. You've got fields on your doorstep, but the walks around there are very boring - there are only about two walks anyway. Even the crops they grow round Histon are boring - the fertile soil means acres of brassias. Because of the busy roads, if we went out for a bike ride, it always needed to be to the south or west of the city. And I really, really hated the constant noise of the A14, which made going for walks even worse. And the houses are expensive - you can get much more for your money the further out you look.

BUT, having said that - it was 20 mins on my bike into town, and I could be popping in and back with no hassle. It was easy to go to work, come home, go out again in the evening, come home - no car needed. As someone else said, people are friendly and there's a good village atmosphere. The library isn't bad (bit small), the butchers is wonderful, the gift shop and co-op are handy, the college offers interesting evening courses, the farmers' market is good, the Red Lion is great, the Peking does pretty good food, the Indian and chip shop aren't bad, Oakington garden centre is great... In fact, we still do a fair amount of shopping in Histon even though we're now in another village not very close.

If you're set on Histon, then I'd try phoning the formidable Jan at Tucker-Gardner in Histon, and tell her that you're ready to move and you want a phone call as soon as anything comes on the market. Leafleting is probably also worth a try!

Best of luck!

Thank you again everyone. There doesn't seem to be much old property for sale in Milton - or indeed any - at least within our price range. We did consider Girton too but again similarly there's not anything for sale there within our price range. It's a shame as around 4-5 weeks ago there was quite a few possibilities on the market but then they all went very very quickly - even some that had been on the market for a long time. Grendelsmum - your list of good things about Histon is pretty convincing. Have already been on the phone to Tucker Gardner (& Tylers) - didn't speak to Jan this time although have spoken to her in the past. Is she really that formidable???

hi, i live in bourn which is 8 miles west of cambridge, my husband commutes from royston, his train takes 35 mins into kings cross and its a lovely village, very good school catchments (comberton Village College). i commute into cambridge for work at 9am and it takes me 20 mins. just to give you other ideas

Thanks for that GM, looks very good

Best of luck with finding a property Mins

Ooh - you probably go past my house, ihatethecold Bourn's a gorgeous village, isn't it (much nicer than Histon, but we won't say that here).

What can I say about Jan? When my friend's first house sale fell through last month, she got him three more viewings the next day and a sale the day after. When our buyers were thinking about pulling out for some unidentifiable reason, she was very disapproving that we'd been talking to them directly - "you should have left it to me, if you let them get away with this kind of thing at the beginning, they just don't know when to stop." Then she got on the phone and sorted them out. She's a terror, but seems very good at knowing who is going to buy which house.