Where to live in Ely

Elliot_J

Hi,
My partner has recently secured a job teaching in Ely and we're looking to move in September. 
I was hoping someone could give me advice on the good areas and likewise places to avoid.
Apologies if this isn't the right area on the forum but the search box was  only returning results for 'Eli' not 'Ely'.
Thanks

Linton

I assume you mean Ely, Cambridgeshire rather than Ely, South Wales.  Its a fairly small place (population 20,000) and so I doubt you will get much detailed response.  I know it as a frequent visitor but cant tell you about the good and bad areas - it doesnt seem large enough to have much in the way of "areas".

Lovely city, stunning cathedral, a market, good restaurants, lots of small shops, boating on the river, a perfect place to live I would have thought.  Moderate sized Tesco and Sainsburys on the outskirts (half a mile from the city centre perhaps) and Waitrose in the middle.  Good rail links.

The crime statistics (https://www.ilivehere.co.uk/crime-statistics-cambridgeshire-ely.html) show the criminal incidents (117 in March 2020) were mainly in the centre, as one might expect.

I suggest you spend a weekend there which should be more than enough time for a good look around.

jimbog

Lovely place. Fast trains  to Cambridge. Nearly moved there once

Ithaca

There was a Guardian article on Ely property last year which might help: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/apr/19/lets-move-ely-cambridgeshire

FreeBear

Avoid the low lying areas.... Oh wait, that is pretty much all of the area

But seriously, Ely is in the middle of the Fens, so many areas are prone to flooding. Do look at the lie of the land and I would certainly avoid any new build estates - Chances are, they have been built in areas likely to flood. So look for houses built on the high ground well away from rivers or dykes.

It is also commuter belt for London & Cambridge, so traffic on the A10 & A142 can be pretty grim at times. That aside, good rail links, and in general, a nice area.

Linton

FreeBear said:

Avoid the low lying areas.... Oh wait, that is pretty much all of the area

But seriously, Ely is in the middle of the Fens, so many areas are prone to flooding. Do look at the lie of the land and I would certainly avoid any new build estates - Chances are, they have been built in areas likely to flood. So look for houses built on the high ground well away from rivers or dykes.

It is also commuter belt for London & Cambridge, so traffic on the A10 & A142 can be pretty grim at times. That aside, good rail links, and in general, a nice area.

Err Ely is on the top of a hill!  You can see it from miles around.  Th e surrounding countryside is very flat so if Ely flooded much of East Anglia would be 10s of metres underwater.

FreeBear

Ely itself, does indeed sit on a hill. All of 26m above sea level (we call that a mole hill in these parts ). Go a short distance from the centre, and the land quickly drops away. A nice little map here - https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/maps/dsm/Ely/

wombles123

I've lived in Ely for 15 years now and can say that Ely is a great place to live. There aren't really any bad areas, although I guess the High Barnes / New Barnes Road are considered the less desirable area. Most of the homes in Ely have been built since 2000, towards the north of the city. There is no need to worry about flooding here, as the river is to the south of the city and would need to make it over the hill to flood. I've never known the river get that high, but when it does I think it spills towards Stuntney. Homes to the south of the city tend to be really expensive as a) there are fewer of them and b) they are near the station for Cambridge/London commuters.

From any home within Ely you're within a 20 minute walk of the city centre, so easy to wander into town. Also all the car parks in Ely are free, but as a result they can get full easily on the weekend and Thursday which is market day.

Ely does seem to have become much more desirable in the last 10 years. The out of town leisure village, addition of an Aldi and Sainsburys have increased the local choice. Whereas previously some shopping / eating out needed a trip to Newmarket or Cambridge, there is now choice close to Ely. As a result the house prices have gone up higher than average and it is also worth now looking in some of the surrounding villages. 

Chettisham, Little Downham and Witchford are the first closest choices. Chettisham is quite small with little local facilities and I don't know that much about it. Witchford is an option, however there are often queues from Witchford along the A142 into Ely, which can be frustrating if you just want to pop into Ely and a 5 minute journey is always a 15-20 minute journey. Little Downham is nice and easily commutable into Ely. Further afield there is Little Thetford (although pulling out onto the A10 can be exciting from there), Littleport (I'll let you do your own research on Littleport) or Stretham.

We have friends that live in all different areas here and no one I know regrets where they live or wants to move, so I'd like to think whatever decision you make, you won't regret moving to Ely or surrounding area.

[Deleted User]

I live just outside Ely but cant offer much without knowing what you are looking for.  If you want to be in Ely itself then its all pretty nice.  Most of the crime is in 1 or 2 streets mentioned in the post above but to be honest its all relative as to where you come from now.   I feel perfectly safe walking through the Ely 'rough areas' but then i didnt live in as nice a place as all my life. 

Ely has nice restaurants, a few decent pubs, and access to Cambridge and London.   Depending on how close to the station you want to be will dicate your purchase price.  3 bed semi with a 5 minute walk to the station will cost you £450k+.  Take a20 minute walk and you are under £300k.  
There are a lot of newbuild areas in Ely which isnt to everyones taste, personally I prefer the 1970s or older areas as the gardens are a bit bigger and have a bit more character.  

I live in a little village just outside Ely, its a 3mile drive to work and it feels like im in the middle of nowhere as we are surrounded by fields.   

Ely and the surrounding villages is the term most people use when they are looking to move to the area.  The villages are all so nice.   You cant really go wrong around here.   Some people say Littleport is a downgrade but its about £100k+ cheaper to buy a house there and its got an ok feel to the place. There just isnt much to do as its a commuter town

It really depends on what your budget is and what you are looking for.   If you had £1mill to spend and wanted to be in the heart of the city then there is gorgeous houses on the Riverfront.  Otherwise you can go 5 minutes out and get acreage and a manor for the price.  Its got a bit of everything really