Where to live if working in London/Cambridge

Linton

Hiuntingdon area?  Perhaps not Huntingdon otself but several pleasant villages within a few miles of the town.  Easy drive or bus to Cambridge, and trains to London.  Plenty  range of houses in your price range.

mark_cycling00

Royston is 45min to central London by Train I think, and much less to Cambridge.

I suspect there aren't that many newcomers in the town but a nice village nearby might be Very different and a great place to live.

Letchworth also looks nice, lots of culture and greenery.

RelievedSheff

fidaa said:

jimbog said:

Hitchin may be worth looking at or Ely? Train goes to Cambridge from Ely in 16 mins. Could stay on to London
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134288537#/?channel=RES_BUY

Are they nice places? House looks little small

I wouldn't get your hopes up for a much bigger detached house within your budget that is easily commutable to London!

mebu60

My brother lives in Barkway near Royston which is very nice but you're not going to get anything for your budget there. Have been to Buntingford a few times which seems decent area, your money may go a bit further there. He regularly travels into Cambridge without any great issues but he does go at silly-o'clock in the morning! 

Section62

fidaa said:

Section62 said:

fidaa said:

Tiglet2 said:

Are you driving to London and Cambridge or taking the train?

I'd maybe look at Baldock/Letchworth on the Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire border.  Very close to the A1 for a straightish drive to North London and across country via Royston for Cambridge.  Trains to and from to London Kings Cross to Cambridge Station run through these stations.

The further south you go the more expensive it is.  Buckinghamshire is a lovely county but is very expensive in places and not particularly close to Cambridge.  Milton Keynes would probably give you the most value for money, but Cambridge would most likely be a drive, not a train journey, though it is doable, as it is from Bedford as jimbog states above.

If London, train and then possibly tube. If Cambridge, a drive.

I have heard of baldock and letchworth. Are they nice areas?

Like most places, some parts good, some not so good.

Also worth looking at Hitchin, possibly Stevenage.  Hitchin is nice and less 'new town' than the others.

Stevenage has the advantage of a range of property prices/quality, plus it is a main stopping point for trains (including some serving the North) so offers some very fast journey times to London.

The drive to Cambridge is do-able, but a bit of a pitb as some parts of the route are still single-carriageway (and probably always will be).  Plus getting into the centre of Cambridge is becoming increasingly difficult.  The train service from Stevenage/Hitchin/Letchworth/Baldock to Cambridge is good and relatively fast... it may be better than driving depending exactly where you are going in Cambridge.

Commuting from these stations is popular, so check the situation with parking before committing to anywhere that would involve driving to the station and parking.

For nearer to Cambridge, Royston is worth considering.

Thank you this is helpful. I had heard Stevenage is run down? 

The town centre isn't great - typical 60's New Town - but Stevenage is still being developed so there are modern estates which are as good as anywhere.

Hitchin and Letchworth are a short drive away if you want a nicer town centre environment for shopping/eating out.  Plus plenty of countryside with pubs/restaurants.

Essentially the issue is as others have pointed out - if you want to be near to London and live in a really nice place then you will need a bigger budget... or make other compromises such as having a relatively long drive to the nearest station.

fidaa

Section62 said:

fidaa said:

Section62 said:

fidaa said:

Tiglet2 said:

Are you driving to London and Cambridge or taking the train?

I'd maybe look at Baldock/Letchworth on the Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire border.  Very close to the A1 for a straightish drive to North London and across country via Royston for Cambridge.  Trains to and from to London Kings Cross to Cambridge Station run through these stations.

The further south you go the more expensive it is.  Buckinghamshire is a lovely county but is very expensive in places and not particularly close to Cambridge.  Milton Keynes would probably give you the most value for money, but Cambridge would most likely be a drive, not a train journey, though it is doable, as it is from Bedford as jimbog states above.

If London, train and then possibly tube. If Cambridge, a drive.

I have heard of baldock and letchworth. Are they nice areas?

Like most places, some parts good, some not so good.

Also worth looking at Hitchin, possibly Stevenage.  Hitchin is nice and less 'new town' than the others.

Stevenage has the advantage of a range of property prices/quality, plus it is a main stopping point for trains (including some serving the North) so offers some very fast journey times to London.

The drive to Cambridge is do-able, but a bit of a pitb as some parts of the route are still single-carriageway (and probably always will be).  Plus getting into the centre of Cambridge is becoming increasingly difficult.  The train service from Stevenage/Hitchin/Letchworth/Baldock to Cambridge is good and relatively fast... it may be better than driving depending exactly where you are going in Cambridge.

Commuting from these stations is popular, so check the situation with parking before committing to anywhere that would involve driving to the station and parking.

For nearer to Cambridge, Royston is worth considering.

Thank you this is helpful. I had heard Stevenage is run down? 

The town centre isn't great - typical 60's New Town - but Stevenage is still being developed so there are modern estates which are as good as anywhere.

Hitchin and Letchworth are a short drive away if you want a nicer town centre environment for shopping/eating out.  Plus plenty of countryside with pubs/restaurants.

Essentially the issue is as others have pointed out - if you want to be near to London and live in a really nice place then you will need a bigger budget... or make other compromises such as having a relatively long drive to the nearest station.

Hitchin and Letchworth look really nice. They also seem more affordable?

fidaa

Linton said:

Hiuntingdon area?  Perhaps not Huntingdon otself but several pleasant villages within a few miles of the town.  Easy drive or bus to Cambridge, and trains to London.  Plenty  range of houses in your price range.

Is that a nice area?

RAS

Go, book a few Travelodge or similar weekends and explore the prospective towns,

I did.

One was lovely but flooding limited access to the bus and rail network, even if it wasn't a problem with the properties.

One was well connected but the high street was charity shops, budget/bargain stores and bookies.

Another was entirely North facing, so no sun for months each year.

 

Gavin83

So we did a very similar search a few years back and looked at a number of places named in this thread. So some opinions:

Milton Keynes - Very odd vibe to the place. Feels like an American city that’s been built to test nukes. We went there on a Saturday and basically saw no one else.

Royston - We almost moved here. Quite a nice town but didn’t fill us with joy either. It’s quite small and there’s not much going on but you’ll need to decide if that’s a problem.

Bishops Stortford - It’s a very 50/50 town. Half of it feels lovely, the other half not so much. It’s close to the airport but I understand it doesn’t really suffer from noise.

Hitchin - It’s great, if a little yummy mummy feeling. You aren’t even getting close to that kind of property for your budget though.

Stevenage - Total dump.

Huntingdon - Feels run down. Lots of charity shops. Went into a pub there and most people in there had missing teeth and were discussing how they’d recently broken the law.

Honestly you’ll probably struggle to get that house, in that kind of area on your budget so something will have to give. The problem with the Home Counties is there are actually surprisingly a lot of crap places in them and those that are nice are generally expensive.

Oh and driving in Cambridge is a nightmare.

So where did we move? Ely, which is another place mentioned on this list. We love it and it has lots going on and it takes around 15 minutes to get into Cambridge by train and the ticket is cheap. 

London is more of a trek though. My wife works in London and goes into the office one day a week and I go in a few times a year. We both work in South London but door to door you’re looking at two hours plus each way. Honestly if I had to go in more than two days a week I’d move elsewhere or find another job. It’s also around £55 a day for the ticket.

fidaa

Gavin83 said:

So we did a very similar search a few years back and looked at a number of places named in this thread. So some opinions:

Milton Keynes - Very odd vibe to the place. Feels like an American city that’s been built to test nukes. We went there on a Saturday and basically saw no one else.

Royston - We almost moved here. Quite a nice town but didn’t fill us with joy either. It’s quite small and there’s not much going on but you’ll need to decide if that’s a problem.

Bishops Stortford - It’s a very 50/50 town. Half of it feels lovely, the other half not so much. It’s close to the airport but I understand it doesn’t really suffer from noise.

Hitchin - It’s great, if a little yummy mummy feeling. You aren’t even getting close to that kind of property for your budget though.

Stevenage - Total dump.

Huntingdon - Feels run down. Lots of charity shops. Went into a pub there and most people in there had missing teeth and were discussing how they’d recently broken the law.

Honestly you’ll probably struggle to get that house, in that kind of area on your budget so something will have to give. The problem with the Home Counties is there are actually surprisingly a lot of crap places in them and those that are nice are generally expensive.

Oh and driving in Cambridge is a nightmare.

So where did we move? Ely, which is another place mentioned on this list. We love it and it has lots going on and it takes around 15 minutes to get into Cambridge by train and the ticket is cheap. 

London is more of a trek though. My wife works in London and goes into the office one day a week and I go in a few times a year. We both work in South London but door to door you’re looking at two hours plus each way. Honestly if I had to go in more than two days a week I’d move elsewhere or find another job. It’s also around £55 a day for the ticket.

Royston sounds good, what are house prices like?