Is there anyone who can recommend an area within (reasonable - 45min) driving distance near Cambridge, that has house sales proceeding at "realistic" prices?
Ideal place would be right on a main road (not a "quiet cul-de-sac" in a "sought after village location", the sort of place that you could actually do something(!) at the weekends without neighbours filing noise nuisance claims with the council. Cambridge has an airport I see, so perhaps the area at the end of the runway has vendors with realistic expectations.

I have the very rare offer of a job, but it's the usual slave salary (I'm not public sector), so if there's really no hope of a buying a reasonable car-friendly pile of bricks around Cambridgeshire...... you see the mental anguish. The decision will affect a lot of related things, usual domestic complexity, just wanted to say something as to why I'm posting this request.

PLEASE - anyone in the area that can point me somewhere?

I'm assuming there's a great bunch of you out there in the Cambridgeshire area, perhaps a club meet too.

Thanks for any help/advice.

Housing tends to be a bit expensive in the Cambridge area , your best bet may be to have a look at estate agents websites for more info? The Cambridge News list properties on a Wednesday IIRC . As for club meets there is a meet in Baldock about 20 miles from Cambridge the 1st sunday of the month , 1 in Diss organised by Piddy on this site which is about 40 miles and occasionally a few of us in the Anglia region meet up but the venue changes.

Get a map, draw a 40mile circle around the centre of Cambridge, then start selecting major towns along the A14 and othe major roads that eminate out of Cambridge. Make the circle 20 miles Radius if you anticipate traveling at rush hour times. Or smaller if you dont own a car.

[Edited on 11/3/11 by jollygreengiant]

You might like to search for Haverhill properties.
I would think they would be cheaper than Cambridge itself.

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Originally posted by rusty nuts
a few of us in the Anglia region meet up but the venue changes.

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Must be well overdue, any suggestions as to where /when?

generally the further East of Cambridge is cheaper A11 route towards Thetford, Thetford to Cambridge is about 45mins on a good day and about as cheap as you will get, but thats for a reason!
Mildenhall area good for shielding Noise as two bigest UK American airforce bases in the area.

quote:

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Originally posted by rusty nuts
Must be well overdue, any suggestions as to where /when?

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Avoid having to travel the A14 on a daily basis, its a nightmare going / leaving work. its a very busy road with is share of accidents.

Villages to the North and North West tend to be cheaper.
Avoid Newmarket unless you love expensive (£...Million) horses! Although its nice around that area.

As Rusty says its not a cheap area to live in. (Ive lived here for 57 years)

Some of Cambourne has a poor record crime wise although isnt too bad really. There are worse areas in Cambridge!

Be aware of the Traveller issues in Cottenham. They are still there, and its been featured on the TV news on several occasions, but thats the very north end of the village.

Hardwick (to the west) is nice with reasonably priced housing, easy to get into town etc. Most places have a garage or an unattached garage. Worth checking out.

Sawston is the main village to the south, and Histon to the north is expensive as its very popular (used to live there as well)

Southern area tens to be more expensive than the north as its closer to London for the commuters etc.


Hope this is of some help.

I don't know about living around Cambridge, apart from when my daughter lived in Ely - which is quite an expensive town just to the north.

I do know what it's like to visit though... if your job is in Cambridge itself, then forget about parking anywhere near (unless the company has a staff car park). The traffic in and out is horrendous at any time of day, and pure hell in the rush hour. They do have a splendid park-and-ride system though! Otherwise consider being near a train station or major bus route.

If the job is in the science park (or similar) then you might be able to park - but the traffic is bad there too.

By now you might be getting a clue about Cambridge's traffic problems...

(As for the get-together - I'm in, as long as the date & venue are do-able)

OK, thanks guys. I have some experience of the traffic issues, but a long time ago, sounds like it hasn't got any better.
Peterborough postcodeage looks viable, I'll check out Hardwick as mentioned, something might look viable.

The house price expectation thing really does put the damper on these sort of plans, but I do need to make a decision soon.

Thanks again.

The traffic problems have doubled in the last few years , might be worth a visit just to see how bad.

I comuted from Cambridge to Thetford for a year and it wasn't that bad.... its easier on a motorbike as well.

It was about a 45 min trip which wasn't too bad, if you want to live in Thetford be warned that it is cheap for a reason...... its fecking horrible.

That's the problem - the nice places to commute in from are expensive, but the cheap places are grotty... market forces, I'm afraid.

[Edited on 11/3/11 by David Jenkins]