Moving to Cambridge

Associate
Joined
11 Aug 2010
Posts
99
Location
Harbourne, Birmingham
Hi
I have to move to Cambridge soon.
I currently live in Birmingham and have a 2 bed flat for 615 per month. Exclude bills.
Does anyone have any good advice on cheap areas to live?
I don't like to commute too long or too far to work and will be working in "city" centre.
Cambridge on right move seems really expensive and have only been once before for my interview.
Any recent local knowledge would be helpful.

Thanks in advance
 
Isn't Cambridge one of the top three most expensive places to live in England (between London, Oxford and Cambridge)? It was costing me around £150 per week for an en suite bedsit there a few years back.

Can you clarify 'too long or too far' in terms of a commute?
 
Ah good point!
£150! I have been seeing about 750-900 for a flat which seems high to me!
I have never really commuted far for work and dont like the idea.
I think the furthest I have commuted was 30-40 mins on foot in bath so want to walk or bike about that. so am looking upto 10 miles for a 30-40 minute bike ride.
 
When I moved to Cambridge in 2001, I was renting a 1-bed house in Impington (one of the villages) for about £600 pcm. In 2008 I moved to a 2-bed flat in Chesterton and was paying nearly £800 pcm.

It's unlikely that you'll find anything near the city centre for much less than £1000 pcm, so you're looking either at one of the outlying suburban areas such as Chesterton (avoid Arbury and Kings Hedges), or looking further out at the villages. If you're interested in walking or cycling, there are a number of villages with access to the towpath such as Milton or Waterbeach. I think Histon and Impington have better access now as you can cycle into town along the guided busway.
 
Live and grew up around Cambridge, feel free to PM me.

Cambridge centre is very expensive to live in, depending on where you work you may be better served in one of the surrounding villages. Check the guided busway - http://www.thebusway.info/routes-and-times.aspx

I used to live in Longstanton which is a nice little village (stay away from the flats though) and it was a 10 minute bus into the science park, 20mins into the town centre.
 
Hi
I have to move to Cambridge soon.
I currently live in Birmingham and have a 2 bed flat for 615 per month. Exclude bills.
Does anyone have any good advice on cheap areas to live?
I don't like to commute too long or too far to work and will be working in "city" centre.
Cambridge on right move seems really expensive and have only been once before for my interview.
Any recent local knowledge would be helpful.

Thanks in advance

For a two bed flat within walking distance (30 minutes) of the city centre expect to pay £900 - £1100.

If you don't mind getting the bus then you can start looking at the surrounding villages to the North like Milton, Oakington, Longstanton (look up the Guided Bus route). Cambourne is an option that you should consider as it has good bus links but I just couldn't get on with the place or the properties available when I looked.

Cambridge is VERY expensive for property, not far from London prices. Basic problem is population of approx 125 000 and approx 250 000 people working there, combined with lots of high paid jobs in Tech and Pharm industry.

Still it is a very nice place to live, feels very safe and has lots of good pubs.


EDIT:

(avoid Arbury and Kings Hedges)


It's worth having a look at Kings Hedges and Arbury. I lived there for a year in 2001 and when I told people they looked at me like I lived in a war zone as it's the big council housing estate from the 60s (IIRC). I grew up in Birmingham and compared to some of the more interesting areas there it's absolutely fine, just by Cambridge standards it's a bit dodgy. Also been 'gentrified' quite a lot since I lived there as it's one of the few areas with vaguely affordable housing so a lot of people have bought there.
 
Last edited:
I live in Cambridge, it isn't a big place, you can cycle really from one end to the other in an hour or so depending on the boundaries :D

Do you have to live alone, is it a permanent move with work? Plenty of rooms/shared places for rent from £450 a month+ up to a lot. That is most likely sharing with 2 other people in a 3 bed place. That will get you a lot closer to the centre also. I live just off Milton Road, near Tommy Tuckers :D and that is pretty close to town/ the river.
 
It's worth having a look at Kings Hedges and Arbury. I lived there for a year in 2001 and when I told people they looked at me like I lived in a war zone as it's the big council housing estate from the 60s (IIRC). I grew up in Birmingham and compared to some of the more interesting areas there it's absolutely fine, just by Cambridge standards it's a bit dodgy.


This. I lived for many years in Cambridge, and you got the impression from the talk that they were South Central LA. They're just the bits where the poorer people live. The best test of an area is to see what it would cost to insure a car there, and those two are still amongst the lowest risk areas. I'd have no problem living there, but then I've lived in Blackley in Manchester...
 
Looks very expensive but from what I've been seeing will cost you around 450-600 for a room in a flatshare (very central) . I'll be moving from Glasgow to Cambridge in mid August to start a job in September, however I want my commute to be around 10 mins :p.
 
I live in Cambridge, it isn't a big place, you can cycle really from one end to the other in an hour or so depending on the boundaries :D

Do you have to live alone, is it a permanent move with work? Plenty of rooms/shared places for rent from £450 a month+ up to a lot. That is most likely sharing with 2 other people in a 3 bed place. That will get you a lot closer to the centre also. I live just off Milton Road, near Tommy Tuckers :D and that is pretty close to town/ the river.

Does tommy t`s still do 2.50 burger + chips lunch deal???
 
If you're working centrally, look at villages along the guided bus route so you can either get the bus or cycle into work. Or you could look at Waterbeach and cycle/get the train.

Centrally rents are pretty high, you could find a room in a house share for about £5-600 though. If you want your own place you're looking at £1,000pcm minimum really in the centre.

It is a boring ****-hole.... Unless you a part of Uni, its worthless.

Not really sure how you arrived at this conclusion. Having been both at the University and lived here for a long time since, it's anything but boring. There's so much to do, good music scene, good comedy scene, good theatre scene, good restaurants, loads of clubs, pretty much any event you could want, and 45 mins from London for anything else.
 
Last edited:
The point about London being just 45mins away on the Express train is going to contribute quite a bit to why it's so comparatively expensive (in the context of other 'satellite' towns...ignoring that Cambridge is a hub in itself for business/education etc.) It's lovely to be so close to somewhere else so vibrant, especially when trapped within 'The Bubble'.

You could always opt for somewhere a little further along the Cam and punt to work.

Let us know where you end up choosing as home.
 
I must say I did find Cambridge to be a rather dull place to visit, even the nightlife sucked and I was expecting it to be ok being a student type of place.
 
Back
Top Bottom