Living in Cambridge: area guide to homes, schools and transport links

Home to one of the world’s top universities, offering picture-postcard medieval colleges, dreamy views of King’s College Chapel and punting students on the River Cam, the city of Cambridge attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists a year.

The pedestrian-friendly centre and flat landscape has turned it into the UK cycling capital, with 80 miles of designated lanes and routes. A quarter of all journeys to work in the city are now made on two wheels and sit-up-and-beg bikes with wicker baskets are everywhere — often with a gowned academic in the saddle.

This charming, slightly eccentric image is at odds with Cambridge’s worldwide hi-tech reputation. Nicknamed Silicon Fen, the city is home to digital and pharmaceutical start-ups, and research centres for Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Toshiba and Spotify, while Cambridge Biomedical Campus, on the southern edge, brings together Addenbrooke’s and Papworth Hospitals and drug giants GSK and AstraZeneca.

The 54-minute train journey to King’s Cross is attracting London commuters who like the idea of bringing up children in an intellectual powerhouse where there is a good choice of state and private schools. With an “outstanding” Ofsted rating, Hills Road Sixth Form College is a particular draw.

But Cambridge is bursting at the seams, so the city council aims to build 14,000 new homes before 2030, while 4,000 are built at Cambourne, west of Cambridge, and 10,000 are planned at Northstowe, six miles to the north.

The university is involved in creating revolutionary household waste recycling systems at some of the new housing projects. There is even talk of reopening the old “brain belt” Varsity railway line between Oxford and Cambridge and building a new expressway road with four or five new garden towns along the route.

South of the city centre, 3,800 homes are nearing completion at Great Kneighton and Trumpington Meadows. Great Kneighton has new secondary and primary schools, a 120-acre country park and a central square with library, café, community centre and GP surgery.

Eddington, a Cambridge University scheme north-west of the city, has homes for staff, some private sale, plus postgrad rooms. The first phase has 700 homes. A new primary school, a Sainsbury supermarket and a community centre are already open.

The property scene

Victorian homes, from large detached houses to small terrace properties, are the main offering. Medieval and Georgian homes in the city centre occasionally come up for sale. Storey’s Way conservation area has big detached Arts and Crafts houses.

Off Trumpington Road on the south side of the city, detached mainly Thirties houses sit in large plots. Sought-after Barrow Road has been designated a conservation area.

The architecture of Great Kneighton and Eddington is influenced by Accordia in Brooklands Avenue. This scheme of solid brick houses and flats with balconies, by architects FCB Studios, Maccreanor Lavington and Alison Brooks, is the first residential scheme to win the RIBA Stirling Prize.

New-build homes

Housebuilder Countryside provided the masterplan for Great Kneighton but a number of other developers have contributed to the scheme. Countryside has Adobe, where four-bedroom, three-storey houses start at £735,000, and also Aura , with two- and three-bedroom flats starting at £420,000 and four-bedroom houses priced from £674,995. Call 01223 846650 for details of both.

Bovis has Paragon, with four-bedroom houses from £675,000 and five-bedroom houses at £899,995. Call 01223 979879.

Crest Nicholson is selling three-, four- and five-bedroom houses at Halo, priced from £715,000 to £920,000. Call 01223 656701.

Cala Homes has a handful of four- and five-bedroom detached houses remaining, priced from £1.2 million to £1.4 million. Call 01223 664954.

Trumpington Meadows is a Barratt Homes scheme in Hauxton Road near Cambridge Biomedical Campus, with one- and two-bedroom flats and four-bedroom houses close to a 148-acre country park.

Prices range from £329,995 to £809,995. Call 0844 3348473.

At Eddington, developer Hill is building Athena, a scheme of studios, one- and two-bedroom flats and three-bedroom houses, to high sustainable standards. Prices ranges from £299,950 to £760,000. Call 01223 607200.

Affordable homes

A shared-ownership event is being held at Trumpington Community College on Thursday April 26 from 5pm to 8pm. Housing association bpha has shared-ownership homes available at Novo, Virido and in Hobson Square in Great Kneighton. Call 0330 0535 131.

Renting

With a student population of nearly 50,000 there is an active rental market, although most Cambridge Uni students live in halls so the demand for shared houses is mainly from students at Anglia Ruskin University and the other colleges. Some parents, especially those from overseas, have bought modern flats for their student children.

Staying power

Cambridge is a family-friendly city so, work permitting, many families want to stay. However, with so many students Cambridge also has a transient population. Estate agent Ed Meyer, from the local branch of Savills, says many former students love the city so much that they often return to live there.

Postcode

Cambridge has five postcodes, all of which cover a section of the city centre. CB1 stretches south to include the Cambridge Biomedical Campus; CB2 covers the entire west of the city; CB3 includes Chesterton and the new Cambridge North station; CB4 covers the north east including the airport and CB5 covers the east including Mill Road.

Best roads

The best Thirties houses in the roads off Trumpington Road such as Barrow Road, Bentley Road, Latham Road and Chaucer Road can sell for as much as £5 million.

Storey’s Way has large detached Arts and Crafts houses. The De Freville area north of the River Cam and Midsummer Common has leafy streets of detached and semi-detached Victorian houses.

Up and coming

Mill Road has independent shops and cafés; it is close to the station and there are small Victorian terrace houses. This is the area tipped by Ed Meyer of Savills.

Council

Cambridge City Council is Labour controlled. Band D council tax for 2018/2019 is £1,709.06.

Shops and restaurants

There’s a daily market in Market Square, plus shops in the maze of surrounding streets — King’s Parade, Trinity Street, Green Street, Rose Crescent, Market Street, Sidney Street and Bridge Street.

You’ll find a wide choice of high street names and independent shops including mid-market boutiques such as Whistles, Jigsaw, OSKA, Toast and Reiss, plus chain restaurants Bill’s, Byron, Côte, Wildwood, and Prezzo.

The Cambridge Distillery is a gin distillery with a shop in Green Street. The Grand Arcade is central Cambridge’s covered shopping centre; it has a large John Lewis department store and branches of Topshop, River Island, Russell & Bromley, Levis, Hobbs, LK Bennett and a Tesla electric car showroom.

It is worth seeking out the independent retailers, cafés and restaurants along Mill Road, for pizza, sushi, steak, curry and Korean cuisine.

There are interesting food shops including Cho Mee, a Chinese supermarket; Limoncello, an Italian deli; Culinaris, a food store that claims to stock “2,000 delicacies under one roof”; Hilary’s for fresh fruit and vegetables and Relevant Record Café, a coffee shop-cum-vinyl record store.

In nearby Hooper Street, Calverley’s Brewery has a taproom. Mill Road has a popular winter fair on the first Sunday of December every year.

Midsummer House in Midsummer Common is Cambridge’s two-star Michelin restaurant. Savills’ Ed Meyer recommends Pint Shop, a gastropub in Peas Hill.

Open space

The walk along The Backs, a Grade I-listed park, taking in the view of King’s College Chapel and the Bridge of Sighs across the River Cam, is one of the loveliest in Britain. There are then walks south to Granchester.

There is no automatic access to Cambridge college gardens but the city still has plenty of green space. The local council looks after a total of 94 parks and green spaces.

The best known are Parker’s Piece in the town centre, and Midsummer Common and adjoining Jesus Green. On the banks of the River Cam, Midsummer Common is home to the Midsummer Fair and a herd of bulls grazes there from April to October. Jesus Green has an outdoor swimming pool.

Lammas Land park is home to Newnham Bowls Club and has a paddling pool and play area. Cambridge University Botanic Garden is in Brookside. Milton Country Park, north of the town centre, has walkways and a lake, and a new playground is opening this summer.

Leisure and the arts

Cambridge is jam-packed with culture. The Fitzwilliam Museum in Trumpington Street has world-famous collections.

One current exhibition celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy of Arts by asking seven Royal Academicians to choose a favourite item from the museum; Angel of the North sculptor Antony Gormley has chosen Auguste Rodin’s Man with the Broken Nose.

Kettle’s Yard in Castle Street, a museum celebrating 20th-century art in the former home of collector and Thirties Tate curator Jim Ede, recently reopened after a three-year rebuilding programme.

Cambridge Arts Theatre in St Edward’s Passage presents a varied programme of drama, dance, opera, comedy and panto.

The ADC Theatre, which is part of Cambridge University,is in Park Street and is home to Footlights amateur theatrical club where the likes of the Monty Python cast, Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Sue Perkins and David Mitchell started out. Cambridge Junction arts centre in Clifton Way puts on comedy, children’s shows, concerts, theatre, dance and workshops.

There are three cinemas: the Vue multiplex in the Grafton Centre in East Road; The Light Cinema in Cambridge Leisure Park in Clifton Way, and the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse in St Andrew’s Street.

Cambridge has a choice of state schools and some well-known private schools as well as private GCSE and A-level and language schools that attract overseas students.

Primary school

State primary schools with an “outstanding” Osted rating are: St Matthew’s in Norfolk Street; St Alban’s RC in Lensfield Road; St Bede’s Inter-Church in Birdwood Road; The Spinney in Hayster Drive, and Coton CofE in Whitwell Way. University of Cambridge Primary in Eddington Avenue is a new Free School in a circular building designed by London Eye architects Marks Barfield. Trumpington Park Primary in Hobson Avenue in Great Kneighton opened in September. Neither has yet been inspected by Ofsted.

Comprehensive

The following comprehensives get an “outstanding” rating: Parkside Community College (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Parkside; Chesterton Community College (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Gilbert Road. The following get a “good” Ofsted report: North Cambridge Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Arbury Road; Impington Village College (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in New Road and Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology (co-ed, ages 13 to 18), a University Technical Academy, in Robinson Way.

Trumpington Community College (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Lime Avenue in Great Kneighton has only recently opened and has not yet been inspected by the government schools watchdog.

Higher education

Hills Road Sixth Form College is rated “outstanding”. Long Road Sixth Form College is rated “good”, as is Cambridge Regional College, an FE college, in Kings Hedges Road.

Private

The private preparatory schools are: King’s College School (co-ed, ages four to 13) in West Road; and St John’s College School (co-ed, ages four to 13) in Grange Road, both of which have boarding choir schools; and St Faith’s (co-ed, ages four to 13) in Trumpington Road.

The private secondary school is The Leys School (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Fen Causeway.

Cambridge has a large number of all-through schools. They are: Sancton Wood (co-ed, ages one to 16) in St Paul’s Road; Heritage School (co-ed, ages four to 16) in Brookside; Cambridge International School (co-ed, ages two to 16) in Cherry Hinton Road; Stephen Perse Foundation (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Union Road; St Mary’s RC (girls, ages four to 18) in Bateman Street; and The Perse School (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Hills Road.