Cheapest Places in Cambridgeshire to Buy a 3-Bedroom House in 2024

Buying Property in Cambridgeshire in 2024

Cambridgeshire is at the forefront of a technological revolution which has seen rapid growth in the high-tech business sector. The area has been dubbed 'Silicon Fen', and it has become a magnet for talented and innovative individuals. As a consequence, property prices in and around Cambridge, in particular, have steamed ahead. Interestingly, however, other parts of the county are lagging behind, and there are still plenty of bargains to be had for those who are prepared to travel a little further to the top jobs.

Whilst Cambridge, Buckden, Godmanchester and Kimbolton are all relatively expensive property-wise, March, Wisbech and Peterborough are far more affordable, and there are plenty of other locations in the county where family houses can still be bought for £180,000 or less.

Buying Property in Other Counties

This article is one of a series written specifically to assist potential property buyers in finding the cheapest locations. Click on the author link in the top right-hand corner to discover more topics covered by this writer, including Cheapest Places in Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.

Cheapest places in Cambridgeshire February 2024

Buckden

Buckden is situated on the old Great North Road, and is an attractive location approximately four miles north of St Neots. The nearest railway station is 3.5 miles away at Huntingdon. Lower-end properties are few and far between in this popular village. Expect to pay approximately £350,000 for a basic three-bedroom house (February 2024). However, as simple, terraced family homes are rare in Buckden, you may have to pay considerably more than this.

Burwell

The large village of Burwell lies about 10 miles north-east of Cambridge. It has schools through to age 11. Senior school provision is in nearby Soham or Bottisham. There is no longer a railway station in the village, but it does lie on the main bus route between Cambridge and Newmarket.

Houses in Burwell are expensive in comparison to other locations in Cambridgeshire. There are a few tiny terrace houses that occasionally creep onto the market at around £300,000 or less. however, anticipate paying upwards of £345,000 for a three-bedroom house here.

Cambridge

Best known for its highly regarded universities, the city of Cambridge lies on the River Cam, about 50 miles north of London. Cambridge is an historic and fascinating location with a wealth of interesting things to see and do, including world-class museums and galleries, excellent theatres and leisure venues, exceptional shopping opportunities, and a full range of schools and healthcare facilities.

Trains from Cambridge to London Kings Cross and London Liverpool Street frequently run during peak hours, and with a typical journey time of around 45 minutes, Cambridge lies firmly within the London commuter belt. Employment prospects in Cambridge, particularly in the high-tech and bio-tech industries, are excellent. Taking into account all that Cambridge has to offer, it's good to know that three-bedroom houses start at around £350,000. This is high for Cambridgeshire as a whole, but when compared to other towns and cities within easy reach of the capital, Cambridge has a great deal to recommend it.

Chatteris

Chatteris lies in the middle of the Fens, the lowest-lying area in the UK. It is within easy reach of Huntingdon, St Ives, Peterborough, March and Ely and acts as a dormitory town for the larger, more industrialised locations round and about. The dark, peaty soil of the countryside surrounding Chatteris is ideal for farming, and numerous drainage ditches and dykes keep the fields free of excess groundwater. Chatteris has a largely agricultural based economy. Local employers include producers and packers of root vegetables intended for onward sale through supermarket chains.

Chatteris has schools through to sixth form, a compact shopping centre with shops catering for most day-to-day requirements, and there are regular buses running to other nearby towns, including Cambridge. The nearest railway station is a few miles away in March. Regular three-bedroom family homes can be bought here from around £200,000 (February 2024).

Ely

The great cathedral of Ely lies at the very heart of the Fens, and dominates the skyline. It is a triumph of 14th-century architecture, and visitors come from far and wide to admire it. The city of Ely itself is quaint and welcoming, with a warren of old and historic streets and alleys to explore.

Ely is on a mainline train route. Trains to Cambridge take around 20 minutes, and to London Kings Cross, an hour and a quarter. The town has a range of educational establishments, including both state-funded and independent schools. Three-bedroom homes can be bought in this handsome location from around £320,000 with an occasional small, terraced property slipping in a little below that.

Godmanchester

Godmanchester is on the site of the Roman town of Durovigutum. Sited at the crossroads of two Roman roads, Ermine Street and the Via Devana, Godmanchester has its roots at a busy junction of two important early thoroughfares. Archaeological digs in the area have unearthed numerous Roman artifacts.

The site has been continuously occupied throughout the centuries, and there are some ancient and remarkable older buildings still in use in and around Godmanchester. The modern town stands on the southern bank of the River Great Ouse opposite the town of Huntingdon on the northern bank. Two bridges link the two towns; an ancient medieval arched stone bridge and a more contemporary high-level bridge carrying the A14 dual carriageway, which runs between Cambridge and Peterborough.

Godmanchester has a limited range of everyday shops on its pretty High Street. Larger retail outlets, and all the facilities afforded by a larger town, are a short drive away in Huntingdon.

A little less than £300,000 should be sufficient to buy a basic three-bedroom home in this historic location, but realistically low-end houses are rarely available, and you may have to pay considerably more.

Huntingdon

The market town of Huntingdon is known as the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell. Hinchinbrooke House, the ancestral home of the Cromwells, lies on the outskirts of the town and is occasionally open to the public. The former Conservative prime minister John Major was the MP for Huntingdon from 1979 to 2001.

Huntingdon has a range of educational facilities through to degree level. The historic town centre boasts a good mix of chain stores alongside independent traders. The town is attractively located alongside the river Great Ouse, and has a great selection of waterside establishments. Being on a direct train route into London King's Cross, with a journey time of just over an hour, Huntingdon is popular with commuters into the Capital.

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Three bedroom houses in this useful location begin at around £210,000, which for a town on the edge of the London commuter belt, is very reasonable indeed.

Kimbolton

The village of Kimbolton lies approximately 9 miles west of Huntingdon and 14 miles north of Bedford. It is probably best known for Kimbolton Castle, a fine Tudor Manor House, which today forms a major part of Kimbolton School, an independent day and boarding school set at the heart of the village. King Henry Vlll's first wife, Katharine of Aragon, died in Kimbolton Castle in 1536 and was later interred in Peterborough Cathedral.

Kimbolton has a quaint and interesting High Street with a limited range of everyday shops, including a supermarket. There is no railway station. Lower-priced three-bedroom properties rarely come onto the market in this popular location, and those that do are generally priced at least £300,000.

March

Like many Fenland towns, March was once on an island surrounded by marshes. As the people of the fens began to understand how to drain and manage their boggy landscape, so the Fenland towns and villages found room to grow and expand. March is today a well-established town situated on the banks of the River Nene. Many small boats can be seen plying up and down the river here, and water-bourne activities are very popular locally.

March railway station has regular trains to London and Cambridge. The journey time into Cambridge is under 40 minutes, and to London King's Cross is approximately 1.5 hours. Three-bedroom houses in this picturesque location start around £180,000.

Peterborough

The 1850 opening of the Great Northern Railway's main line from London to York helped transform Peterborough from a rural market town into an important centre for industry. Brick-making has long been a mainstay of Peterborough's economy due to rich deposits of clay in the area, and with the railway available to transport products in bulk, the brick-makers were able to find new markets and invest in developing their products to the highest standard..

After the end of the second World War, Peterborough was one of a number of towns and villages identified as being suitable to become 'New Towns'. Five years of war had ravaged London and other major cities, and the New Town Initiative pumped large sums of money into developing communities away from the big cities in more rural areas where there was room to spread out and deliver a better lifestyle. Peterborough quickly grew and prospered.

Modern-day Peterborough is a thriving, vibrant cathedral city with all the facilities you might expect in a community of this size. Trains from Peterborough to London King's Cross have a journey time of approximately an hour, with a similar journey time into Cambridge. Astonishingly three-bedroom houses in Peterborough start at a very affordable £160,000 (February 2024).

Ramsey

The small town of Ramsey, approximately nine miles north of Huntingdon, grew up around Ramsey Abbey. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, the vast, ancient edifice was plundered for building materials. and some of the stonework from the monastery is still visible in buildings around the town, including the local secondary school, Abbey College.

Ramsey has a good selection of basic shops, as well as a co-operative supermarket. There are regular buses connecting the town with other Fenland locations. There is no railway connection. Unless you are looking for a DIY project or a pre-tenanted investment property, you should budget a minimum of £230,000 when shopping for a three-bedroom house in Ramsey.

St Ives

For hundreds of years, Market Hill in St Ives has played host to one of the largest public markets in England. Every Monday and Friday, the market place is thronged with traders coming to sell their wares around a statue of Oliver Cromwell, who was once a resident of the town. Bank Holiday Mondays draw a particularly large crowd with traders and shoppers travelling many miles to join in the fun.

St Ives lies about five miles east of Huntingdon and 12 miles north-west of Cambridge, and is a popular and lively town. There are regular bus services running between St Ives and other nearby towns, including Cambridge. Huntingdon, seven miles away, has the nearest railway station. Three-bedroom family homes in the town start at a little under £280,000.

St Neots

St Neots, one of Cambridgeshire's fastest-growing towns, has an attractive riverside location 18 miles west of Cambridge. Built on the banks of the River Great Ouse, the town is the amalgamation of two villages, Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon, which once faced each other across the watery divide. Nowadays, the modern town has retained much of the character of the two founding villages but has expanded rapidly to include large new housing estates that have swallowed up several nearby villages and hamlets. The infrastructure of the town has also increased, and St Neots now boasts a great range of facilities.

A direct line train journey from St Neots to London King's Cross takes around an hour, placing St Neots firmly in the London commuter belt. A basic three-bedroom house may be bought in the town from around £240,000, making St Neots one of the cheaper towns in the London commuter belt.

Soham

Soham is a small, quiet town, briefly notorious as the site of an infamous murder inquiry. It lies just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. The town has schools through to age 18, an interesting mix of banks, pubs, restaurants and independent shops on its busy High Street, and a useful medical centre.

Until very recently there were no passenger trains stopping at Soham; however, the railway provider has now reopened the old station after an absence of 56 years.

Expect to pay a minimum of £245,000 for a three-bedroom house in Soham.

Whittlesey

You need a minimum of £200,000 in your budget if you're hoping to acquire a three-bedroom house in Whittlesey. This ancient Fenland market town lies around six miles east of Peterborough, and 11 miles west of March. It has its own unique character with some quirky features and traditions, including the straw bear festival held each year in mid-January. Whittlesey lies on a mainline rail route, and a train into Cambridge takes around an hour.

Whittlesey has schools through to sixth form, and a range of shops catering to most everyday needs.

Wisbech

Wisbech is a large market town built on the banks of the River Nene. Situated in the north-eastern corner of the county, Wisbech is a less expensive location property-wise than the towns further south. Three-bedroom houses start at around £140,000, which is far more reasonable than the prices in Cambridge and Kimbolton.

Wisbech is a bustling town and inland port. It has a selection of state and independent schools, as well as a Further Education College. The town is noted for its unspoilt Georgian architecture, and the fine old crescents and streets often feature in period costume dramas.

Witchford

The popular village of Witchford is situated just two miles west of Ely. Witchford is well known for its annual Grunty Fen Half Marathon road race, which begins and ends at Witchford Village College and involves two laps into the nearby Grunty Fen. Witchford Village College is a secondary school which serves a wide rural community, with pupils drawn from the smaller villages and hamlets round and about.

Witchford has seen quite a lot of development in recent years and has a good selection of attractive modern houses as well as older-style properties at the heart of the village. Property prices here are typically a little higher than in many locations in the county. Expect to pay somewhere between £315,000 and £370,000 for the cheapest three-bedroom houses, but keep your eye open for the occasional bargain or doer-upper slipping through at a slightly lower price.

This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.

© 2016 Amanda Severn

Comments

Amanda Severn (author) from UK on May 13, 2018:

The rules for UK holiday homes vary from site to site, and you would need to enquire when you are shopping for a home here. That said, there are numerous mobile home parks which are permanently tenanted, and you would be able to spend as much or as little time as you wished on-site.

Miriam Wallwin on May 09, 2018:

Not so much a comment as a question. How do the UK holiday homes work. You can live there for only so many months of the year? I would like to retire to the UK and don't have a lot of money. I would like to base myself somewhere in UK and travel part of the year to other European countries. So I'm thinking that this might work for me.

Amanda Severn (author) from UK on October 16, 2016:

Hi Blossom, although Burwell is quite a small place, I've now added it in. I hadn't heard of it before, but it sounds lovely, and certainly has an interesting history. Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Cambridgeshire is a beautiful and interesting county, and certainly one I enjoy visiting.

Bronwen Scott-Branagan from Victoria, Australia on October 16, 2016:

I loved reading about these places as I've visited most of them. My late mother-in-law came from Burwell and we have stayed there several times, but it isn't on the map you show.