Cottenham
South Cambridgeshire 002 · 4 sub-areas · 7,321 residents
South Cambridgeshire 002 sits within South Cambridgeshire district, home to around 7,300 people. A typical two-bedroom property lets for about £1,270 a month — broadly in line with the wider South Cambridgeshire area. With nearly three-quarters of homes owner-occupied and almost half of residents working from home, this is a settled, largely rural commuter patch rather than a renter's market.
Cottenham is a mid-density neighbourhood of South Cambridgeshire in the East of England region. It sits between busier and quieter parts of the local authority and isn't dominated by a single use — there's a mix of workplaces, housing and local services. Most homes are owner-occupied, so turnover is low and many residents have been here a long time.
Overview
What's it like to live in Cottenham?
2 parks and 1 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; Transport links are limited — a car or e-bike is a practical assumption for most regular trips; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,399 a month for a typical home.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Cottenham in South Cambridgeshire
Living in Cottenham
South Cambridgeshire 002 has the feel of a well-established, owner-occupied corner of the district — the kind of place where most people have put down roots rather than passing through. Over 73% of homes are owner-occupied, which is considerably above the national average, and the landscape is shaped by that stability: quieter roads, a mix of village-scale communities, and relatively little of the churn you'd find in a city centre. Greenspace is close — on average around 480 metres to the nearest accessible green area — and nearly 39% of residents are within easy walking distance of open land.
On costs, rents here are moderate by South Cambridgeshire standards but will still stretch a typical salary. A two-bedroom home runs around £1,270 a month and a three-bedroom around £1,520. Council tax (Band D) comes to roughly £2,540 a year — above the England average. For buyers, the median sale price sits at just under £394,000, and the typical deposit takes around 4.6 years to save on a local salary. Rent alone consumes over half of average take-home pay, so affordability is a genuine constraint for renters here.
The people who live here skew older and longer-settled than the South Cambridgeshire norm. The 50-and-over cohort makes up over 43% of residents, and 22% are 65 or older. One in three households is a single-person household. Over 42% hold a degree-level qualification, which is notably high. The area is not especially ethnically diverse — the ethnic diversity index sits at 13.2 and 87.5% of residents were born in the UK — but it is educationally and economically well-placed.
Practically, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 6 km away in a straight line — around a 75-minute walk, so you'll almost certainly need a car or a cycle. Around 44% of residents commute by car, while a striking 45% work from home. Public transport use is very low at just 2.3%. Broadband is solid, with nearly 79% of premises able to access gigabit speeds. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets within the neighbourhood.
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Frequently asked
- Is South Cambridgeshire 002 a nice place to live?
- For the right person, yes. It's a quiet, owner-occupied area with low crime — around 56.5 incidents per 1,000 residents annually, well below the national rate. The trade-off is that it's car-dependent, rents consume over half of typical take-home pay, and it suits settled households more than young renters or frequent commuters.
- What is the rent in South Cambridgeshire 002?
- A typical one-bedroom lets for around £1,000 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,270, and a three-bedroom around £1,520. Rents rose 4.3% in the past year. These are estimates scaled from council-level data using local sale prices, as official rent data doesn't go below district level.
- Is South Cambridgeshire 002 safe?
- Yes, relatively so. The recorded crime rate is around 56.5 per 1,000 residents a year, noticeably below the UK national average of roughly 80 per 1,000. The settled, predominantly owner-occupied character of the area contributes to that lower rate.
- What's the commute from South Cambridgeshire 002 to the nearest city centre?
- The nearest mainline rail station is about 6 km away — you'll need to drive or cycle to reach it. The public-transport journey to London takes around 135 minutes. Almost 45% of residents work from home, which tells you something about how practical the commute is for many people here.
- Who lives in South Cambridgeshire 002?
- Predominantly older, owner-occupying households — over 43% of residents are aged 50 or above, and nearly 73% own their home. Around 42% hold a degree-level qualification. It's not a young renter's neighbourhood; it's a place where people tend to stay long-term.
- What schools are near South Cambridgeshire 002?
- There are 10 schools within typical catchment distance. Around 79% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 3.4 km away. Check individual catchment boundaries carefully — rural areas can produce unexpected catchment lines.
- How affordable is buying a home in South Cambridgeshire 002?
- It's a stretch. The median sale price is just under £394,000, and saving a 10% deposit takes around 4.6 years on the local median salary of roughly £42,700. Renting is also demanding at over 51% of typical take-home pay, so the area suits those who already own rather than those trying to get onto the ladder.