HIston, Impington & Orchard Park
South Cambridgeshire 006 · 7 sub-areas · 11,786 residents
South Cambridgeshire 006 is a rural-edged neighbourhood within South Cambridgeshire, home to around 11,800 people and sitting comfortably outside the pressures of city-centre pricing. A typical two-bedroom lets for about £1,270 a month — broadly in line with the UK median — though nearly half of residents here own their home outright, making this one of the more settled, owner-occupier corners of the district.
HIston, Impington & Orchard Park 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; a high share of adults are degree-educated, which often shows up in the kind of jobs people commute to.
Overview
What's it like to live in HIston, Impington & Orchard Park?
4 parks and 3 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; Crime sits around the national average — neither a notable concern nor a notable selling point; 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; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 7 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
HIston, Impington & Orchard Park in South Cambridgeshire
Living in HIston, Impington & Orchard Park
South Cambridgeshire 006 has the feel of a place where people put down roots. Owner-occupation runs at nearly 60%, well above what you'd find in most urban neighbourhoods, and that shows in the character of the area — quieter, more residential, with a high share of families and couples with children. It's not a place most people land in by accident; it tends to attract people who have specifically chosen a lower-density, greener environment within reach of Cambridge.
On rent, it sits in a moderate position. A one-bedroom comes in around £1,000 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,270, and a three-bedroom around £1,520. Those figures are close to the UK national median for a two-bed, though the affordability picture is complicated by high purchase prices — the median sale price here is around £410,000, which translates to roughly 4.8 years of saving for a deposit at a typical income. Rents rose around 4% over the past year, keeping pace with the wider regional trend.
Who lives here skews notably towards families and working-age adults, with the 35–49 age bracket forming the largest single cohort at nearly 23%. Over half of residents hold a degree-level qualification, pointing to a professional and highly educated community. Social renting is higher than you might expect for a rural district — around one in five households — which adds some demographic diversity to what might otherwise be a uniformly affluent picture.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 4.4 km away in straight-line terms — around a 55-minute walk, so most residents drive or cycle. The car is the dominant commute mode here, used by roughly a third of residents, while nearly half work from home — one of the higher remote-working rates you'll find anywhere in the East of England. Greenspace is close: the nearest accessible green area is under 400 metres away for most residents. See the streets and sub-areas below for more on how conditions vary across the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is South Cambridgeshire 006 a nice place to live?
- For families and professionals who want space, greenspace close by, and a quieter pace than Cambridge city itself, it works well. Nearly 60% of residents own their home, which speaks to how settled the community is. The trade-off is car dependency — public transport is thin, and you'll need to drive for most errands and commutes.
- What is the rent in South Cambridgeshire 006?
- A one-bedroom runs around £1,000 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,270, and a three-bedroom around £1,520. These are estimates scaled from district-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose roughly 4.3% over the past year.
- Is South Cambridgeshire 006 safe?
- Crime runs at around 79 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — just below the UK national average of roughly 80. It's not dramatically safer than average, but the area sits in the least deprived 20% of neighbourhoods in England, which generally correlates with lower serious offending.
- What's the commute from South Cambridgeshire 006 to Cambridge or London?
- Most residents drive — only about 3% use public transport for their main commute, and nearly half work from home. The nearest mainline rail station is around 4.4 km away. A public transport journey to London takes roughly 110 minutes. Remote working is genuinely the norm here, not the exception.
- Who lives in South Cambridgeshire 006?
- Mostly established families and professional couples in their 30s and 40s. Over half of residents hold a degree-level qualification, the largest age group is 35–49, and nearly 60% own their home. Social renters make up around one in five households, adding more socioeconomic diversity than the property prices alone suggest.
- What schools are near South Cambridgeshire 006?
- There are 58 schools within roughly 2 km of typical residents, so choice isn't the issue. Around 49% of those are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is just over 1,100 metres away. Check individual Ofsted reports, as quality varies considerably within the area.
- How good is broadband in South Cambridgeshire 006?
- Very good. Gigabit-capable broadband covers 93% of premises, and no properties are recorded below the minimum universal service obligation speed. Given that nearly half of residents work from home, this is infrastructure that genuinely matters — and it delivers.