There is no single best area in Cambridge for property investment. The right choice depends on your budget, the type of tenant you want and how long you plan to hold the property. On HM Land Registry sales between October 2024 and August 2026, the lowest median prices in the city were in King's Hedges, Abbey and Arbury wards (£365,000 to £440,000), and the highest were in Queen Edith's and Newnham. Much of the city's planned growth is around three places: Cambridge North and North East Cambridge, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the new Cambridge South station, and new communities such as Eddington, Northstowe and Waterbeach.
Prices in Cambridge were flat in the year to July 2026 and below their 2022 peak. Every figure below comes from an official source and is dated. Past changes in prices and rents do not tell you what will happen next.
The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) from HM Land Registry is based on completed sales. For July 2026, the most recent month published, the average price was:
Within Cambridge, the July 2026 averages were £979,438 for detached houses, £603,225 for semi-detached, £493,851 for terraced and £298,575 for flats and maisonettes. Flat prices were 2.3% lower than a year earlier.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Price Index of Private Rents covers both new and existing tenancies, so it is not a measure of asking rents on new lets. In August 2026 the average private rent was £1,805 a month in Cambridge, up 1.8% on a year earlier. In South Cambridgeshire it was £1,408, up 3.4%, against £1,459 and 4.0% for England.
On the UK HPI, the average price in Cambridge rose from £436,907 in July 2016 to £475,151 in July 2026, an increase of 8.8%. Over the same ten years the England average rose by 34.6% and South Cambridgeshire by 23.2%. The Cambridge average peaked at £521,404 in November 2022, and July 2026 was 8.9% below that peak. The average flat price in the city was lower in July 2026 than in July 2016.
The most recent months are provisional and are revised as more sales are registered, and revisions can be larger for smaller areas. The August 2026 figures are due on 21 October 2026.
Cambridge City Council has 14 wards. We matched every standard residential sale recorded by HM Land Registry from 1 October 2024 to 28 August 2026 to its ward by postcode. The median prices were:
A median reflects the mix of homes that happened to sell, so a ward where many flats sold will show a lower figure. Use these as a starting point, not a valuation. Our Cambridge city area guide covers the wards, stations and schools in more detail.
Market ward, which includes Market Square, had a median of £644,000, and 54 of its 92 sales were terraced houses. Petersfield had a lower median of £467,500, with 101 terraced houses and 85 flats among its 210 sales. Newnham was the most expensive ward, at £1,000,000. Cambridge station is about a mile south-east of Market Square.
Cambridge North station opened on 21 May 2017 on the edge of East Chesterton. Prices in the north of the city cover a wide range: King's Hedges had the lowest median in Cambridge (£365,000), Arbury £440,000, East Chesterton £455,000 and West Chesterton £580,000.
The land around the station is the subject of the largest long-term plan in the city. North East Cambridge covers 182 hectares of brownfield land, and Greater Cambridge Shared Planning describes it as a future new city district of homes, workplaces and services. Its redevelopment relies on moving the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant from Cowley Road to a new site next to the A14. The Secretary of State approved that relocation in April 2025. North East Cambridge is now part of the joint Greater Cambridge Local Plan rather than a separate plan. The last public consultation on the Local Plan closed on 25 September 2026, the councils must submit it to government by the end of December 2026, and an independent examination is expected to start in spring 2027. The plan is not yet adopted, so the timing and scale of new homes there are not settled.
Just outside the city, Milton is about a mile and a half from Cambridge North station and has its own Park and Ride. Its median sale price was £430,000 between October 2024 and July 2026.
Cambridge South station opened on 28 June 2026, about two miles south of Market Square next to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. The Department for Transport says the campus has more than 20,000 staff and that around 40,000 people visit it every day. Greater Anglia, Great Northern, Thameslink and CrossCountry trains call at the station.
Trumpington ward, west of the station, had a median of £532,500, with flats and terraced houses each making up 76 of its 218 sales. Queen Edith's, which includes Addenbrooke's Hospital on the campus, had a median of £762,500. Further south, Great Shelford has its own station on the line to London Liverpool Street and is about a mile and a half from Cambridge South. Its median sale price was £595,000 between October 2024 and August 2026.
Abbey had the second-lowest median in the city, £423,500, with a mix of 59 terraced houses, 53 flats and 49 semi-detached houses sold. In Romsey, 137 of the 216 sales were terraced houses and the median was £477,500. Coleridge's median was £480,500. Cherry Hinton had a median of £450,000. It is about one and three-quarter miles from Cambridge station and two and a quarter miles from Cambridge South.
Large developments add to the supply of homes as well as demand, so check how far along each one is.
Eddington, in North West Cambridge, is being developed by the University of Cambridge. Around 1,850 homes have been built or are under construction in the first phase, including homes for University and College staff and homes on the open market. In September 2025 the University applied for outline planning permission for around 3,800 more homes. On 16 September 2026 the councils' Joint Development Management Committee resolved to approve it, subject to conditions and a Section 106 agreement due by 16 December 2026, so permission has not yet been formally issued. The University says up to half of the homes would be affordable homes for University key workers. Eddington lies in Castle ward, where the median was £616,623, just across the city boundary from Girton.
Northstowe is a planned new town of up to 10,000 homes about 10 kilometres north-west of Cambridge. Greater Cambridge Shared Planning says the first phase is almost complete, and later phases are being delivered by Homes England with housebuilding partners. Nearby, Histon has a stop on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, and its median price was £453,500 between October 2024 and July 2026.
Waterbeach new town, north of Cambridge, has outline permission in two parts: up to 6,500 homes on the former barracks (granted in September 2019) and up to 4,500 homes to the east (approved in December 2024). A replacement Waterbeach station about 2.4 kilometres north of the current one must open before any homes in the eastern part are occupied. In November 2025 the Greater Cambridge Partnership said construction was set to start in autumn 2026, with the station planned to open by summer 2028.
Cambridge now has three stations, five Park and Ride sites and the Guided Busway, which runs from Cambridge North to St Ives and from Trumpington Park and Ride to Cambridge station, with a spur to Addenbrooke's. Check the actual journey to work from any property you are considering, because that is what a commuting tenant will do.
School places are allocated by Cambridgeshire County Council, and catchment areas can change, so check current arrangements with the council. Our article on Cambridge schools and property prices looks at this in more detail.
Buying costs make short-term investment hard to justify. If buying a home means you will own more than one, you will usually pay 5% on top of the normal Stamp Duty Land Tax rates in England. Add legal fees and selling costs, and a property has to rise in value considerably before a quick sale breaks even. With Cambridge prices flat over the latest year, a buy-to-let here depends mainly on rental income over a long period.
Gross rental yield is the annual rent divided by the purchase price, multiplied by 100. As an illustration only, we divided 12 months of the August 2026 ONS average rent for each property type in Cambridge by the July 2026 UK HPI average price for the same type:
These are not forecasts or the return on any particular property. The two measures cover different sets of homes, and a gross yield is before costs. Your net return will be lower after mortgage interest, letting and management fees, insurance, repairs, safety checks, empty periods and tax. To work out the figures for a specific home, our property investment team can give you a rental estimate, and if you already own a property in Cambridge you can book a valuation to see what it is worth today.
The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% on 17 September 2026, with inflation at 3.1%. Its next decision is due on 5 November 2026. Bank Rate affects other interest rates in the economy, including mortgage rates, so a change can alter what a mortgaged rental property costs to run.
The Renters' Rights Act changed private renting in England on 1 May 2026:
Other duties continue. Landlords must keep gas and electrical equipment safe, have the electrics checked at least every 5 years, provide an Energy Performance Certificate (the current minimum rating for most lettings is E), protect deposits in a government-approved scheme within 30 days, fit smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and check tenants' right to rent. In Cambridge, a property let to five or more people forming two or more households needs an HMO licence from Cambridge City Council.
Two further changes are planned. The government intends to raise the minimum standard for private rented homes to the equivalent of EPC C by 1 October 2030, which still needs new legislation. From the 2027 to 2028 tax year, property income will be taxed at 22%, 42% and 47% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, two percentage points above the current basic, higher and additional rates of 20%, 40% and 45%. Our lettings service for landlords can help you keep up with these rules.
This article is general information based on official statistics and published plans, not financial, tax or legal advice. Speak to a regulated financial adviser, mortgage adviser or tax adviser about your own circumstances before you invest.
King's Hedges had the lowest median sale price of the city's 14 wards, £365,000, between October 2024 and August 2026. Abbey (£423,500) and Arbury (£440,000) were next.
The ONS average private rent in Cambridge was £1,805 a month in August 2026, up 1.8% on a year earlier. In South Cambridgeshire it was £1,408.
As an illustration, the August 2026 average rent and July 2026 average price give a gross yield of about 4.6% across all properties and about 5.8% for flats. These are averages before costs, not a forecast for any property.
Not recently. The UK HPI average for Cambridge was unchanged in the year to July 2026 and 8.9% below its November 2022 peak. Over ten years from July 2016 it rose 8.8%, against 34.6% for England.
Cambridge South opened on 28 June 2026, next to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, about two miles south of the city centre.
No. Since 1 May 2026 landlords in England cannot use section 21 and need a legal ground for possession, served with a section 8 notice.
