Huntingdonshire Residential Valuations, Building Surveys And Homebuyer Reports

As Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Registered Valuers we have carried out Residential Valuations, Building Surveys (formerly known as a Structural Survey) and RICS Homebuyer Surveys (commonly referred to as a Homebuyer Report) in the market towns of Huntingdon, St Ives and St Neots together with the surrounding villages for over 15 years.

Huntingdonshire covers the area from approximately Yaxley in the North, St Neots in the south, Kimbolton to the west and Ramsey to the east.  In 1889 Huntingdonshire became an administrative county, with the new County Council taking over administrative functions. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Huntingdon and Peterborough merged with Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely to form the new non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire. A Huntingdon district was created based closely on the former administrative county borders. The district was renamed Huntingdonshire on 1 October 1984, by resolution of the district council. The main towns comprise of Huntingdon, St Ives, St Neots and Ramsey.

Huntingdon

The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council.

Huntingdon is located north of the River Ouse. The central parts comprise housing built around the 1900s. The town grew slowly until the 1960’s when it expanded to the northwest with private houses and bungalows and to the north with Local Authority built houses. Further expansion occurred in the 1980s and 1990s with the development of housing around Hartford which was originally a separate village and an area to the northwest called Stukeley Meadows. This area is next to the busy A14 and can be affected by road noise. The most recent housing development is the former Alconbury airbase known as Alconbury Weald.

The vast majority of housing in Huntingdon comprises traditional construction i.e. brick walls beneath a pitched slate or tile roof. However, after the Second World War, there was a shortage of certain types of building materials and a significant demand for housing. The solution was to construct houses using some non-traditional materials. An example of this is some houses around American Lane that make use of steel instead of wood for the roof structure.

St Ives

St Ives is built on the banks of the wide Great Ouse river and is located between Huntingdon and Ely. During the 18th and 19th centuries, St Ives was a hub of trade and navigation and most of the housing in and around the town centre dates from this period. Further housing development took place in the 1930s when the Local Authority built a number of houses in the High Leys area. However, the most significant expansion of the town took place in the 1970s and 1980s when a large, mainly private, housing development was constructed to the north of the A1123. The most recent development is taking place to the west of the town part of which is on the old St Ives golf club site.

The Great Ouse river at St Ive’s flooded in 1947 and some parts suffered seriously again at Easter 1998 and in January 2003. Extensive flood protection works were carried out on both sides of the river in 2006/2007 at a cost of nearly £9 million.

St Ives is a popular residential location due to its local shopping amenities and its close proximity to Cambridge. House prices tend to be slightly higher than Huntingdon due to its closer proximity to Cambridge which is only 20 minutes away by car.

St Neots

St Neots lies close to the south-western boundary of Huntingdonshire District, in the valley of the Great Ouse river. It is partly on the flood plain and partly on slightly higher ground. Today, St Neots is a thriving dormitory, commuter and market town. The modern town incorporates Eynesbury (originally the main settlement and the oldest part of the town) and two areas across the river, Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon, which were original, separate villages. Until recently the whole of St Neots lay between the A1 on the west and the main London to Peterborough rail line to the east. However, a recent large development to the east of the rail line called Love’s Farm has expanded the town beyond these limits.

Houses in the town centre can date back to the 18^th century. However, the majority of development has taken place post-1970. Most houses are of traditional masonry construction being of brick walls beneath a pitched tile or slate roof. A number of houses built by the local authority are of either timber frame construction or a mixture of timber frame and traditional masonry called Cross Wall. There is an increasing number of privately built properties constructed of timber frame with a brick or render outside skin.

There are no common geological or mining issues in St Neots but a number of properties are affected by either rail or road noise.

Homesurv Ltd’s Coverage Of HUNTINGDONSHIRE

Homesurv has undertaken Homebuyer Reports and Building Surveys in Huntingdonshire for over 15 years.  We cover post codes are:-

• PE7 – Yaxley, Whittlesey and Stilton
• PE26 – Ramsey
• PE28 – Sawtry, Alconbury, Bramton, Warboys, the Hemingfords and Kimbolton
• PE19 – St Neots, Little Paxton and Buckden
• PE27 St Ives and Needingworth