Lucy Egerton and Marcus Rees-Roberts with their daughters Leila and Mina
(Picture: Handout)A real lockdown low-point for Lucy Egerton came when she needed to join a Zoom meeting — and found herself banished to the bathroom for privacy.
Egerton and her husband Marcus Rees-Roberts were both trying to work from their two-bed basement flat in north London which they shared with their daughter, Mina, now two, and space was at a premium.
Rees-Roberts, 46, who works in the charity fundraising sector, was taking a call in the open plan kitchen/living room and Egerton, 44, who works in PR, was camped out in the bathroom while trying to keep up a professional front. “I thought, ‘This is just ridiculous’,” she says.
The couple had bought their flat in 2011 for £355,000 and when it was just the two of them it was perfect — just off the Archway Road and close to Highgate Village and Hampstead Heath. Sharing the flat with a child was less ideal and after Mina was born they began to consider the idea of leaving London, particularly as they wanted to have a second child sooner rather than later.
“Neither of us really wanted to leave London,” says Egerton. “But as well as needing more space your life does change when you have children.”
They opted to move to Cambridge, where Rees-Roberts’s parents live, for its walkability, vibrancy, culture and easy commute to London. Trains to St Pancras take from 49 minutes.
In April 2021 they reserved a new home on a development on Mill Road, a mile south-east of the city centre, and close to the station. The build was delayed thanks to Brexit and Covid, and the family were not able to move in until May — with their second child, Leila, who was just four weeks old.
They sold their London flat for £570,000 and spent £829,000 on their four-bedroom townhouse.
“So far I am loving it,” says Egerton. “It is much easier to navigate than London and I can go pretty much anywhere I want to on foot. There is a real vibrancy... It has got a really good food scene and the pubs are amazing.”
