Best Essex locations to live for families

[roxanaif]

Hello mums,

I know there were a few discussions on this a few years ago but I was hoping for some up to date advice and guidance (pls I am desperate!)

We want to move in Essex but as you can imagine we are on a tight budget and there are also many other things that we need to consider:
-safe place
-good schools
-somewhere with relatively decent traffic as hubby commutes by car
-affordable and relatively green
We have max £325k but want a minimum 3 bed semi detached house ideally with driveway, garage, decent garden, tall roof - basically the whole package. We are willing to do work on the house but for the right price.
We currently live in Vange, Basildon so you can guess why we want to move. When we bought the house we were interested to be close to the c2c train station as we were both commuting to London but since then we both changed our jobs and have 2 daughters. We need to find a place to move soon as our mortgage expires this year.
I have read so many suggestions and if it were by us we would move to Upminster, Brentwood, but we can't afford them, Colchester seems amazing but it's too far from our jobs. I am really keen for Chelmsford but I am afraid traffic is bad and this will be too hard for hubby - I don't want him to not even see the girls for the day. Would any areas south of Chelmsford be with less traffic?

He doesn't want us to move further than Benfleet-again purely due to traffic. We were considering Romford, Grays (close to Chafford Hundred schools) Stanford Le Hope, Corringham, Laindon, South Benfleet, Wickford, Billericay, Langdon Hills (although we found only one property there and it's far from what we want ), and Basildon but we're not sure what area would be better, if any...

We're not really that bothered about high street shops, pubs. It would be lovely to have them close and accessible but it's the compromise we can make.

I would be so grateful for any help, maybe a top best as I've been thinking day and night about this!
Please, please, please tell me your honest opinions!!!

Many, many thanks in advance
Roxana

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools&region=881&la-name=essex&geographic=la&for=primary

That’s all the schools in Essex. I hope that helps narrow it down a bit.

I used to live in Great Dunmow- beautiful little town. Lovely walks and excellent schools... I can’t tell you about house prices nowadays as we left in 2009

Surely any answers depend on where your jobs are if you don’t want to have to drive too far too work..,but I can’t see where you’ve said that?

Chalkwell is nice.

Why don't you establish what would be your preferred Secondary School catchment and work backwards from there?

If you are working in london why not think about west of London too. Surrey is lovely, guildford, Farnham, Chobbam, Richmond etc.

You could look at Wickford or South Woodham Ferrers. Wickford has a reasonable choice of primary and secondary schools, is in catchment for the Chelmsford grammars and easy travel to the Southend grammars. Good access to the A127 and excellent rail links. There are parks and lots of activities for children.
South Woodham Ferrers might give you a bit more house for your money, but I'm not so sure about schools.
There isn't going to be vast amounts of choice north of the A127 if you don't want a terraced house or apartment...but you might get lucky as you are right on the cusp so you might find somewhere requiring work or priced for a quick sale.

Going to go a little wild and suggest East Tilbury for consideration--don't write it off based on the name, as it's completely separate to Tilbury itself. Nestled between Stanford and Grays, St Clere's cachement.

Only things to be aware of are 1) the new Thames crossing is currently slated to be built quite alongside and 2) it is completely behind railway crossings, so sometimes you have to queue in and out. Also the Tilbury train line does require an extra change if you're trying to get to Bas, Southend, etc.

In Grays--Little Thurrock and surrounds are all right. Would give Romford a miss.

Chafford was okay when we rented there briefly, but we found it pretty expensive when we looked to buy! Caters to the London commuters ime.

I thought the OP said they were commuting to London so needed to be near the c2c, but then changed jobs.

A job location would make answering this much easier!

We currently live in Grays but are moving to Billericay, as we couldn't find any suitable houses in Grays. In Billericay theres very good rated primary and secondary schools there too and good access to major motorways.

Possibly try Stifford Clays, it's part of Grays but has some really nice streets. It's a bit more traditional than Chafford hundred which has mainly post 1990 built houses which are packed tightly together with small gardens. Parking in the Chafford area can be a pain too!

Thank you all for your replies!! My job is currently in Basildon but the company is looking to relocate maybe to Laindon end of this year. Husband works in various locations, mainly West London but he had jobs even in Devon, Oxford, etc. (very rarely close to Essex) so this is why it's important to be close to A13/A127. Not sure about A12 as I've heard it can get much busier.

For the money and spec available, you'd be hard pressed to find anything in Romford. Prices have gone mad due to crossrail. Believe Shenfield and Brentwood are similar sadly.

I’d go for Swoof. I commuted to Bas from there.

Our daughters are quite young, one is 2.7 and the other is 4 months old but we would rather move now although it will be really hard for us to avoid moving them from school later on. It's hard to decide on secondary schools now as who knows what they will be like in a few years time.

If you want more for your money then BOC or S’ Minster are commutable by train. Lovely places but not so great for greater commutes beyond Stratford / East End.
My DH worked West London and the only solution was for him to rent a flat mid week. Appreciate this may not work for you but the commute is undoable otherwise.
£325 k is severely limiting sorry for the areas you want.

You would get the house you want in Thurrock for that price. North Grays is nice, my friend lives there on the Woodside Estate, look for a Grays RM16 postcodes. It's close to Orsett. Orsett is a nice village but may be too expensive. Horndon on the Hill is nice but again might be too pricey. Stanford le Hope has some nice roads, as does Corringham. West Tilbury is a lovely little village too. You are close to Langdon Hills in any one of those places.

Have you considered Maldon or Rayleigh?

I used to live in Upminster for a while and still have friends there. Many of their older children have moved out to Maldon and Rayleigh in order to be able to afford decent housing but a similar(ish) vibe. It has quite a nice high street and good for families as quite countryside based with good primaries I believe. No station though.

Chelmsford is nice but traffic can be a problem. You can cut down the A130 from Maldon or along back roads down to Wickford so probably a half hour-ish commute for you. Takes about 40 mins to Upminster from there.

Again thank you for your answers! Much appreciated!

Sorry I just realised that I haven't mentioned that we now no longer need to be close to the train station. Both of us changed the jobs and we both drive to work now. As my husband works on various locations we would have considered moving to Kent or Surrey but I have a part time job in Basildon to return after maternity leave and I found it very hard to find part time jobs so it looks like we need to stay in Essex.

Honestly, if the main earner works nowhere near to Essex then you maybe need to find somewhere West and find a job there after mat leave.

West Horndon
Wickford
Galleywood

Wickford has good primary schools and a choice of 2 good secondary schools. Close to the A127 and the A12 if necessary. The high street is small and mainly coffee shops and barbers but it's a nice area.

Wickford and Galleywood are no no for your budget. You won’t find much.

Totally agree with PP, move closer to your husbands work.

Places within your budget will put you at a fair distance / slow crawl from the m25. And that's before he even starts his commute. I think one of you has to give on this, I'd support the higher wage.

How long will your commute be from some of those places? I do wonder if it’ll be feasible anyway. It does seem that it would make more sense to move somewhere better for your husband’s work.

I live in Horndon, can confirm it’s absolutely lovely but you won’t find a property in your budget I don’t think - flats tend to go for about 275k, two bedroom houses about 350k and 3 bedrooms 375-400k plus! It’s always worth looking, but the bargains tend to get snapped up within a day!

We have been considering moving to Kent or Surrey, however if we relocate we cannot afford the mortgage until I find a part time job and I cannot find the job first and commute more than 20-30 min. Also my parents live in east London and my mum will help looking after my youngest in the days I go to work so if we move somewhere different she won't be able to come anymore and again I won't be able to return to work so won't be able to afford the mortgage.

What are your thoughts on Chadwell St Mary's and South Benfleet? We saw quite a few interesting houses in South Benfleet (Manor Trading Estate)