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

I don’t know South Benfleet all that well - I would avoid Canvey area as traffic is an absolute nightmare.

Have you looked at Noak Bridge? I’m not sure what the prices are like round there, but it used to be nice, and would be easy for you to get to Basildon for work from there I think.

We did look but we can't find anything in our budget in Noak Bridge 😔
I have however found a few properties in Steeple View, again not sure about the area.
Yes, we are avoiding Canvey due to bad traffic.

I was also going to suggest Noak Bridge but I'm a bit out of touch with regard to house prices.

As a girl who was born in a house backing on to Clay Hill Road I know what you mean about Vange although I sometimes think other people's perception of the area is far worse than the reality.

Burnt Mills Road/ Nevendon area in Pitsea is ok - I lived there for 7 years before we moved to Leigh on Sea

Laindon West ( around Durham Rd ) was ok too - I owned a house there for a couple of years and it was a nice place to be while having the benefit of being cheaper than Langdon Hills proper.

Have also lived at Wick Meadows in Wickford and that was good too.

Thundersley is also nice but again I'm not sure what house prices are like.

Have you considered Rayleigh or Eastwood at all?

Honestly? I know you don't want the drive, but consider Stanway. It takes us 45 minutes to drive to Basildon (straight onto a12 and then a130), and we got a 4 bed detached for just over 350000 so I would have said you can find one in your budget easily.

Failing that, and i have no idea on prices (other than Chelmsford and surrounding are horrifically expensive), but these places are lovely, and have good schools:
South woodham ferrers, great baddow, maldon, galleywood, braintree, benfleet, rayleigh

South Benfleet is fine. I've got friends who live there and like it. Appleton School has a good reputation. I think lots go to The King John school from there too plus it comes under the in catchment category for the Southend grammar schools.

Thank you everyone for your comments! We'll probably try and find something in Billericay, Wickford or Benfleet. Husband is tempted to look in Grays as well.

As much as I would love to move further out this is already stretched as maximum for my husband's drive.

I am still open to suggestions for good, affordable locations, relatively close to m25 so please let me know if anything else is worth looking into. Many thanks again!

South Benfleet is OK as is Thundersley. I think you'd be stretched to find anything that fits your needs/budget in Rayleigh/Leigh but have you looked at Eastwood?

I can't quite wrap my head around your work / commute situation (it's hot and I'm toddler chasing) but South Woodham Ferrers is a good bet for families. You'd find something in your budget, like this maybe www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-95288081.html

Yes, this is the kind of house we would be interested in but SWF seems to far. Basically both myself and my husband drive to work. He works in various locations, mainly London and West London and I work in Basildon, however the company I work for is looking to relocate at the end of the year - most likely in Laindon. Because my husband drives daily from London we need the location to be relatively close to the M25, and hopefully no longer than 30 minutes for me to drive to work either - though one I know. I would really like Chelmsford as it has the schools, the shops, and we've seen a few properties in our budget, but I don't know if the traffic on A12 would be worse than A13 and A127. So we were considering a lot more locations to find the best fit - which is much harder than we would have thought 😔

Another Basildon girl here, I grew up over by Green Hills / Gloucester Park

We are currently in Chelmsford - If easy driving access to London is required then I wouldnt rule out Chelmsford. A12 isn't too bad and its sometimes quicker to go A12, M25 and then onto the M11.

With more people WFH traffic might not even be an issue at all.

I think you mentioned Romford on your original list? If there’s anything you can afford, then that would be very good for proximity to the M25, your family, the schools also look good. Bring in London you’d have good work prospects if you wanted to find a new job locally.

Another vote for wickford, we raised our family there and it was fine.
I think rayleigh and billericay would be outside your budget.

Op what about Witham? Not far from Chelmsford. There's a few houses listed currently that could work for you.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1471&minBedrooms=3&maxPrice=350000&minPrice=290000&propertyTypes=&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

A12, A13 and A127 are all pretty rubbish at peak times. Why are you focusing on the part time work in Bas if the main commuter will have to do a two hour commute, at best to West London?

You won't get what you are looking for in Romford for your budget unfortunately.
You could consider elsewhere in Basildon too? My mum moved from Vange to the Whitmore Way area and it's much nicer.
Wickford & Rayleigh are nice too, although unsure of current house prices. If you don't need to be near the station you may have an advantage though, as prices near the stations tend to be higher.

SWF is just about equidistant from the A12 and A127. It is not far from Laindon at all, certainly significantly closer than Chelmsford, Witham or Romford.