Living in Hertfordshire

[thebigmove21]

We are just about to start looking for a new house and I am finding it all a bit overwhelming and so looking for some advice please.

We are looking in Cheshunt, Cuffley, Potters Bar, Enfield, Waltham Abbey and so I was wondering if anyone lives in any of those places and can kindly give me a view of them.

We are a family of 4 with 2 children and so a good primary school is important to us, as is an easy commute to the city for our work. We are looking up to £900k and if anyone has any local knowledge about those areas it would be really helpful.

We would like a nice 4 bed house with a garden big enough for playing football and the dreaded trampoline and ideally a separate study for the now inevitable working from home!

I would choose potters bar out of that list, it’s lovely. Or Brookmans park to go a bit left field.

I wouldn’t touch Enfield with a barge pole. Waltham Abbey is nice but no transport links into London - you’d have to go to Epping or Loughton for the Central line or to Waltham Cross for the overground.
Cuffley and Potters Bar are lovely.

Enfield getting rough as is Waltham Abby

Potters bar is nice and has a great little theatre too. Lots of restaurants etc and a very highly rated grammar.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104555483#/

This is a good family house and under budget!

This is so helpful thank you. Any views on Cheshunt and is Waltham Cross as no like Waltham Abbey?

@AppleKatie

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104555483#/

This is a good family house and under budget!

Thank you! We aren't too keen on doing much work, although that seems to only need updating. It's so hard to find something and viewing are very restricted now, some agents saying you have to have an offer accepted on your own house before to I am even look.

If your children are already in primary school then you should be looking at where to live for good secondary schools unless you are happy to move again in a few years time because you have accidentally bought in the wrong place. This is general advice, I know nothing about Hertfordshire secondary schools.

@viques

If your children are already in primary school then you should be looking at where to live for good secondary schools unless you are happy to move again in a few years time because you have accidentally bought in the wrong place. This is general advice, I know nothing about Hertfordshire secondary schools.

Thank you that is helpful. Our oldest son is in year 1 and little one is only 2 years old, so we need primary for a while but it does make total sense to check our seniors as well. My list is too long!

We live in Waltham abbey and love it - we both work in London - Stratford and Canary Wharf currently - used to be Liverpool Street - transport is fine as long as you can drive to nearest stations. Bonus of not being on top of them is not hugely built up so the gardens are lovely, Lea valley on the doorstep and the forest. Budget would be fine and prob get you something closer to Loughton if wanted. Primaries are fine - high beech, leverton etc - secondary more of a challenge either you live close enough to Loughton to get Debden, religious to get Davenant or take your chances or pay. We opted to pay rather than move to Redbridge/ Woodford for the grammars - we like the area enough and the independents at secondary are good.

We like having the big detached house - rather than the flip in Woodford/ Albans etc of having a semi/ mid terrace for the same money and taking our chances with neighbours!

@Hosum

We live in Waltham abbey and love it - we both work in London - Stratford and Canary Wharf currently - used to be Liverpool Street - transport is fine as long as you can drive to nearest stations. Bonus of not being on top of them is not hugely built up so the gardens are lovely, Lea valley on the doorstep and the forest. Budget would be fine and prob get you something closer to Loughton if wanted. Primaries are fine - high beech, leverton etc - secondary more of a challenge either you live close enough to Loughton to get Debden, religious to get Davenant or take your chances or pay. We opted to pay rather than move to Redbridge/ Woodford for the grammars - we like the area enough and the independents at secondary are good.

Fabulous thank you, this is exactly us! We both work city currently but will always be there or the wharf.

Abbey to Waltham cross is about a 10 min drive and then 25 mins to LS on a regular and surprisingly cheap service. Otherwise 15 mins to Loughton and then on the central line. Lack of walkable transport means reliant on the car but also not much in terms of flats/ built up. Waltham abbey church and gardens are extremely pretty.

Live in Cheshunt on border with Broxbourne. I can walk to Cheshunt or Broxbourne station in 20 minutes and both have good transport links into Liverpool Street and Stratford. There is a big new development going up near Cheshunt station called Cheshunt Lakeside which will have a new primary school and there are new executive homes being built on the site of Broxbourne Secondary school. The newly built Broxbourne Secondary school has just opened. Like all areas there are good and bad bits but the sort of price you are willing to pay mean you should be ok. 4 bed detached where I live go for around 650k. The new builds by Broxbourne school are going for around £900k ish. Older houses in that area easily go for £1m +.

Plot 6 The Blake, Scholars, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/107716055

These are the houses going up on Broxbourne School site.

@cassgate

Plot 6 The Blake, Scholars, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire www.rightmove.co.uk/property/107716055

These are the houses going up on Broxbourne School site.

Thank you so much, this is brilliant

Broxbourne is absolutely lovely, I lived there for a few years.
The schools are nice, the locals are nice, the park, the church...
The station is convenient and has loads of options as it's one of those stations where people change to other routes (hertford, Harlow etc) very fast into London (Tottenham hale then jump on the underground or through to Liverpool Street)

@Sillyduckseverywhere

Broxbourne is absolutely lovely, I lived there for a few years. The schools are nice, the locals are nice, the park, the church... The station is convenient and has loads of options as it's one of those stations where people change to other routes (hertford, Harlow etc) very fast into London (Tottenham hale then jump on the underground or through to Liverpool Street)

Thank you it's going on our list

I live north Enfield bordering Waltham Cross. I would not recommend. With your budget I would suggest Broxbourne Ware or Hertford. Excellent transport links into London from all of those and lovely areas.
Of the places you mentioned Cuffley is nice more of a large village and Potters Bar is slightly bigger town.

West Cheshunt and Goffs Oak is nicer than the rest of Cheshunt. The train station is unfortunately in the crap part.

Waltham abbey and Waltham cross are quite rough. Enfield is even worse.

Cuffley is nice, but pricey towards Brookmans Park.

Broxbourne is similarly nice , Hoddesdon is cheaper then prices increase hugely to Ware and Hertford.

Best secondary schools are Goffs Academy in Cheshunt, The Broxbourne School and Dame Alice Owens in Potters Bar.

Don't be tempted by hoddeson if you go broxbourne way. My mate
Moved due to drug dealing in plain sight. This was a leafy Rd nice houses. Had loads Of hassle. It's cheaper but it's cheaper for a reason

With your budget I'd look at North Chingford.

Do you know anything about the new development on the Broxbourne School site (The Scholars)?
Is Broxbourne a good place to live? Are the schools nice?

.

Cuffley is nice but not a lot there, Goffs Oak is ok if you live on the Cuffley side and can access Cuffley Station.
There are nice and less nice bits of Potters Bar, and a lot of it is very close to the M25 with audible motorway noise. I wouldn't particularly want to live in Potters Bar but it's ok.
I really dislike Cheshunt, I would not recommend it at all, it's cheaper for a reason.
I don't think Enfield is as awful as previous posters suggest, the parts around Enfield Chase are ok. You could also look at Barnet?
Brookmans Park is nice but pricey.
Hertford is nice but pricey and a lot of terraced houses, not many good size 4 bed semis come on the market so when they do there's a mad rush for them and they usually go for over what they're really worth.
Ware is ok, there is an enormous new development being built all around the north and east of Ware though.
If you're not too bothered about how pretty the house is then Welwyn Garden City might suit.
I don't know anything about Broxbourne or Waltham Abbey so can't comment on those areas.

Do you know anything about the development or area? Is it a good development?