AIBU Limes Avenue Chigwell

[nikki26]

My family and I currently live in central London in a small flat (tiny with two teenagers).I have been looking for somewhere affordable to buy. I have seen a small house that we can afford in Limes Avenue Chigwell. My husband is unsure of the area and said it seems a bit ‘rough’. Will this be a HUGE mistake? Does anyone know the area or alternatively made a move away from work etc and regret the hassle of the commute?

I went to WH for 6th form as RV didn’t have one at the time and I really disliked it, but that could well have been because of how much I loved RV. I’ve recently checked RV’s website and a lot of the teachers I had are still there but moved up the ranks - all very supportive, all happy to accept that teens have different strengths but keen to help them push their boundaries. I was very shy and struggled to speak in class, despite getting A*/A’s consistently. The English department let me do my speaking assessments at lunchtime, on my own with the teacher, facing the Wall for example.

I moved away to wales at 18 to train as a teacher, but have entertained dreams of going back to teach there, or moving so DS could go!

You might get a better idea if you have Facebook and joined the group for that area, OP?

Local groups normally show a balance between good and bad, enough for you to weigh it up.

I grew up in Chigwell, and back then, Limes Farm was rough and not somewhere we were ever encouraged to go to/walk through. (Can't say Limes Farm was ever considered part of Chigwell either.)

Grange Hill station is actually closer to Limes Farm than Chigwell station.

Stella Grange Hill! That’s where I was thinking of actually, now you’ve said it I can picture Chigwell station and it’s not really walking distance is it I used to volunteer at the RDA stables just up from there.

I know this wasn’t the point at all, but what a blast from the past, thanks OP!

I lived on Limes Ave 1993 - 1996, then Long Green (close to Grange Hill station) briefly in 1996, then Hainault 1996 - 2007ish. During our time on LA was unaware of anything untoward, though think there was a tendency for youths to hang around shops in centre. There was GP close by on Fencepiece Rd (Chigwell Medical Centre), not sure if still there. Where we were was approx 7 mins walk from Hainault tube stn. OP I think your best bet is to keep an eye on local papers (Ilford Recorder, and Chigwell one) to get a feel.

Although Limes Farm is in Chigwell, it tends to be addressed as a separate entity...which seems unhelpful. Eg once at church service we prayed for "the people of Chigwell & Limes Farm"

Well might not be the place for me but I’m glad it’s brought back some (dodgy) good memories I have similar ones from growing up in Hackney

ibby we could have been neighbours!

Aloha you would have been 6 when I moved there. What number were you?

274, right at the end by the garages, not the end by the park!

Try Highams Park

Highams Park is very nice, but it costs a bit more.

Had to name change for this but I lived there for ten years up until 3 years ago. It has good and bad points. Very close to Hainault station which was great for work. However walking back from the station at night 'felt' unsafe. Nothing negative ever happened to me or my family but once my eldest DC got to secondary age we decided to move further out, as we didn't like West Hatch school and I wouldn't have felt comfortable letting them out with friends in the area.

A good thing for us was our house doubled in value in the time we lived there!

Helicopters hovering over looking for criminals was on a weekly basis. In the ten years I lived there, 2 teenagers were murdered- one outside the shops with an axe in his head and another stabbed in the leg on the mini roundabout. Both gang related I think.

@AllTheWayFromLondonDAMN

It’s an absolutely fine area. Total normal urban Greater London, wedged between a couple of nicer suburban bits, but not terrible at all. Good enough schools, nice links to the rest of London, some countryside nearby if that’s your kind of thing.

If Limes Farm is rough, where can you live?

There's a weird underbelly everywhere at the mo.

OP you may luckily be able to find a nice house in Highams Park in that budget.....if not then look around north chingford. Some of the smaller roads off station road have houses within that budget!

Limes farm isn’t hellish by any standard, but it’s not a place to desire either. Low level hassle a lot. A bit depressing.
Compared though to other areas in the price range like Enfield Island Village it has no issues!
Sometimes Chingford has cheaper buys. If you drive you can get a lot in Waltham Abbey for your money. There is a bit of Highams Park that is cheaper, but the flats tend to be tiny inside and many are tunnel like. You get squarer bigger builds in Chingford around Friday Hill or the amount.
Also Collier Row is cheap.
What’s your budget and where do you need to travel to and how?