Info on Leigh/Chalkwell/Westcliff areas

[AliceFish16]

Hi

We (me, my husband and 2 young children) are looking to move out to the Leigh/Westcliff area and are viewing some houses next week. We are in a fairly tight budget so the Marine Estate is out! We are looking at houses on Eastwood Boulevard, Cavendish Gardens and Hilldaville Drive - could you please tell me what these streets/areas are like? We love the look of the house on Hilldaville and its in Chalkwell Hall catchment but I've just been told it's a horrible road and so now I'm a bit put off!

Any info on the area around Chalkwell Park would be much appreciated!

Thank you xx

It's like anywhere in that if the Hildaville house is nicer but same price - it must be a 'worse' location.

Cavendish is the nicest of those roads, it is quiet and has a spacious, nice, leafy feel to it.

Eastwood Boulevard is fine, nearby, bit busier and parking can be tricky - I wouldn't buy there without OSP.

Hildaville is not bad but not as nice as the first two, parking is difficult as few houses have OSP and there are a fair number of flats. The road is much more tightly packed with houses than the first two so feels much noisier.

Be aware that Rightmove's school finder is often inaccurate, most Southend schools are not based on distance but on catchment areas, you need to check the council website to know.

Good luck.

Thank you so much for your reply! We have been today and the Cavendish house was lovely but we've realised we want to be in Leigh rather than the Westcliff boarders. The school catchment thing is really important to us so we're going to have to max out budget!

Thanks again, really appreciate your views!

You've not said how old your children are. If they're pre-school and you move well into catchment for your preferred Leigh school, then you should be ok getting a space.
However, if they are already of school age and will need to transfer, I would recommend calling school admissions at Southend Council to see which schools have spaces. You might find yourself on a very long waiting list.
I have a friend whose elder child attends a Leigh school, but they moved out of catchment and her younger child didn't get a space despite the sibling connection. They've waited a year to get a space at the same school.
Best of luck.