Moving to Essex - advice on areas please!

[LeafyH]

Hi all,

If I am posting this in the wrong area, please can someone point me in the right direction!

We are considering moving back to England from France. We are currently looking at areas around Essex. I know and like Leigh-on-Sea, Chalkwell & Thorpe Bay. We are also looking at Chelmsford, Saffron Walden, and just over the border into Bishops Stortford. I would love to hear of any other good areas to look at in Essex - and also Hertfordshire, but close to the Essex border.

We have 3 children (2, 6 and 8) and our priorities are good schools, a nice area with plenty of activities for kids, and places that would work for young kids but also have enough to keep teenagers entertained, as I know the time will fly by!
A fast commute to London is not essential, but might tip the balance.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.....

If you're worried about your kids not getting into grammars (which are very very competitive!) then Rayleigh has 2 ofsted outstanding secondaries. And I can't think of a single bad primary in the town.

It is a very "ordinary" sort of town. But I mean that in a good way. Not too posh (pretentious) but very safe and friendly. The town centre is a good mix of chains and independent shops and links to London are good. A good few restaurants now too. I'd say the only downside is it's very monocultural.

I am writing as an incomer by the way. Lived here for 12 years. Lived on Canvey island before that. Do not go there!!!

Once you zero in on a town then hopefully MNers living there can tell you which are the "naicer" bits . For instance I am in Basildon and would say "Langdon Hills" as a nice area.
My niece lives in Rayleigh and that's a lovely area, has a fabulous butchers in the town.

Yep Canvey can be a nightmare for getting on and off the island, not to mention the flood risks. However it's lovely in the summer for a nice walk.

Big drug problem on the island and failing schools not to mention crime. So that outweighs a nice walk I think it does explain why property is relatively cheap though.

I also loathed the island mentality. Canvey is not just an island physically for sure.

The flood risk is minimal by the way. That wouldn't worry me. The crime and drugs would.

Another no for Colchester...I grew up there and it has changed so much

For an excellent secondary school I would suggest Coggeshall. It is also a very very nice place.

Bit

I lived in Canvey for a couple of years....that's an odd place right there

TopBitch, agreed.
It used to be a funny mix of county and a garrison town with the red caps keeping order in the evenings, but now it's less garrison, more commuter belt, getting very built up, and the traffic is terrible. It has some nice parts but you have to get past the building sites first.

It is odd yes. That's a good way to describe it. I have done lovely friends there and they've made big big improvements to the sea front but I wouldn't want to bring kids up there.

Apologies to any Canveyites

Look at Brentwood/Shenfield For £900k you'll get a lovely 4 bed detached house. New estate just gone up - check out mascalls park if you like new builds. In catchment for Chelmsford grammars. Plenty of outstanding primary schools (faith and non faith) and excellent state secondaries. Excellent Prep and Independent schools also. Good high street and on cross rail line. Lovely surrounding villages to consider if you like a pub and don't need to be near the station.

It is useful to know where NOT to go as well as where to go!!

And thanks Pradaqueen, I will take a look....

Brentwood is very nice , especially Hutton Mount . Good schools , commutable , near to Weald Country park which is lovely. Easy access to M25 .

Newbury Park? 4 excellent schools including 2 grammars. The area is getting more and more middle class white families and it's near both the central line and seven kings (cross rail). Houses in this areas will stay relatively stable.

Another vote for Danbury here. ☺

Leafy PM me if you need more specific details. Good luck!

I would definitely avoid Colchester. There are some lovely villages around Chelmsford but you could also look at the villages around Hertford. Stanstead Abbots and Ware are on the branch line to London but nice towns.

The villages out towards Ongar are also nice but it's more expensive than south Essex.

PM me if you want more specific info. DH is a lifetime Essex resident and I've lived here for 10 years.

How about South Woodham Ferrers, quiet town, lovely area but still a commuter town

Another one for Leigh-on-sea, 'officially' the happiest place to live in the UK!

I mostly grew up in Billericay which is very nice, but has always been very pricey. There's the Anglo-European School (secondary) in Ingatestone which may be worth a google as you are moving from France.

Interesting point about the Ingatestone Baccaleureate school FreyesHem. My sister commuted (car) from Leigh to do her IB there for a couple of years at 17+. So OP you can move to Leigh and do that too! No offence to Billercay like 😬

Saffron walden has an amazing secondary that's more like a private school and a lot of the primaries are excellent.