Rainham(Essex)/Hornchurch/Romford are any of these a nice place to live for a small family?

[Domdom20]

Hi,

Myself and my husband have a 2 year old and got tired of renting in London. We have been looking at houses to buy and one house just felt through recently in Lee Chapel south Basildon. So we are back on house hunting, even though these are difficult times due to COVID-19 we have more spare time than ever and a good mortgage offer in place.

Does any of the above locations are nice? by nice I mean:

-family friendly
-safe & clean
-good schools
-shops nearby

Commuting to London is key, hence why we chose the c2c line or the one in Romford.(not sure sorry lol)Ideally below 30mins on the train.

Our budget is £300.000, which is not a lot and could stretch a little bit for the right place in the right area. Looking for 2/3 bed houses with a fair bit of garden. Have a car so travelling to the station is not a problem, still would be good at a 10 minutes walking distance.

We are from Europe and were quite used to the small city vibe, having loads of stuff on our doorstep, ideally that’s what we are looking for:)

Loads of preferences(I know), however any advice from anyone knowing these places would be very much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Of the three you've mentioned Hornchurch is probably the nicest although there are nice-ish areas in all three. However during normal times Hornchurch has a nice high street, lots of restaurants, a decent sized Sainsbury's and verious hairdressers etc. Also some nice local schools.

Maybe you should also look into Upminster (on C2C line) for a similar vibe.

For verious read various. No idea how that happened!

Well they are busy places with lots of shops, Indoor entertainment clubs, pubs etc. Limited outdoor green areas, basic parks and LOADS of traffic and people. (I would not want to live in those places or send my kids to those schools. Definately not rainham. If you have to limit travel to London Shenfield is a little nicer. If want better house prices and green outdoor space - Colchester is really nice. Chelmsford, Maldon if you don’t mind driving to a station.

Hi,

Haha, no worries.Thank you so much Lima45 for the advice. I will look into it for sure, a friend of mine did say that Upminster is more on the pricey side so didn’t have the courage to look:))

Hello,

Thanks for the tips Zootastic, definitely will have a look. I thought these places are leafy quiet suburbs, how wrong I was🙈. Not sure about the commute from Chelmsford/Colchester as have been commuting for the past 5years both myself and my husband and we are pretty tired :)). If jobs wouldn’t keep us in London, we would have been moving much further to be fair:)

I wouldn't recommend Romford as a nice place to move to, it's quite rough. (I live towards London on the same line). When we eventually get Crossrail, probably in about 2023 at this rate, transport links will be good, but I don't think that outweighs the negatives

Hiya,

I've lived in Hornchurch and Upminster and both are lovely. Hornchurch will be more realistic with your budget. It's clean, safe and has a nice high street and lots of green space. Rainham I don't have experience of but I'd definitely avoid Romford - packed, dirty and unfriendly in my experience although it has a good town centre shopping wise.

Hope that's helpful

Also - the whole area is super family friendly with tonnes of clubs and activities for kids

Rainham, Hornchurch and parts of Romford are definitely not busy areas by London standards. They are indeed suburbs. Good amenities in all three. £300,000 unfortunately won't stretch very far in those areas.

I grew up in Rainham. It is quite insular in some ways, and facilities are not great though they are building a new leisure centre (apparently). It does have the C2C service which is a big plus. 500k would get you a great house, probably a 4 bed, in the better areas of Rainham.

Upminster is the best area round there, excellent for commuting and the best schools in the borough. If you go out towards Cranham or Upminster Bridge properties are slightly cheaper but still really nice areas. If you can afford it, I'd definitely go for Upminster.

Sorry! I read without my glasses and thought you had said 500 not 300 Feel like a real idiot now!

As someone with mixed race children I wouldn't choose to live in those areas.

Of the three I'd go for Hornchurch. I don't think 300k would get you very far in Romford these days.

Hornchurch is nice and a family area. Its a little dull but it's safe, good schools nearby, reasonable house prices compared to other London suburbs. Its a bit cheaper than Upminster as secondary schools in Upminster are very popular and Upminster has a rail and tube link not just tube. They are very close to each other though.
Romford is bigger than Hornchurch, has more shops and a quicker rail link. Its got rougher elements to it depending on what to part you live in.
I don't know Rainham.
None of them are "pretty" or will feel like a European city but they are full of commuter families as they are a good compromise on price, rail links, schools etc.
The cost of transport here Vs Brentwood/Shenfield is MUCH cheaper as you are within TFL zone 6.

This is over budget (350) but in the nicest bit of Rainham. There are some closer to 300 but not in places I'd recommend.

Or there's this in Hornchurch. However it's still 325k and quite small.

Would you consider South rather than East? Bexley borough is better than Rainham/ Hornchurch, there are some really good schools and it's 20-30 mins to London Bridge/ Charing Cross. Zone 5/6 so comparable fares to that part of Essex.

Crayford is one of the cheaper areas, this is under the 300k mark.

I've lived all over Essex so here's my view - sorry it's long but I hope it helps!
*
Greater Anglia line from Southend Victoria to Liv St*

Billericay - 35 mins on train - lovely high street, nice restaurants and some really beautiful countryside around. Might be a little pricey but look at Queens Park area.

Wickford - 40 mins on train - more in budget but high street is a bit lacking although you're within a 10 minute driving distance of Basildon with festival leisure, mayflower retail park and a half decent town centre

Rayleigh - 45 mins on train - very similar to Billericay but a bit cheaper. Really lovely family friendly area and really nice high street.

Greater Anglia line from Chelmsford to Liv St

Chelmsford - 40 mins on train, sometimes less if you get the one that doesn't stop at Ingatestone or Shenfield. Probably the closest for what you're looking for. Great city, loads to offer and was number 1 on my list for a long while. Traffic around town is shocking though. Melbourne Park is the only bit I know of that has a bit of a crappy rep but like anywhere on a commuter line it's improving.

C2C line to Fenchurch Street

Leigh on Sea - 50 min on train - voted two years in a row the happiest place to live in England. Longer commute but definitely worth a day trip to see what you think. Just thinking about Leigh Broadway is making me want to visit as soon as this lockdown is over! Didn't move there ourselves as my OH commute (driving) would have been too long :( persuaded him when he eventually works part time that we can move there :D

Laindon - 30 mins on train - Langdon Hills and Great Berry are nice areas to look at. Not much in the way of a high street but you're 10 mins drive away from Basildon, Billericay and Brentwood town centres so you can have your pick of where to go.

The places you've mentioned are good as well, Hornchurch is probably the nicest but just thinking more your budget as well as what you want :)

Good luck!!!

Hi,

Omg, thanks everyone for the helpful, detailed information, I am amazed how helpful everyone is on here(especially so late in the evening:). The 300k mark is let’s say
for a house that may need a little TLC as I know prices are crazy in London. Would be happy to buy below that price, but don’t think it’s achievable.
So far Hornchurch/Upminster is growing on me.

@georgialondon ohh, why?

@Zebrasinpyjamas yes, I am on the same page with you, travel cost is something that we need to consider as it’s getting more and more expensive

@VelvetSpoon thank you so much on your inputs.
Wish we would have £500k budget but the reality is different lol.
Nice properties you have linked, but the first 2 would just not cut it for my hubby, he is obsessed with the idea of a big garden🙈 if it was just him, he would probably buy a house in the woods:))
South of the river is fine for me, just not sure about the trains and how reliable they are. My colleagues were hinting to go for the c2c as it’s “the best” line, then again I am mostly using the tube😅

Thank you so much @Meadows20 for taking the time to post such detailed information. I appreciate it a lot!
We actually were in the middle of buying a 3bed in Lee Chapel South Basildon, however it felt through a week ago and kind of thought that area might not be for us.
I have heard about Leigh-on-sea and it’s quite appealing, as well Chelmsford.
I think we need to take into account the travel cost and settle somewhere in zone 6 and maybe in a few years time just go as far from London as we can haha.

No probs :) I was in zone 9 before we moved and my train ticket is actually cheaper on C2C (not in zone) than it was going from Shenfield so if you did decide to move further out of zone, somewhere on the C2C is your best bet from a cost perspective - it's also far more reliable than Greater Anglia/Elizabeth line. Good luck hunting!

Having commuted from both Rainham and Bexley, I'd say the trains are no less reliable south of the river. The only disadvantage is there's no Tube. However Crossrail is coming eventually so that should improve things. I would have a look around Crayford and nearby areas, your money will go a little further than in Hornchurch/ Upminster, and you might find one with a reasonable sized garden.

I'd say that's your best bet if you want to keep commuting cost and time down.

As in Essex, you could go much further into Kent (Medway towns for example) where you would get a bigger property but the areas are not so nice, it's a longer journey (although there are a lot of fast trains which cut journey time considerably) and the cost of train fares is much higher.

I'd also go South rather than East - quicker trains and less commuting costs. Try DA15 - Bexley or Dartford. Cross rail will eventually be extended to Dartford.

@VelvetSpoon thanks for the pointers. Ohh that house as well is lovely. I never lived south of the river so not familiar with the area, but once went to bexleyheath and found it ok. My colleagues have told me to stay away from Erith & Thamesmead.
Have checked the area out and there are good shopping options. Gonna do my research on schools and crime rate now:) Thank you!

@Meadows20 that’s revolting:))! it’s a 20minutes train journey Shenfield to London, wouldn’t think it’s that expensive. Yeah the c2c line is still on the list:)

Thank you everyone for your replies, it helped me a lot! I will do my homework and research the places you have suggested and also visit them hopefully in the near future when this whole COVID-19 situation ends:)

I think you'll struggle in Romford/Hornchurch with £300k.

After my mother died I sold her house in Collier Row for £330k - two decent bedrooms and a box room, end of terrace, 100ft (30m) garden, parking in front of the house for a small car, needed quite a lot of work to modernise. But that was in 2016.

I had a look at the estate agent I used, prices are still at a similar level.