Tell me about living in Essex

[Mollyeyes]

Hello
I’d like to hear from anyone living in Essex towns and villages, your experience etc. We need to be near train line to get into London

Thank you

I don’t think we can afford Shenfield or Billericay :(

Wickford? The high street isn't as nice as Billericay, but there are some good independent stores (Cossons bakery, for example, is an absolute gem) and your budget is likely to go a bit further.

It's about 45 minutes to Fenchurch Street from Leigh and trains run late, but there's plenty happening locally and two great theatres just up the road in Southend, the smaller of the two in particular gets some excellent comedians. Not just the seaside but also Belfairs woods, the rare breeds farm, walks and old castle at Hadleigh, plus the Olympic mountain biking courses, you can also walk to Southend on a sunny day for a stick of rock and a walk down the pier if that's your thing. I'll stop now, I promise I don't work for the tourist board!

@KingofAsgard I used to live in Billericay (well Noak Bridge) , couldn't pay me to go back, although DS loves Barleylands

Noak bridge is Basildon, not Billericay.

Grew up in Leigh and would go back in a heartbeat if I could afford it!

Colchester?

@mollyeyes I lived in Stortford for 4 years and the only place people really get pissed up and misbehave is the Wetherspoons. Avoid it like the plague and you won’t see that sort of thing. Loads of new wine bars and coffee shops in the last few years, it’s really good.

Thank you all much appreciated

Leigh is where I tell DH we'll retire (although frankly for a water view it's out of our budget!).

Lovely to see so many Essex folk on!

Probably a bit too far out but Burnham - on Crouch is lovely. It has a train branch line and an independent cinema and lots of nice little cafes and restaurants.

I thought Witham was quite nice when I passed through, and close to Maldon for some nice estuary walks/fish n chips.

Romford ?
Still waiting for CrossRail though

Our daughter is currently looking to buy a house in Billericay in Essex. Currently she and her partner are based near Norwich. They have friends in Billericay and really love the area but the Norwich area is very, very much cheaper. Because of this their budget will only stretch to around stg350k, possibly 360 at a push.

They have been looking at houses on an estate called Queens Park in an area where there is a mix of privately owned and social housing. That said, I have been doing some research for them and I am a little dubious due to what I see as quite high crime figures! One road shows up as having had 10 violent and sexual offences listed in the past year alone, as well as two or three other types of crime.

Obviously I'm a bit concerned. Anyone live in this particular area and can tell us more about it please?

Hey we rented there and live a few roads away now. It depends which part of Queens park you mean. If you look on a map, the main areas to avoid are the the roads around and opposite the children's centre. But saying that I've never heard of any problems really they are just the more mixed social and private housing areas. Actually some of the roads opposite stockbrooke manor are rather posh!

I will let my daughter know, thank you for the info.

There is a house for sale at the moment in a road called Queens Gate Mews which looks nice but the road crime rates are worrying me somewhat. Not sure if I am being a little over cautious though.

I'm in Billericay, have been here for nearly 10 years. It is a lovely area and I don't feel that it is a high crime area at all. Obviously there are good and bad in all areas, but I feel safe here and have never come across any areas I wouldn't like to visit after dark. There have been some incidences of 4x4 cars being stolen, but Billericay is an affluent area, so there are some pretty wealthy people here which attracts the car thieves for easy pickings.

The Queen's Park area is estate of mainly houses built in the last 30-40 years, so I don't think OP would be too interested in these, but it does offer better value than in some of the established areas. The houses (from starter homes to 5 bed luxury homes) are built with pretty small gardens and not enough parking, so the area does feel built up but if you are a young family, there is a good vibe with good schools and parks nearby. For the people who want more space and no overlooking properties, it is perhaps not the right place, but then you would need a much bigger budget.

Thank you. I will pass this info on 😊