Broxbourne for young family? Rightmove link included

[EweMooNeigh]

I have a wide search set around London and come across a nice house in Broxbourne, which I hadn’t heard of before. Looks like really good primaries and one good secondary. I’m a bit suspicious about the price for a less than 1hr commute, so thought I’d ask here for opinions please?

I did a search on old threads, says not much to do which doesn’t put me off. Nice house, big garden, good schools and fast commute are what I’m looking for.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112771817

I lived there for a few years, the schools are excellent, it has a village feel, trains are regular and go to Tottenham hale for the tube or right into Liverpool Street.
It can be a bit dull, if you have younger children it's great, but there's zero nightlife, it's difficult to get a taxi after pub kick out time.

Lots of Eastenders actors and footballers seem to live there

Thank you @Seagullsstopit! I think I’d love it more for the celebs haha. We don’t have a night life, more into days out. Do like fancy restaurants but that’s on the back burner for baby years.

Ooh you're in the baby years?
It's amazing for primary age kids there
Has a safe feel to it too

Broxbourne is a lovely place to raise a family. The broxbourne lido is great for days out, you can take a boat ride all the way to Ware and have fish and chips. The are clubs for the kids, tennis club, football and Herts Music centre (within grounds of Broxbourne school) where they teach all sorts of instruments. There's also Lea Valley park. North London is also in your doorstep if you want to venture out further. There's a big shopping centre 10mins away in Cheshunt and two massive shopping centres in both opposite directions. One in Harlow, 15mins and one in Enfield another 15mins. So you really can't go wrong moving there.

Needs a lot of work thruout
Do you have good budget for refurbishment?

We’ve just moved away from the area. As mentioned, it’s great for connection to London, schools and has some good parks/ river Lea valley on the doorstep for days out.

One thing I didn’t like so much about the area is that despite it being (I think) technically a town, it all felt a bit too London suburb overspill for our liking. It is basically just houses and a long road that connects to areas with different names but no real geographical separation. There’s no real town centre (nearest is Hoddesdon) and also the high street isn’t very big, and you do need to drive to get to most things like supermarkets/cinemas/shopping etc.

Having said that the housing stock there is lovely and I know people who love living there, so it’s just what suits you.

@Mariposa123 definitely, everything you said sounds lovely to me!

I guess I would prefer a market town with its own festivals and so on, but commute and schools is more important.

And I can’t afford a family home in any interesting market towns, with good schools and short commutes to city - to finish my line of thinking! Though I do continuously show my DH amazing houses in budget and try to convince him a two hour commute each way isn’t THAT bad…

Thank you for the details @Shimy.

@Embracelife might not go for that one, just the sort of housing stock I like and interested in area now. I have a 40mile radius set from my DH’s workplace so I sift through a lot. I can’t believe how many areas are on par with my part of SE London for price.

@Seagullsstopit yes at the very beginning of life with kids stage. Will have more fingers crossed.

It's strongly Tory and voted heavily for Brexit. I wouldn't want to live there. Much provincial than even a few miles away in the London suburbs, and a rather white,"working class done good" kind of vibe.
But you're right that the schools are good and it's conveniently located. This particular house is on the busy main road through town.

That house is very cheap for broxbourne though! Fully done up ones go for a lot more than that.

Bishops Stortford is a nice market town on the same train line where pieces are a bit lower. Also has good schools and a bit more of a town centre about it.

Funnily enough Bishop’s Stortford is another one I saved to favourites yesterday! Have a look @Mariposa123
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112907090

Have you lived there @EmeraldGreenVelvet? Your description covers most rural areas, Brexit/conservatives won after all, so I don’t think I can rule it out on that basis. I appreciate your feedback though, as there are parts of Dartford/Kent I rule out on that basis, as I know them from visiting friends and I feel unwelcome. Where I grew up could also be described that way, and yes parents and me were treated differently. I don’t want it to be the reason I stay in London though. I loved rural life. I like that Lea Valley is nearby, there’s a sailing club and the forest.

@EweMooNeigh as you can see your money goes quite a bit further! We actually moved not far from where that house is, and so far really like it. Short walk to the station and town centre, and lots of things for small children have started opening up now. You’ve also got Hatfield forest a short drive away, and some country parks on the edge of town you can walk to if you like the rural side of things as well. Also it feels a bit more diverse than other parts of Hertfordshire- I think having Stansted airport nearby helps that?

@Mariposa123

That house is very cheap for broxbourne though! Fully done up ones go for a lot more than that.

Bishops Stortford is a nice market town on the same train line where pieces are a bit lower. Also has good schools and a bit more of a town centre about it.

Not really, it s a tiny house at 90 sqm. 5.5k a sqm for the area it’s pretty much market rate.

@Shimy. Broxbourne Lido closed in 2008.

Thanks @Mariposa123. The other thing that appeals about Broxbourne over somewhere else like Bishop’s Stortford is that it’s zone 6 TfL so travel prices will stay reasonable over the years. I think off the back of this thread I’ll just have to go visit!

What about this one, is it too far from Broxbourne Primary school to get in? RightMove says Wormley Primary is closer. Would the Japanese knotweed at the bottom of the garden put you off? www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110657969

It’s not miles away but I do know Hertfordshire council uses “child’s closest school” as one of their admissions criteria if they are oversubscribed, so that’s sometime to consider if you’re keen on broxbourne school on particular.

As I said earlier, broxbourne sort of blends into wormley quite suddenly, without any sort of gap in the houses (if that makes sense), and isn’t perhaps as desirable the further away you get from the station.

Your best bet is to go and drive around the area to get a feel for it!

The houses on The Paddock look amazing! www.zoopla.co.uk/property/4-the-paddock/broxbourne/en10-7aj/8498918/

It feels quite Essex-y and there wasn't much that appealed to us, but good if you are very London based.

It's overspill London though, not really It's own place.

[quote EweMooNeigh]The houses on The Paddock look amazing! www.zoopla.co.uk/property/4-the-paddock/broxbourne/en10-7aj/8498918/[/quote]
Yup, that's a lovely part, opposite the park (That doesn't get that much trouble with teens because there's a guy that chases them away living facing it 🤣)
And very close to the gorgeous church
There's a Couple of absolutely beautiful townhouses down churchfields too

@BiscuitLover09876

It feels quite Essex-y and there wasn't much that appealed to us, but good if you are very London based.

It's overspill London though, not really It's own place.

You can't have spent much time there. Essex is more than Brentwood and commuters.

Right we’re off on a day trip to Broxbourne today, quite an easy journey, 1hr from our house in SE London, so same time as to West London.

Where should we have lunch?

DH is quite excited by the prospect of a day visit to “the countryside” 😂, bodes well!

Lunch at the Bull (it's a chain, but not bad)
Or go into Hoddesdon, there's a few Italians there.
Hertford Heath is nearby and has a couple of nice little pubs that do a good lunch.

Avoid the Crown by the river, it's nice for a drink and watching the boats float by, but the food is rubbish and takes ages to turn up