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

The Galley Hall at Hailey Hoddesdon.
Good outside space for the kids & very good food, not expensive.

Broxbourne is ok. I lived there for 5 years with young children and found the playgroups, the park, the lea valley path, the rail links to London all excellent. I didn't use the schools but friends have that are generally positive, particularly about Sheredes primary and Broxbourne Secondary. Other secondary schools in the area are to be avoided.
As another poster said, it is rather white working class done good. It's the most Essex-like bit of Hertfordshire. People are similar to Epping, Loughton, Chigwell etc. Obviously, lots of rural parts of Essex are not like that, but you catch my drift. A bit more money than taste sometimes.
I would have lunch at The Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club to get a feel for what people are like. The Crown is appalling for food.

www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/news/hertfordshire-news/broxbourne-film-studio-location-hertfordshire-5733392

www.pwpark.com

Two reasons to consider the move. The Paradise Wildlife Park is wonderful for children and definitely worth buying a season ticket if you live there. Plus, you could be an extra in the new film studios

The schools are excellent, Broxbourne JMI and Broxbourne School are well regarded, as is Haileybury College (alma mater of Clement Attlee).
The transport links are superb - you are into London zone 2 in 12 minutes and Liverpool Street in under half an hour. Also, direct trains to Stansted Airport.

I agree that Broxbourne itself doesn't really have a town centre, but the charming market town of Hertford is just a few miles away. And Broxbourne also has a village green and lots of riverside walks. The same pair of swans come back every year and produce a new family!

Yes, it's close to the Essex border, but I tend to think that Essex is a somewhat maligned county. In any event, the bits next to Broxbourne are quite rural and pretty. I don't know anyone from Epping, Loughton or Chigwell, so I couldn't comment as to whether or not they are similar to those from Broxbourne, or whether or not that it is a good or bad thing.

All I can say is that we lived in Broxbourne for just over 10 years and that it was a generally positive experience.

Hi @Crispyduckandpancakes and @Onemumtwokids, thank you for joining the thread!

We spent 1.5hrs there, didn’t eat anywhere. There was a dog show on the rec and a fete at the primary school. Everyone was really nice and helpful, telling us about the area. We spoke to a mum who said she made the move for schools and was really happy.

I was put off by anti social behaviour on the train, groups of people drinking and talking crudely (I went between 11am and 3pm, when I went to use the toilet on the train, a guy shouted at me. But that wasn’t from Broxbourne. It would put me off using the train to visit friends. But we’ll visit a few more times.

I used to interchange at Stratford years ago and remember it was a nightmare.

I’m worried now that we won’t actually be able to afford it. I wanted to see this house that came online 2 days ago, which is a massive doer-upper and apparently it’s had an asking price offer of £600k already. The estate agent said it was a “prestigious road”. Mckenzie Road, Broxbourne www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113252075

Bonus photo I took today for anyone lurking or reading in future! I read so many old threads about Londoners looking for places to move out to.

Hiya,

Just wanted to see what your result was, did you end up moving to Broxbourne? 😁

We moved here in November and I comment that nearly 1 year in we are enjoying it alot!
I wouldnt quite say love but this is for very small things for example if we are out in Oxford Street, picadilly on the weekends (most weekends) then there is a problem after 1am for trains but this is a very minor issue and an uber from London we got it from trafalgar square yesterday to Broxbourne was £40 so not bad at all.

In terms for quality of live 100% better here.

Both of us are from Islington North London, so it was honestly really hard to know we could not afford to buy there as this is home to us, born and bred in Angel Islington but what we could afford was a 1 bed flat and for the same amount in Nov 2020 we were able to buy a 3 bed semi detached house with drive here.

Its 30mins to Westfield Stratford 40mins for us to get back to Angel to see family and 35 mins to oxford street so it really is perfect!

I already have friends looking to buy here and really recommend it. Also in under a year our price has gone up in value already which is great by about 50k so we know this house will give us a good return when wanting to sell.

Sorry just saw your recent post - check Rye house. We are in between Broxbourne and Rye house station the houses in Broxbourne sre and cheaper because it has not got as many train as Broxbourne. Rye house is every 30mins straight into Liverpool Street and on Sunday trains into Stratford. Its a 6 minute drive between rye house and Broxbourne and 3 minutes on the train to Broxbourne if you eant want to to get off to connect to another train from there.

When we looked a house in Rye house was £350+ for 3 bed and like you found in Broxbourne its £500 with work needed.

Rye House is closer to the town centre-Hoddesdon with restaurants, pubs, shops (clothes, hairdressers, banks) 5 supermarkets ( Aldi, Sainsburys, asda, iceland and Morrisons).
Being a younger couple (30) and knowing nothing else other than Islington and being in the heart of London ( Oxford Street was a 30mins walk and kings Cross 20minutes walk away it was scary and daunting especially since we have never heard of this area BUT don't be put off. Its great for a family or young professionals alike.

Also as we're closer to Rye house, we visit Harlow alot from ours it is a 17 minute drive which is wild! Its in Essex! But yep its that close and has Cineworld, restaurants (chains such as nandos), Chain clothes shops (Primark, Next, H&M for example) so we do miss London I won't lie but we are only 10months into leaving the bustling city but so far no regrets not when I look at our home every morning and compare it to our friends 1 bed tiny flat in old street for her and her son which cost the same as ours.

Hi @NorthLondontoBroxbourne, thank you for taking the time to reply. Your new home sounds lovely and it’s so good to hear you’re enjoying it.

We already have kids so if we move out of Greenwich borough (all primary schools are good) it needs to place ourselves for good schools for secondary as well, as I don’t want to do two big moves. Broxbourne School has really good facilities and is going through a refurb at the moment. In Hoddesdon both John Warner and Robert Barclay are rated as “Requires Improvement”. Yes it could all change in 10 years but apparently Broxbourne School is one that’s been desirable for a long time. I mentioned upthread that I met a family there who said they moved from Hoddesden to Broxbourne for the schools. I’m keen to hear from people who actually live there though!

Tell me about it in London… pre pandemic I had my choice round here, but it’s pretty much unaffordable for us now. It keeps going up too. I saw a house yesterday and the estate agent told me all the other viewers were from Peckham and Dulwich - so the money moves sideways. Though I can talk I bought here because I couldn’t afford Crystal Palace/Sydenham/Penge!

There’s this one for £425k at the moment which is in catchment for the outstanding primary: Winford Drive, Broxbourne
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113095049

Morning,

Ok then yes dont bother with the Rye House side. Broxbourne is beautiful and that was the 1st choice if we found something within the time frame we wanted to move.

Yes Broxbourne school has a very good reputation. Thats once of the things we looked at and from talk to locals they all rate Broxbourne school highly.

Ohh that property you posted is a great price and location. It is but just factor in the refurb cost. For sure buying it for that price and doing it up you will be happy and plus your property will have value added almost instantly.

I have met a few people from Broxbourne and alot of them love it some are from here and alot have relocate from London.
I feel there is a good mix and Broxbourne schools in general do tend to have veey positive reviews.

We brought with William H Brown too. We found them amazing in keeping us updated on what's new on the market before it even was a live ad, so I would say call them up and ask them to keep you informed. That's how we got this place, we got a viewing before it was even a live ad.

Good luck with your search. Houses do go quick across Broxbourne and Rye House so just keep looking every day/ every hour 😂.

I can’t get a handle on the pricing, some roads seem reasonably priced and I think this is over priced especially for being on the main road www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/11651635

But then not much seems to come up in that price bracket for a 3 bed semi and there’s a lot of millionaire detached!

These new builds seem nice, anyone have experience or opinion on them? www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112002671

I’ve committed to finding out more and had a look for Broxbourne Facebook groups to get the low down, there isn’t one and the ones covering the local area are just ads and no drama. Very very different to our local south east London group…

Just reread your post @NorthLondontoBroxbourne, I will take your advice and let the EAs know we have just sold. Thank you!

Hey,

I just saw your notification, how is the search going? Did you find anything Broxbourne already? Ohh wow have you already sold your london property?!

This is an exciting time for you all!

Thank you @NewAdventuretobemade. More like stressful time! We were sold back in March and that didn’t succeed so I’m not going to get excited just yet, and we sold for £20k under asking as baby is 1yo now and we were meant to move before I was even pregnant! Where we live just isn’t fit for a family. I’m a bit worried about interest rate rises and so on, but it’s made us more determined to move somewhere like Broxbourne for good, rather than do an intermediate London upsize move. I’m worried I can’t actually afford a semi in Broxbourne and they don’t seem to come up often either.

I have colleagues recommending Welwyn City too, so I’ll take any suggestions really. Just needs to be under 1hr commute to the City.

Oh no that does sound stressful, oh gosh 20k under. Well you know what you needed to be out into a better environment for your family and you have made the first big step. My friend actually sent me over a few properties, semi detached in Broxbourne a few days ago that they are interested in from zoopla they were all 3 bed semi detached. Ill send over the links incase your interested. Prices have definitely increased over the last 6 months. In June our friend was finding properties for £420-40 in the area but now they are £470-550.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/60221397/?search_identifier=cfc3932fcc820575a8ef7c02d074a71b

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/46861720/?search_identifier=405c1819d0e2f3e4dac5a1e342e960a8

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/60232596/?search_identifier=a4c7236b801530bd0811ecd77884fb69

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/59360360/?search_identifier=a4c7236b801530bd0811ecd77884fb69

What she found was more Cheshunt House ( closer to london but dont know if the schools are good) there was 1 for Broxbourne which was £550 though. Have a look

That would be great, thank you. I’m only looking at a radius around Broxbourne school, so maybe it’s areas I don’t know are worth looking at.

I meant our property isn’t fit for a family, I’m tripping up over baby’s toys all the time! The area is ok, it’s a bit like Hackney was 15 years ago say, lots of things on for families, great community vibe and foodie places, but also lots of antisocial behaviour - I’m sure I’ll look at house prices here in 20 years time and think I should have stayed!

£500k for that? Good Lord!

Would you consider Shooters Hill? If you know Greenwich? Very leafy and lots of green space and schools etc very diverse.

What's your actual budget, travel requirements and wishlist OP? We might be able to advise you on alternatives like Welwyn Garden City or Ware. I live and work in Hertfordshire and always find Broxbourne to be very non descript. No actual town centre and just one of a lot of conurbations that stretch out along the A1170. Nice enough but not really much if a community feel.

What about Hitchin or Letchworth? We moved from Hackney to Hitchin over the summer and best thing we ever did (with a nursery aged child). Appears we weren’t the only ones, 3 other mums made the same move recently. It’s on Thameslink and goes through variety of London stations. We also considered Cheshunt, Broxbourne etc but I found we were just grasping on to an area we could afford rather than and area we wanted to be in.

Travel is to Farringdon, 1hr ish commute, looking for a 3 bed semi that could accommodate maybe 3 kids (so not a tiny box room), good schools. Budget is 500-550k which means I’d love to buy what I need at 500k but can stretch to 550k.

I’ve just spent the evening on childcare.co.uk, there’s basically nothing in Broxbourne! A nice well reviewed nursery in Hoddesdon called Tiny Toes, might take @NorthLondontoBroxbourne’s advice and look nearer Rye House. But then we wouldn’t be in catchment for Broxbourne School for secondary?

Oh I would love more help thank you. I don’t know north London, let alone north of London at all!

I’ve not looked at Letchworth or Hitchin will check the commutes now. Which are the good schools?

I’ve been finding places by looking for schools that are good and then going from there. I have nothing else to go on really. I’m worried about moving out of London and then being stuck without good schools.

Look along Crossrail?

Further out but Saffron Walden or Bishops Stortford. Saffron Walden is about 50 minutes into Liverpool Street and a lot of people from London have moved out. Similar to Bishops Stortford.

Its really tricky looking for a good school / nursery for the kids. From my experience of working in various schools, they can change status at any point. I have worked in a range of schools and nurseries ( public and private) and they might get an outstanding ofsted but the following year it can drop for something very simple or a school can be rated really high on their education for the children but being attentive to students emotional wellbeing or inclusion is not there. For examplw picking up on a child who needs additional support might go amiss. There focus could be on getting the students the highest grades but actually meeting each child's emotional needs/ learning needs might be missed/ not a focus. This is all just example's but I have worked in schools which are outstanding and require improvement and both have pros and cons.

If your struggling with Broxbourne then have a look at the other areas. You want to be happy in your area, I would not suggest buying a house purely on the school, the schools rating can change at any time.