Chelmsford Areas

[EmilyZ]

Currently living in south london with DH and DC and looking at houses in Chelmsford. We need to commute to Liverpool Street for work and don't know the area. Which areas should we avoid and which are best to live ? Budget is 600k and want 4beds. Cheers

Is there a particular reason you chose Chelmsford?

Billericay is worth considering, has very good schools, a really nice high street and fab park (Lake Meadows), and a good service to LS. Plus you are likely to find somewhere walking distance to the station (less likely in Chelmsford).

Best areas north and east Billericay e.g.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139693967#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134626391#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139061618#/?channel=RES_BUY

Might I suggest Romford/Gidea Park/Harold Wood? They're on the Elizabeth Line so a fast and regular service to Liverpool St and beyond and being in London zone 6 travel is much cheaper than further out. Good schools and a lovely community. These are both very well located:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137988752#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137496482#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thank you @JohnnyM @DresdenDoll these are really good options. We will definitely check out the suggested areas.

DH wants us to move out of London and we are aiming for the grammar schools for DC.

Ah ok, Romford isn't a grammar area, although a fair few do go to the Essex grammars, there's a coach from Main Road. But of course it's a longer commute for them and they need a higher score to get in.

Writtle , but nor walkable to station . Any roads off rainsford rd are walkable or the avenues are walkable and very near the grammar schools . Moulsham st area is pricey but lovely.
avoid Westland and Melbourne
good luck and welcome to essex ! X

Yes we would like to avoid long commute for DC.

Thank you, we're really looking forward to moving to the area. Noted about these places to avoid.

Writtle has a fairly poor secondary school... in fact I'd say it's the only bad one in Chelmsford. It's a lovely village but not somewhere I'd move with school-age children at the moment.

If you're commuting you'll need to be reasonably close to the station, or have good public transport or a bike. Moulsham is very desirable but very expensive for what you get. Moulsham Lodge is better value. Chelmer Village and Springfield are always popular for families. Beulieu Park is all new-builds and a station allegedly opening there in a couple of years (but until then it's a trek into town).

Melbourne/Kings Road and Westlands are to be avoided, but there are nicer areas nearby.

South Woodham Ferrers?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/138193436?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

@SnapdragonToadflax thanks for this. We hadn't thought about Writtle actually as it seemed a bit further out. Ideally we would like a place with easy commute into London for work and not too long into the grammar school. Is there any part of Melbourne that is safe/nice ? Definitely looking at the other areas as well.

That's a lovely house but the commute is too long.

Ah sorry I missed that you were after grammar schools. SWF has a big comprehensive but DC would need to commute to the grammars nearby. Lots of kids do though.

The commute for the DC or you? It used to be about 45 mins from woodham station to Liverpool Street. Not much difference from Chelmsford's.

For DC and for us. I just plugged in the details on Google maps and the commute for work would be close to two hours. Then over an hour for DC, I think that's too much

Are you sure your children are grammar school material? The Essex grammars (Chelmsford and Colchester specifically) are consistently among the top performing schools in the UK. It's more than just passing the 11+. If you think they'll need tutoring to pass then you'll risk ending up with broken children at the end of year 11.

That said the schools (bar Hylands) are extremely good in the city. The ones you want to try and be in catchment for aside from the Grammars are Boswells, Beaulieu and Moulsham, but the issue with Springfield and Beaulieu/Channels is there is an increasing drain on resources in the area. Springfield is lovely and very well established, Beaulieu/Channels are all new builds. Chelmer Village is nice but smells of sewage (really bad in the summer) and the kids go to Sandon and Baddow for secondary. Not bad schools either.

Have you spent much time in the city? I suggest spending a Weekend driving round all the areas. There isn't a huge amount to do for kids here but it's easy to get to the coast and the parks are good, the locals are really friendly and welcoming to boot. Outside of the city centre and the suburbs there's a lot of countryside. Maybe consider Hatfield Peverel, Boreham, Great Leigh's areas too.

Have you looked at Southend/Leigh on sea? Hockley or Rayleigh? Line from southend Victoria to Liverpool st is an hour but when problems back up of c2c line to fenchurch street.
For grammars f
You then have 2 x boys and 2 x girls both in Southend

@User3862 yes DC are grammar school material and very academic so we are not too worried about the work that might have to go into it for them. It's very interesting to note that most of the other schools are really good as well so that's definitely a fall back.
We have gone to Chelmsford to view houses, spend time (week days and weekends) there since March this year: it's not very long but I suppose enough time to give us a feel for the place. However, we've heard Melbourne isn't great and haven't been there at all.

We did look at Rayleigh at the start of the year then discovered Chelmsford which we really like . The others we hadn't checked so will have a look as well. Thank you

I'd suggest avoiding Melbourne Avenue and North Avenue, and any roads off them. North of Melbourne Park and around St Andrews Park/Patching Hall Lane is fine.

For proximity to the station and grammar schools and with 600k to spend I'd be looking at the Avenues off Broomfield Road (but avoiding the area close to KFC), Moulsham Lodge or Springfield. Maybe the Beehive Lane end of Great Baddow, though the traffic is terrible.

I've just looked on Rightmove for your budget, 4 beds within 1/2 mile of Springfield and much of what's on there are fixer uppers - there are 16 currently sat on the site. Catchment primaries vary though looking at the roads they're on and more than one is on the Springfield Park Avenue estate. It's not a bad area (ex council so big houses and gardens) but the school catchments are variable. It's good for commuting though.

I’d echo what previous posters have said on making sure you’re 100% happy with the secondary school catchment you end up moving into.

I live in Chelmsford and during my children’s last few years at primary school there was an influx of families with children moving here from London, all with very bright children. And yes, some of these ‘very bright children’ got into the grammars, but a fair few didn’t!

In terms of areas old Moulsham would get my vote. It’s close to town and the station. The Victorian houses there go for silly prices but there’s a decent amount of other house types in the area.

Have you looked at Shenfield? Really good, quick trains from there & it's nice.

This is what I've noticed too. Most of my street/kids school playground is mostly ex Londoners now. It's why I mentioned to consider it because some of these "really bright" children really aren't... I'm not saying yours aren't bright OP but I'm strongly suggesting you be realistic with the other options.

The other thing to remember is Essex is well set up to commute it's kids to most of the secondary schools. The grammars have buses and trains from all over, but equally many of the schools that serve rural or religious communities do too. It's why many on this thread are suggesting areas outside of Chelmsford. The Colchester grammars DONT have catchment restrictions in the same way as the Chelmsford schools so don't rule out Braintree district and Colchester - all completely commutable to London. You can then add these grammars to your list of options.

Are you looking at Kegs/County High (i think thats what the girls one is called?)

If so what about Broomfield? They are some nice bits around there, close to the hospital, regular buses which go straight to the station not a bad commute in, about 40 min walk though depending on where your coming from and decent cycle paths.

We recently moved out of Chelmsford for my husbands job and we really miss it, called it shit hole when we were there 😂 but realised how lucky we were with so much in one city and easy access