Relocating to Rayleigh or Benfleet (or surrounding areas)

[MairyDilk]

Hope I've posted in the right topic!

I'm after suggestions of best areas to live in and around Rayleigh/Benfleet for my little family. We've considered lots of different areas based on our needs but we've now decided it'll be one of these two (or close by) but we don't know a lot about the areas, esp Benfleet we know nothing at all about so want to be well informed before making the move to our forever home.

• Would be looking at houses around the 450k mark
• Ideally 4 bedroom semi or detached house
• Good links into London for my DH's work
• Have 2 DC so would prefer to be in a catchment for grammar schools. Any info on which ones take Rayleigh or Benfleet addresses would be great.

Any help at all would be much appreciated. Overall, I want a friendly area with good primary schools and in the future good secondary too.

Thank you 😊

Used to live in Rayleigh and it’s great, but the traffic is awful and constant. Takes an hour to get through town centre when it should be less than 5 mins

Travel from Benfleet station to London is a good deal cheaper than Rayleigh station. Traffic can be a pain if there has been an accident

Either really, but take no notice of the hour to get through Rayleigh town centre comment, which is very misleading. I really like Rayleigh, but travel to London via Benfleet on the C2C as it's cheaper... takes around 40/45 mins.

What about Leigh on Sea or the Hadleigh and /Belfairs areas?

I don't know why anyone would choose to live in Benfleet or around that part of Essex. Rayleigh is OK-ish but traffic is awful.

Where are you moving from?

Is it always like this or during peak times, rush hour and school times etc?

Ah thank you that's good to know!

Hadn't thought of these areas. Are these within grammar school catchment do you know before I Google? And how are they for getting into London?

What makes you say this? Honestly, I don't know a lot about the area so genuinely wondering why you'd not recommend it.

Moving from Bedfordshire.

In my personal view, Leigh/Chalkwell is much nicer than either of those two areas although I'd say out of the two, Rayleigh is nicer. I would check this, but I think the catchment for the grammars relies on having an SS postcode. Rayleigh and Benfleet don't fall under Southend.

School information for Leigh on sea which as a rail station that does directly into London.

https://www.locrating.com/the-best-secondary-schools-in-Leigh-On-SeaEssexx_England.aspx

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh-on-Searailwayy_station

I grew up in Rayleigh and then lived in Thundersley when I first moved out. I truly enjoyed growing up there.

Rayleigh has a lovely town and good transport links but traffic is atrocious. If we ever visit Rayleigh now, the longest part of our journey by far is just getting in and around it.

Instinctively without looking, I’m not sure how far your budget will go. My mum and sister in law both paid your budget and above 7 years ago for 4 bed detached houses in Rayleigh, which are obviously worth a lot more now.

Best of luck with the move!

The boundary lines for the Southend / Westcliff Grammars changed a few years back and they are now in the Rayleigh catchment.

Thank you! I wasn't 100%!

I grew up in Rayleigh and still visit occasionally. It is an attractive high street though I guess, like all places these days, it's not as bustling as in days gone by. But there is a feeling of community. The schools there are pretty good, though I don't have any recent experience of them. My mum's neighbours all seemed to love Rayleigh and the friendliness. Several of them were happy to help my mum if and when she needed it, as she was not in great health (sadly now passed) and I know she appreciated that, especially if I couldn't get there immediately. She lived happily in her home for over 60 years.

I don't know too much about Benfleet unfortunately, so cannot comment.

My son went to one of the grammar schools in Southend. At the time (it's probably changed now), there was a portion of places available to local Southend children, but after that, it was based on what position you achieved in the 11+ exams. I can't remember how many places were up for grabs, but let's say there were 10 classes of 30 boys, it meant that perhaps a quarter of spots were offered to local children and the rest offered to children who came in the first, say, 225 places out of however many children took the 11+ exam. It probably has changed, but living in Rayleigh or Benfleet didn't class as a local Southend child. Perhaps bear in mind that Grammar schools don't suit everyone. They are very competitive and children who might struggle may not do very well in an environment where criticism of their efforts is felt more often than praise.

I grew up in this part of the world. Hadleigh is between Benfleet and Leigh on Sea stations into Fenchurch Street. It's walkable to Leigh (40 minutes) or there are buses. It's High Street has a couple of good restaurants, a huge Morrisons, an Iceland and a variety of boutique clothes shops, charity shops and a Turkish barber. However there are now no banks (cash machines though). It has a country park which hosted the 2012 mountain bike events, a castle ruin and a Norman church. There is an active cricket club and an Infant and Junior school. The houses are a complete mix and it has a bit of a higgledy piggledy vibe but bargains are to be had.

Leigh on Sea is expensive but has a fabulous High Street with a cafe culture. There are also the "cockle sheds" with 5 (I think) pubs and great views of the Estuary. It gets very busy in summer.

I'd spend a weekend, or at least have a day trip, to look around the area.

All of Rayleigh and Benfleet are in the grammar catchments.

Trains on the C2C line are much faster, cheaper and more reliable than the Rayleigh line.

Your budget is enough for a house in both areas but on the low side so if you were to get a 4 bed detached, it would be in the less good parts of town / school catchments. Is your priority space / house or would you go smaller for better location?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153147716#/?channel=RESBUY
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/154495487#/?channel=RESBUY
Grove Wood is a nice primary school in Rayleigh but its catchment area is a bit of a schlep from the station.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152688401#/?channel=RESBUY
if you did want to be in Leigh, this is in a vibrant, convenient location and this is what your money would buy . Good walk to station and nice primary school too.

Thank you all for your insights! I've gathered Rayleigh is the nicer area of the two but Benfleet has the C2C which is cheaper and quicker. I'll look into Leigh and the others but I might not get much for our budget there unfortunately.

@Chewbecca your comments have been really helpful re grammar schools and areas. Please could you let me know which areas of Rayleigh are better and which are not the good parts of town?

@fourquenelles amazing thanks. Yes, a day or two spent there to see the area is definitely needed!

@Frecklespy thank you! It's nice to hear about the community feel there. So sorry to hear about your mum, it sounds like she had a fulfilled life.

@Chuchoter appreciate the site link, thank you.

Leigh and Chalkwell are premium and if you can find anything there within budget, it would be preferable to other options. Rayleigh is a busy little town but Benfleet keeps you at the seaside end of things and is walkable to West Leigh.
Grammar schools are all very well but stay mindful of being near an acceptable non selective as the 11+ is competitive and tough and lots of kids are tutored+++.
Great kids stuff everywhere. Beach, Adventure Island, petting Zoe at Hadleigh Country Park which is very close to Benfleet. Also 2 theatres in Southend and an Odeon. The area packs a lot in.
Leigh is sweet but most roads have parking issues as they predate the era of every home having a couple of drivers. Chalkwell is close to Leigh with bigger homes and driveways and is still close to Leigh. Both Leigh and Chalkwell homes are cheaper North of London road as it moves further away from the beach area.
Good luck with it all. Go and stay for a weekend and hang out.
You can then come back here for more specific advise.
We left the area a few years ago but it was a great place to bring up kids.

@Frecklespy sorry I posted too early! Yes I understand completely about grammars and the possibility of whether my DC will even get in or not. We can only try lol.

@WorriedMutha thank you so much for your suggestions.. I'll look into Chalkwell too.

Grove Wood and Edward Francis are both good primary schools in Rayleigh so personally I would look in those catchment areas. Rayleigh secondaries are also generally considered to be better than Benfleet if your DC don't end up at the grammars.

I lived in Rayleigh for 18 years so I am allowed to say I think it’s the dullest place on earth.

having said that, great primary schools and good secondaries.

I would definitely go for Rayleigh over Benfleet which sorts of sprawls without having a centre if you know what I mean.

@MairyDilk
"What makes you say this? Honestly, I don't know a lot about the area so genuinely wondering why you'd not recommend it."

Well the main issue is there are too many people within a transient population and it creates an environment where people are aggressive, unfriendly and in a hurry alot of the time. Traffic is beyond saturation point, the two big road arteries A13 and A127 are hugely busy and full of aggressive unpleasant drivers. At rush hour/ school hours these areas are just one big car park.

The countryside has been blighted by over building, it is scruffy and there is alot of very unattractive housing.

The Greater Anglia train line into Rayleigh is quite unreliable. C2C is better but there is no station on that line worth living near.

Of course, it really depends on what type of area you come from and what your expectations are but I can assure you that part of Essex is awful, stressful to live in and I would not live there if you paid me.

Value for money is shocking vs what you can buy in other areas.

I would urge you to travel there during the school and work week and test some journeys, make sure you thoroughly research the area before committing. It is no nirvana by a very very long way.

Born and brought up there, escaped.