Just wondering if some one could help with some info.
My girlfriend and I have both got jobs in Essex (Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea)starting next month. We have just finished uni so these are our first career jobs. We are currently looking at places to move that are inbetween both these areas.

What areas are nice?
Any areas to avoid?
We’re looking to spend around £700 pcm. Is that realistic?
Are there many trails locally?

We’ve visited the area a couple time for interviews but that is all. Currently we live close to Oxford and have never visited Essex prior to the interviews. Seems a nice place of the world..

Any pointets and info would be great! Thanks.

Avoid anywhere with burnt out cars lying around, which is most of it 🙂

Rural Essex is quite nice if you can tolerate the accent.

Filling me with confidence 😯

Benfleet is OK and fairly close to Saaaarfend.

Have you chosen your shade of fake tan yet?

Pft, i’ll let my girldfriend decide the fake bake..
Some of the houses in rural areas look rather nice.

They say dont go south of the a127. Seems reasonable to me.

Wasnt to keen on the places below the A127 anyway. Seems to be like one large built up area- basildon all the way to Southend.
I’m more of a country boy anyway so ideally I dont want to be in a town. We both have cars so travelling isnt an issue. Up to 45 mins from Southend and 25 mins from Chelmsford.

I live in Brentwood, local woods are easy to get to and a laugh and Epping forest isn’t very far away. Good road cycling around too. Brentwood tends to merge with Shenfield but is cheaper because of the train lines.
Chelmsford is 20-30 mins drive away and Southend a bit longer. I have lived in Chelmsford and liked it but not ideal for your girlfiend’s commute.
Places to avoid….Basildon, in particular Vange and Pitsea.

South Woodham Ferrers is a great place.

Being from Harlow, I’d say stay well away. Since that’s pretty much as far west as you can go, I’m sure it won’t be a problem 🙂

Thanks. Good advice. Hadn’t even thought of those two locations.
I was under the impression that the closer to London you get the higher the rent?

Ideally I’d pick norf Chelmsford if you can afford it. You’re close to the A130 so fairly fast to Sarfend in the mornings, go the other way on it and you’re at Stansted/M11 for getting the hell outta Essex purposes.

I would avoid anything south of Chelmsford or in between the two – Benfleet/South Woodham Ferrers/Wickford/Basildon (obviously). Diveish in my opinion.

I went to school in Chelmsford and married a girl from Southend so I’m better qualified than most on this. I now live in North Yorkshire.

I always found SWF to be quite civilised, for Essex! 🙂

South Woodham Ferrers? You’ll only get a property there if you’re VERY closely related to the existing dwellers 😉

I’m in Chelmsford and it’s a fine place to live. Good transport links, lots of countryside on your doorstep and Danbury for local riding. Lots of development going on here too.

Billers/Rayleigh/Wickford/SWF all between (of kinda between) Chelms and SoS

Billers would be my shout… nice bike commute to chelms and not a bad town… got a good BIke Club…. Essex Roads

Don’t dismiss south of A127… Leigh-on-sea is nice… but there’s no getting away from the built up feel

Do not go near Dagenham.

Billericays nice, south green/Burstead side is best IMO as its on the edge of all the farmland and not built up, with loads of country lanes for road riding and lots of bridal ways and Langden hills and Thorndon Park for mtb, Epping forest is about a half hour drive away too.
And the Waitrose on the high st is superb…

Brilliant. Thanks for all the input guys. Only seen these places on maps so it’s good to understand the area.

Definitely worth a day or two exploring down there to get a feel for different towns.

Wivenhoe was a nice place to live

I lived in essex for 25 years, school and worked all over really. I lived in a village called hatfield peverel along the A12 corridor. Quite a nice place and on the edge of some good countryside and riding.

Some pretty good advice already – as a rough rule I would say draw a line north south through chelmsford and then try and head as far east and north that your journey times will allow. With the exception of witham, the further east you go the better essex gets. Beautiful estuaries and coastline, pretty remote too. Off road is suprisingly good although not technical, road biking good too. Perfect xc and cx terrain

I’d think about maldon and the blackwater estuary area, but maybe on the limits of travel times as Essex is a busy place and I think youll find Southend is 45 mins from chelmsford, if not more. Personally I wouldn’t contemplate south of the A127. It’s truly wretched.

This is all great information, thanks. We’ve been striking off a fair number of house. I’m the one working in Southend but due to the nature of the job I’ll be travelling around various locations so it doesn’t really matter how far it is from Southend. We’ve found a few houses in Braintree? Any feedback on that area? Lots of these flats/houses seem to be next to a train line..

Anywhere but Canvey Island would be my advice. Billericay is nice and has a Waitrose and is the only part south of the A120 I would recommend. (Did several years of site visits in that part of the world).

Definitely avoid Basvegas and any associated parts. The arterial corridor is pretty built up for obvious reasons. Parts of it, like Old Leigh are reasonable but it’s all pretty congested. My dad lives in Rayleigh and I grew up in thundersley so I know those parts are ok but nothing special. Places like Stock are nice but probably out of budget and only have 6 bed houses 😉

Not sure about “fairly fast to Sarfend” during rush hour from Chelmsford tbh, which is why somewhere between the two looks about right to me. Maldon would be a nice commute for your gf but not for you. Hullbridge?

braintree is ok, and it’s connected well when you want to get away by road although the train line is a bit pants as it’s at the end of a branch from the liverpool street line. It is well serviced though with an easy train commute to chelmsford. Reasonable town with a market square and older centre, like a lot of places it is surrounded by retail park nonesense but hey, you could do worse. There is a good mountaineering club (or used to be) and an excellent kayak club. Bikewise not so great off road as it is more an arable/farm type area. Not sure what houses prices are like now – it is an easy commute to the city by train or car…..

Braintree is miles from Southend though! Been to Halstead a few times, it’s nice around there.

I’d like to help, but I’ve only lived in the places you’ve been told to avoid… 😳

Hi 5, fellow scum 😉

Chelmsford and Maldon are ok. I grew up in a village near there called Mayland. Wouldn’t want to live there now though, bit too small!

I live in Billericay and work at ford dunton (import from oop north). Billericay station is on the southend line so you could train it in. Plenty of people drive from chelmsford to dunton (literally hundreds) and Billericay is on the way so thats very doable. Driving to southend involves the A127 which sucks.

Tiptree… For the jam 🙂

Joking aside its quite nice around there.

Essix born n’ bred here…

Lived in numerous places including SWF, went to school there, married there, divorced there, bit predudice to there 😉

Lived in Chelmsford and Billericay, both nice places but now live in Rayleigh and love it here and from where I live chelmo and sarfend are equi-distant.

Aviod SOS itself as a nightmare getting in and out for the C/Ford commuter. BTW if you look at Chelmsford Gt Baddow is lovely and Galleywood great for easy access trails!

Essex, beautiful villages with generally shite towns (well the newer ones anyhow). Avoid Harlow New Town like the plague, utter hole (lived there for a year and worked there for seven years).

@Khani – Just been thinking about some of the trails I used to ride out Galleywood/Margaretting way when I lived there years ago, totally forgot about them until this thread! Well worth a re-visit 😀

My outlaws live in East Hanningfield which seems pleasant enough.

EDIT Which is quite near Chelmsford.

Good to hear there are a few other Essex locals. Weird hearing about Galleywood on here!

Advice above is pretty good, but like everywhere there are good and bad bits. Avoid Bas Vegas Basra Basildon. Horrible roads (A127) and some nasty people. That said, a colleague lives in Vange and it sounds like she has a nice enough street.

I’m living in Great Baddow at the moment (on the edge of Chelmsford). Not a bad little village, not much excitement but it’s decent for road access to the m25 etc, close enough to Danbury, Little Baddow etc for some reasonable riding.

Worked as a student in Fords – lived around the whole area, only one place I’d recommend, Maldon.

Stay away from Basildon
If you want to get near Southend then best area would be Westcliffe

I work in Laindon, behind the Ford plant in Dunton – I’d avoid Basildon/Laindon and surrounding area – it is pretty horrid – and riddled with thieving Gypsies – they have even nicked the Earth cable off our 11KVa transformer twice (must have a death wish)

Stay North of the A127 – there are some nice little spots south of the A127 – but you need to know the area, and what you are looking at.

I’d look at the villages off the A130 – if you base yourselves in that area one of you can go north to Chelmsford, and the other head South to Southend.
You could look at Chelmer Village – have a mate at work who lives there, and it is pretty OK.
Woodham is alright aswell.

Thanks to all for the great info!! Really glad I started this thread. Wasn’t sure if I was going to get a response. Scratched about 6 houses off the list from Basildon area.