It’s an eternally popular option for city workers, but there is more to Essex than commuter dormitory towns and TOWIE.
With gorgeous countryside and coastline, an impressive mix of pretty villages and lively towns, and some very handy commutes, these are our tips for anyone who plans to take the TOWIE trail in 2024:
Value for money: Colchester
Colchester was once a rough, tough, army town. Although it still has a strong military presence its reputation as squaddie-filled no-go zone is starting to fade.
Money is being spent on new amenities. There is a new arts centre designed by Rafael Vinoly, a couple of cinemas, a theatre, farmers markets and craft fairs, and a sports park. Castle Park is a welcome urban oasis, and the beautiful Stour Valley is on the doorstep.
Parts of the town centre are surprisingly pretty, with narrow streets filled with period houses. But the pedestrianised main drag is dreary.
What draws people to Colchester is its all-round convenience, and good value housing.
Trains to Liverpool Street take from 49 minutes.
Local schools almost exclusively hold good or outstanding Ofsted reports. The notable exception is Colchester Royal Grammar School, once the jewel in the town’s educational crown but rated “inadequate” at its last Ofsted inspection. However, Ofsted reports can be deceptive. Now under new management the school’s results were amongst the best in the country last year.
Colchester’s charms have been tempting buyers in, while prices across the UK have been stalling.
Average prices now stand at £313,000, with houses trading at £359,000, and flats at £181,000, according to research by estate agent Hamptons.
Over the past decade prices have jumped 65 per cent. Over the past 12 months prices increased by three per cent.
Most like London: Leigh-on-Sea
Over the past decade or so Leigh-on-Sea has reinvented itself, from a slightly sleepy suburb of Southend to the Shoreditch of the Essex coast.
Its old town now has strong London village vibes, full of art galleries, independent boutiques, pubs, bars, and restaurants, which have proved a big hit with the legions of London leavers who have flocked to Leigh for a new life close to the coast.
Leigh boasts its own small beach, with some very good pubs around it, plus easy access to Southend’s miles of golden sands.
And the 387 acre Hadleigh Country Park is bigger than Hyde Park, and has everything from mountain bike trails to a reservoir for swimming and paddle boarding.
School standards are high and for senior students’ there are particularly rich pickings. The Eastwood Academy, Westcliff High School for Girls, and Westcliffe High School for Boys Academy, are all considered “outstanding” by the schools’ watchdog.
And if you do need to be in London for work or fun, trains to Fenchurch Street take from around 50 minutes.
Average sale prices in Leigh-on-Sea stand at £430,000, with houses selling for an average £497,000 and flats for £254,000.
Prices did drop last year, by 1.5 per cent, but are still up 71 per cent over ten years according to Hamptons.
Least like London: Mersea Island
With its oyster beds, wild landscapes, and sandy beaches, there is nowhere quite like Britain’s most easterly inhabited island.
Getting to Mersea Island is a bit of a hassle involving tide timetables, a Roman causeway to the mainland, a ten mile trek to Colchester, and a train to London, but the rewards are worth the hike.
You can learn to paddleboard, kayak, windsurf or sail with one of the local clubs, or just enjoy laid back days on the beach. In the evening you can dine on freshly caught oysters, or try out one of the many local gastropubs and cafes.
There is a primary school on the island, rated “good” by Ofsted. Older students will, however, have to travel to the mainland to get to class.
This will involve crossing the causeway, which can flood at high tide, and a drive or bus ride to Colchester. Commuter trains from there to Liverpool Street take from 49 minutes.
Average prices on the island stand at £401,000.
Although Londoners began to discover the delights of island life during the pandemic, boosting prices, increasing interest rates mean the last year has been tough for Mersea property.
Prices fell five per cent according to Hamptons, but are still 43 per cent higher than ten years ago.
Best connected: Epping
Just beyond the M25 Epping has a distinctly suburban vibe, with its workaday high road and streets of neat 1930s and 40s houses.
There are a few bright spots, like the arrival of a Gail’s Bakery, and Haywards, an elegant fine dining restaurant on Bell Common. But really, nobody moves to Epping for its thrumming atmosphere and nightlife.
What this commuter favourite offers is an almost unmatched mixture of great, and varied, transport links plus the glories of nature.
Epping Forest has 5,900 acres of ancient woodlands to immerse yourself in. Its heaven for walkers, bikers, and horse riders. Epping is surrounded by golf courses, and sweet rural villages where you can get a hearty pub lunch.
And you can live amidst all this greenery, and still hop on the tube. Epping Station is way out in Zone 6 (Central Line), but still offers the kind of regular and late night services you can’t expect from overground services.
If you don’t want to take a chugger train into town an alternative would be to drive to Shenfield, half an hour away, and pick up Crossrail.
An Uber home from central London will cost you around £30. And, for motorists, you are right by the M11 and M25.
A typical house in Epping sells for £703,000, while the average price for a flat stands at £342,000, reports Hamptons.
Over the past decade overall average prices are up 54 per cent.
Family friendly: Chelmsford
When families move out of London first on their wish list is almost always great schools. And Chelmsford delivers.
There is a choice of primary schools rated “good” by Ofsted. For older pupils there is Chelmsford County High School for Girls and King Edward VI Grammar School. Both are rated “outstanding” and are amongst the most high performing state schools in the country. The town's non-selective senior schools are also mostly highly regarded.
Chelmsford is surrounded by country parks for easy access to nature and lots of outdoorsy activities, from Danbury Country Park, with its weekend forest school, to Hylands Park with its adventure playground.
Chelmsford officially became a city in 2012, and its city centre offers a theatre, cinema, a racecourse, and a very full complement of shopping malls.
There are also loads of places to eat and drink from Moto Pizza when you need some carbs, to Paper Mill Lock Tearooms, for a water view and scrumptious homemade cakes.
When you need to get back to London trains to Liverpool Street take about 40 minutes.
An average home in Chelmsford will set you back £398,000, with flats selling for £225,000, and houses for £464,000.
Ten year price growth stands at 61 per cent, said Hamptons.
