Southend-on-Sea (Essex and surrounds) - what is the area like?

Noodle66

We have the possibility of buying a large terraced house in Southend-on-Sea. I just wondered what the area is like to live in? We have visited the area a few times but not really got a feel for what it is like to live there.

We are a family of 4, two adults, two young children.

What are the demographics like, schools, crime, shopping, transport, parks etc?

Just want some personal opinions of people who live or have lived there.

Thanks!

chocaholic2009

It really depends what part of Southend - some parts are horrible and have high crime levels, others are extremely nice and genteel & have great schools. My brother lives in Chalkwell, near Leigh on Sea, and the schools there are apparently really good. The seniors schools operate on a grammar school system (old 11 plus) and I went to one of them, and did okay(!)

Transport links are good - two different train lines running into London, a pretty good bus service. A127 and A130 go into East London.

So now I'm curious - whereabouts are you looking to live?

Noodle66

The property we are interested in is a few roads away from Southend East railway station. Not sure exactly what area that is?

But we'd consider anything near the Southend East/Southend Central/Southend Victoria stations.

What areas are not so nice if you don't mind me asking?

Just to add that we also like Westcliff on Sea and Leigh on Sea from what we have seen.

sunshinetours

It will depend on what are exactly you are looking at.

I personally would not want to live right in the centre of town or on the Eastern/Northern fringes of the town itself.

There are some very nice areas close to seafront and some lovely conservation areas with lovely little gardens near the cliff top

As an area as a whole I think its a great place with plenty to do directly on your doorstep or slightly further afield. London is easily accessible with two separate lines into Fenchurch and Liverpool Street both take around an hour

The seafront is one of the bigger attractions with some lovely areas of clean safe beach, long long promenade for walking / cycling right from Chealkwell through to nearly Shoeburyness, the Pier is the longest in the world and a lovely walk although not much on it these days, Cliffs Pavilion Theatre has a great selection of concerts/shows, and there are loads of cafes and bars and restaurants in the area now

Also growing and growing is the University which has bought lots of money and interest into the town and ressurected some rather previously delapidated buildings and added a few modern ones of its own.

Traffic can be troublesome as on sunny days everyone heads into Southend from surrounding and London areas and the roads simply aren't up to it

Schools- again like anywhere there are good and not so good. The area does have two outstanding grammar schools (I didn't enjoy it but they do get good results) and a few private schools if that is your thing

Also easy access to gatwick (1 hour) and Stansted (45 minutes) airports and the Kent ports and Eurotunnel only a hour and half away

The area as a whole often gets tarnished with the Essex stereotype but the reality is its a pretty good place to live. Property prices also not bad compared with London and Surrey type prices for example. Don't underestimate the pleasure of having the seafront on your doorstep

Finally the dry weather in the local area is generally better than pretty much anywhere else in the UK. i belive eShoebury or Great Wakering was the driest place the otehr year (not for the first time) Also the temps in the summer are kept a couple of degrees cooler than inland due to sea breezes which is no bad thing when the UK humidity hits on those ocassional hot days we have in the UK!

PM me or post the specific area or road details if you like and I'll comment further if I know the road

Best of luck

EDIT
Just seen your other post. There are some nicer roads running down near Southchurch Park. The area is often referred to now as Southchurch Village (although a village it is not!)
If your budget will stretch to Leigh on Sea or Chalkwell I personally would choose those although anything near to the mainline stations will be pricey.
Also consider Thorpe Bay if your budget allows, lots of very nice houses but pricey again, but very near the nicer end of teh sea front IMO

chocaholic2009

I'm not really keen on central Southend - although some of my friends live there and like it - mainly because the High Street seems pretty scary at night time (when I was a kid it was much more friendly, now seems to be full of yobs - or maybe I'm just showing my age!!). Leigh on Sea and Chalkwell / Westcliff seem to be much more family friendly, but unfortunately the housing costs reflect this. Leigh Broadway (the high street there) is a great place for doing a spot of shopping or going out in the evening for a meal / wine bar.

I live in Rayleigh, which is on the Liverpool street line. The schools here are good (all rated Good / excellent / outstanding) and we have a fairly good high street. It's not as 'cool' as Leigh, and doesn't have the lovely seaside, but the houses are slightly cheaper. As we are slightly outside the Southend area, our schools are Comprehensives, not Grammar schools.

Lots of money is being poured into Southend at the moment - the seafront / promenade is being remodelled, the University is expanding and the Olympic Moutain biking is being held here. However, Essex is still pretty much seen as the poor neighbour to other Home counties.

Hope that helps!

sunshinetours

chocaholic2009 wrote: »

I'm not really keen on central Southend - although some of my friends live there and like it - mainly because the High Street seems pretty scary at night time (when I was a kid it was much more friendly, now seems to be full of yobs - or maybe I'm just showing my age!!). Leigh on Sea and Chalkwell / Westcliff seem to be much more family friendly, but unfortunately the housing costs reflect this. Leigh Broadway (the high street there) is a great place for doing a spot of shopping or going out in the evening for a meal / wine bar.

I live in Rayleigh, which is on the Liverpool street line. The schools here are good (all rated Good / excellent / outstanding) and we have a fairly good high street. It's not as 'cool' as Leigh, and doesn't have the lovely seaside, but the houses are slightly cheaper. As we are slightly outside the Southend area, our schools are Comprehensives, not Grammar schools.

Lots of money is being poured into Southend at the moment - the seafront / promenade is being remodelled, the University is expanding and the Olympic Moutain biking is being held here. However, Essex is still pretty much seen as the poor neighbour to other Home counties.

Hope that helps!

Agree with all of that including looking at Rayleigh, Hockley, some areas of South Benfleet all of which have easy access to Southend's sea front and facilities, but also have some great schools (we are very lucky in this area I think). There are less "less desirable" areas also IMO in those towns than Southend itself

Also 10/15 minuites closer to London on the train if that is relevant (and slightly cheaper). Benfleet for instance is only 35/40 minutes from Fenchurch Street on fast trains

Realluy would help to know your budget I guess

pimento

I live in Hockley and I can't think of any "less desirable" bits of the village.

Noodle66

Thanks for all your replies so far. We currently live (rent) in (expensive) north London so anything is cheaper and in my opinion a better quality of life. We have pretty high crime rate/yobs here too and the houses here are completely out of our price range (think we'd need to win the lottery to buy one lol).

sunshinetours

pimento wrote: »

I live in Hockley and I can't think of any "less desirable" bits of the village.

I used to and I can

Joking aside, Hockley is a lovely place although has its share of youth nuisance issues, especially in Hawkwell area of village.
I also personally wouldn't want to live on Betts Farm Estate although its by no means an undesirable area. Used to live very near the station over the back of Plumberow and we nearly moved to Hawkwell Chase a few years back. The Bull is one of my favorite pubs anywhere

POPPYOSCAR

Noodle66 wrote: »

The property we are interested in is a few roads away from Southend East railway station. Not sure exactly what area that is?

But we'd consider anything near the Southend East/Southend Central/Southend Victoria stations.

What areas are not so nice if you don't mind me asking?

Just to add that we also like Westcliff on Sea and Leigh on Sea from what we have seen.

I don't live in Southend live about 30mins drive away but I like Westcliff and Old Leigh the best.

sunshinetours

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

I don't live in Southend live about 30mins drive away but I like Westcliff and Old Leigh the best.

There are some nice areas of Westcliff but there are plenty of not so nice areas now. Depends on what you want I guess and what type of socio economic are you are after (and again what your budget is), you will get a much bigger property generally in Westcliff than you would in say Chalkwell or Leigh

Don't be fooled by North Leigh adverts either, tehy are generally Eastwood which is no where near a station and much cheaper than Leigh itself.
Old Leigh is mainly an area where you go to eat drink and sit on the beach/walk along the sea wall area. Its very nice (and gets very very busy on warm days) but not that many house in Old leigh itself. Leigh Broadway is at the top of a steep hill from old Leigh and most house are based off of that area