Buckhurst Hill

Opinion

Opinions? I know the Buckhurst Hill/Woodford Green area from an outsiders perspective but I wondered if there were any locals/ex-locals that could provide a bit more of an insight.

I've checked the Police crime map, had a wander/drive round, spoken to family in the area and what not but I figured that the wonderful people here may have a few things to say. Personally, for us, there are plenty of pro's and not many con's that we can see, though OH would argue the amount of golf courses is a big con :j

Also, what is the market like? I'm not trusting what the estate agents say. The place I have my eye on sold for £250,000 mid-2009 and is now on the market for just over £300,000... I can't possibly see it being worth that.

Many thanks in advance,


Op.

[edit] I have searched, too, but many threads were old and the rest weren't helpful [/edit]

Jazzie99

I live South Woodford/bordering Woodford Green.

Both BH and WG are nice, leafy suburbs. Excellent primary schools, lots of private schools and good transport links into London. Crime etc is low. (as with all areas, some parts/streets are better than others).

House prices have gone down a little since 2007 but the 3 areas above are still property hotspots!

Can you provide a link to the house/street your interested in ?

hazyjo

Used to live not too far away.

BH always had a good reputation. The general area is now spreading towards Roding Valley and the houses tend to be a lot cheaper that side. Also watch out for any cheaper roads that have rear access to shops. We had a good budget and looked around BH but realised everything we liked had a major compromise (main roads nearby another no-no for us).

Woodford Green's nice too - depends which parts, as with most areas. Do you need to be near a station? Some of it's spread a bit far away. South Woodford's the trendier side - and the tube track acts as a bit of a divide as to the best and 'not so good' sides. Highams Park also runs into Woodford Green - I lived in HP for several years and would say that's fine if you wanted to live the Woodford side - roads to avoid though so ask if it is that side of Woodford.

Got several friends still living that way so if you wanted to name roads, I could also get some opinions...

Wouldn't have thought that anything would be worth £300k that sold for £250k in 2009. Prices have definitely dropped there. Might be that they're trying to avoid that stamp duty threshold so horrendously overpricing their house, or maybe they've done it up. Mind you, I did a lot to my house in HP but still had to sell 4.5 years later for the exact price I paid in 2006.

Jx

savingmummy

I`m in buckhurst hill and i have been here for 29yrs!
Depending on where you are in buckhurst hill it is great, some areas are a bit hit and miss ie, regarding neighbours mainly.
I`m along by the roding lake which is lovely.

Loughton the nearby town has had recent activities of crime BUT it is like this everywhere at the moment!

The area is great for families and is a lovely area.
I have a friend selling their house at the moment and it has been on for sale for over a year now, many have been up for sale in similar areas for while too! 250-310k seems the average price for 3 bed semi`s.

Houses are from 250-400k and most are priced accordingly,

Opinion

Jazzie, Saving and Hazy, I've PM'ed you all.

In reply to HazyJo... close to the Tube is a biggie. Needs to be walking distance, so ideally within 0.5 miles. OH works in Central London so the Central Line is perfect, and Buckhurst Hill is ideal for getting back here to visit friends/family, and also has plenty of green areas around.

goldbyron

I live in BH just having moved to a house there 6 months ago after living in WG for 4 years in a flat. My parents are in WG and have been since 1984 so I know the area very well. I especially wanted BH as it is a small area and highly residential whereas WG is quite big with (I think) higher risk of crime. All this is relative when I moved from Waltham Forest of course!!

I live in the cheaper part of BH (very close to Roding Valley) as the houses in the upper section of BH were very expensive. We bought an extended semi 3 bedroom house which is doubled in size about a decade ago. There is a house on my street (small terraced with 4 bedrooms - one in the loft) currently on for 375k and we bought for 400k. It was originally marketed for 475 then down to 450 when we put in our offer of 400k. 400 is cheap for BH in general and very very cheap in comparision to the Monkhams which is 800m away where houses of the same size will be worth about 200k more. However 400 is more expensive for the section of BH we are in however the house was vastly extended and is on a large plot so we guessed it worked out right. 6 months in and we love the area - very residential, very quiet, no probs and nice neighbours who just go to work, take kids to school or are retired. It is kind of 45+ in general (I am 32) so crime is low. Loughton has a much higher crime rate but there is nearby Debden - I don't mean to be snobby so apologies for anyone living there.

We do live near a busy-ish road but we hear nothing inside the house nor at night when we are in bed. All traffic is during rush hour times to be honest. Also there are just as busy roads nestling on the Monkhams and Knightons where people could pay 1 million to live there. Overall I love it (and I am not exactly conventional in my family make-up) for its 'normality', surburban feel, and proximity to fields, forest etc. Its like a mini community and I feel a good investment in terms of property as well as prices should stay stable. Best area to live locally unless you have the dollars for the Monkhams and Knightons.

Maybe post a link and we can judge price better by location etc??

Opinion

PM'ed you a link, Goldbyron.

Anyone else local?


Op.

Opinion

Seeing as there is nothing much at all on in Buckhurst Hill... what's it like heading out towards Roding? Maybe you could take a minute Goldbyron, or anyone else?

Cheers,


Op.