Possible family move to Southend area 2016?

beanie414

hazyjo wrote: »

Leigh has just been named in The Times top ten something or other (best places to live in UK I think) so the whole area may shoot up even more.

Wow, that is interesting.:)

Essexmove23

Off to explore in morning, Southchurch Leigh Eastwood... Maybe GT wakering, and fish n chips with my girls and some fun!

Essexmove23

what are peoples opinions on this part of Southend - Prittlewell? we may head off exploring again this weekend, but its near priory park and some other parks.....in between southend eats station ctc and prittlewell ... homes like this look very good value to me, road looks good whats the downside if any THANKS!! SOME NICE PROPERTIES ALONG - St. Lukes Road, Southend-On-Sea,

IvorBiggun

Therr are 4 grammar schools in Southend (2 boys 2 girls) which are accessed through the 11+ exam; as long as you are living in the unitary authority you get in slightly more easily. Lots of private tuition goes on obviously.

What is your budget and requirements?

Essexmove23

Unconfirmed budget just yet, but will b around 300k + ... However can see prices rising. Areas currently considering Southchurch park/village...parts Leigh...parts westcliff....don't really know rest as yet.
Ta

phatbear

Essexmove23 wrote: »

what are peoples opinions on this part of Southend - Prittlewell? we may head off exploring again this weekend, but its near priory park and some other parks.....in between southend eats station ctc and prittlewell ... homes like this look very good value to me, road looks good whats the downside if any THANKS!! SOME NICE PROPERTIES ALONG - St. Lukes Road, Southend-On-Sea,

southend born and bred here, although i have moved to great wakering in the past 6 months.

first off, personally i would avoid st lukes, my mum is one road over in walsingham road, which is one reason to avoid it, also its very close to Cluny Square, which is probably the least desirable part of Southend.

Prittlewell is ok however its on the liverpool street line also parking in that area can be a pain due to the closeness of train stations, town and roots hall, home of the mighty southend united.

great wakering is lovely and you seem to get quite a bit for your money the main reason for this is the lack of commuter connections there are only two buses that go through the village however you are close to shoebury station, which is the very end of the fenchurch street line, which on the up side means you are pretty sure to get a seat on the train but also means it will be the most expensive season ticket. Other issues is you are at the @rse end of essex so you can only go one way. That being said we love it as its really quiet and they have a great indian and 4 pubs and plenty of country side around us.

Our first choice when looking was hockley but in the past few months prices have shot up over there, the same as leigh.

Essexmove23

Thanks! Someone else just tipped me off about Cluny square being dodgy explains price maybe.... Prittlewell nr priory park might b better. Funny last week drove to GT wakering looks nice, bit more remote though.. Wanted to see new dev being built on rd out of wakering to Southend, ... Personally I liked feel of Southchurch nr southend east part - walking around..nice roads ..parks...do u commute from shoeburyness then?

phatbear

Southchurch is nice the only dark cloud is its proximity to the kursaal, which is damn rough, in fact so much so that a lot of pizza places etc refuse to deliver in the estate.

As stated pritlewell is nice, easy walk into town however its not close to the train line you require and it does get busy when southend play at home.

And nope i dont use the train as we both work at southend airport

AndyBSG

Buying in or around Southend is a bit of a nightmare in all honesty because each area has positives and negatives, there really is no 'perfect' area around there so something is always going to have to give.

- Train links to London are a major factor. Liverpool street line is much more expensive, slower and less reliable than the Fenchurch Street line(although the recent timetable changes on CTC have people spitting feathers). Having commuted on both lines for 20+ years I have to say i'd find it very hard to choose any area relying on the Liverpool street line over the Fenchurch street one.

- Central Southend, parts of Southchurch, Westcliff, etc aren't the greatest areas. Great Wakering and Rayleigh on the other hand are very nice but suffer more in terms of train links

- Traffic around Southend is really poor as the A127 is badly stretched to it's limit and London Road is gridlock central on Saturdays in and out of Southend Town Centre.

- Leigh on Sea, Old Leigh in particular, is a great location but you don't get much for your money.

Is there any particular reason why you specifically want to move to the Southend area? My wife and I recently moved out of the Essex/London borders and considered Leigh but the price was too much of an issue.

We looked at other areas in Essex and found Brentwood, parts of Billericay, some parts of Wickford and South Woodham much better in terms of train links to London, road links and price. We eventually settled on Great Baddow just outside Chelmsford and found some of the outer parts of Chelmsford great options like Baddow, Broomfield and Chelmer Village

pimento

Prittlewell station is closed on Sunday. Mind you, it is very close to Southend Victoria so that might not worry you.