The London exodus: top schools, the best areas and new homes for first-time buyers in Epping

First-time buyers priced out of London are leapfrogging the M25 to buy in locations where commuter links are convenient and entry prices comparatively low.
1/38
Ruth Bloomfield30 November 2018

Why buy in Epping, Essex

Average first-time buyer spend: £293,820, which would buy a one- possibly even a two-bedroom flat. A three-bedroom terrace cottage would be about £450,000.

Annual price increase: -0.5 per cent.

Proportion of homes sold to first-time buyers: 19 per cent.

The commute: Epping Forest presents a rare chance to pay commuterland property prices but still use the Tube. Epping is in Zone 6 of the Central line. Journeys to Zone 1 take just under an hour.

Schools: for seniors, Epping St John’s “requires improvement”, says Ofsted. In Loughton, Davenant Foundation School and Debden Park High School are both rated “outstanding”.

What’s new? The Epping district includes TOWIE-location Chigwell, where London Square Chigwell Village is a gated scheme of 43 family homes priced from £1.22 million (londonsquare.co.uk).

This summer Quinn Estates and Redrow Homes submitted a joint application to build more than 600 new homes, a sports hub and fishing lake at North Weald Golf Club, two miles north-east of Epping town centre.

£325,000: a two-bedroom flat at Hazlemere Marina, Waltham Abbey, Epping Forest. Roffeys (01992 788088). 

The lowdown: Epping Forest encircles the town and is perfect for walking, mountain biking, running and horse riding. In town it is not pretty-pretty but there are plenty of shops, a couple of good pubs — notably The Forest Gate Inn — and a choice of coffee bars. Regular events include a Christmas market and outdoor carol singing.

“Epping is that nice blend of being in the country while still being on the Central line,” says Chris Whitbread, director of Millers estate agents.

“The high street has got a buzz to it and there is a pleasant community feel generally.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in