Chelmsford Area

Chelmsford (the home and birthplace of radio) received City status in 2012 as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and since then has experienced accelerated growth in infrastructure, facilities and housing stock with house prices steadily growing annually. Since the elevation to city status, Chelmsford council has injected large investments into the city. The average house cost in 2011 was £253,000 and the average cost for a flat or maisonette was £138,000. In 2021 those had changed to £436,000 and £220,000 respectively.

Housing Stock

Within Chelmsford itself, there is a mixture of housing, mainly Edwardian and Victorian houses, inter and post war properties and, recently, an abundance of new homes in and around Chelmsford and the surrounding towns including the well renowned and prestigious Beaulieu estate.

Interestingly in the 14th century Chelmsford was considered the capital of England for a week!

Moving outside of the city limits, the area is mainly rural, dotted with attractive villages and hamlets. The larger, surrounding towns, like Braintree, South Woodham Ferrers and Maldon (pictured above) have a wide range of housing, from 2-bed bungalows through to large modern town-houses. The rivers and the sea have a large influence on the area and results in many water-based leisure activities being available.

Transport Links

Chelmsford has excellent transport links, with direct connections to London Liverpool Street, which is a mere 35-40 minutes away. The rest of East Anglia is well served with trains to Colchester, Ipswich and Diss and Norwich. The city is only a 15 minute drive from London's orbital motorway, the M25, with links to the south and west of the country. The M11 is 25 minutes away and will whisk you up to the midlands and the north, linking up with the A1(M). London’s Stansted Airport is just 25-30 minutes away by car.

The local bus service links the city with other most local towns and villages. The First Bus website, has a full range of route maps available.

Facilities

The city offers a large shopping centre with the well renowned Bond Street and a John Lewis.
There are numerous restaurants and bars and night life. Chelmsford also has an ice rink where the Chelmsford Chieftains play in the UK's Ice Hockey National League South Division 1.

The area is also served well with doctor surgeries and the modern, ever expanding Broomfield Hospital to the north of the city.

Chelmsford has many parks and green spaces within the city and around the periphery with rolling countryside surrounding the city. Hylands Park is a prestigious Grade II listed public park with over 570 acres. With many events and going on year round, it is a wonderful place to spend some free time. It is also home to the well-known annual Creamfields Festival.

Education

There are many schools, including highly regarded Grammar schools such as the King Edward VI and Chelmsford County High (both of which are in the national top 50 schools) within the Chelmsford area. There is also the well regarded Anglia Ruskin University in the city.

A great place to live for so many reasons

Whether a young commuter, growing families or the elderly, Chelmsford and the Essex towns and villages around, offer everything you require as well as providing a quality environment in which to live . Good transport links, great shopping and leisure facilities, outdoor space and all types of properties are accommodated for. There is a reason why Chelmsford was ranked as the 8th best place to live in the Channel 4’s programme, Location, Location, Location in 2008.

If you are considering purchasing in the area employ the local experts, Landview Surveyors. We have surveyors based in Essex and know the housing stock well and are able to conduct a survey appropriate to the property's age and condition with skill and expertise.