Harold Wood

[vkcs22]

Hi All

Anyone know the area well?

Is it relatively safe? Any anti social behaviour/ thefts/ car vandalism? Any part I should avoid?

I'm considering the area as London is too expensive.

I just want somewhere quiet and safe. I'm not bothered about night life or shopping ( I have a car, so can drive to the nearest shopping mall easy).

[rubystone]

Question - Areas to avoid in Harold Wood?.....

Answer - the whole of Harold Wood...

Ask yourself why it's cheap...and then go to visit it.

I drove through Noak Hill the other day and noticed a lot of new housing there on the fringes of the council estate that makes up most of Harold Wood. If you were serious, I'd look that side of the area.

[tvrted]

Do not confuse Harold Wood which is east of the A12 and Harold Hill to the west. The "Hill" is not good but Harold Wood is better especially around Shepards Hill. Noak Hill area is the best part of the Hill.

[vkcs22]

Sorry, just to confirm. It is Harold Wood I'm talking about.

[rubystone]

Not sure East and West makes any difference....neither is a place I'd choose to live....It's a bit like the less salubrious part of Lougtton. When I were a lad that used to be called 'Debden' but for some reason it now seems to have been renamed 'Loughton'. Just as parts of Hainault now fall under 'Chigwell'...

Don't get me wrong, some of my family live in Harold Wood, Collier Row and Langdon Hills (that'll be Basildon to most of us) but when I visit them I always chose the Jeep...and even then I check every half an hour to make sure it's still there...

But the commute from Harold Wood into the City is, I'm told. easy...not sure I'd want to arrive back there too late at night though

[anonymous-user]

Nothing wrong with Langdon Hills, we had a small spate last year of people trying their luck, trying to get into unlocked cars, but in 14 years we have not had any other problems at all.

There have been no attempts to get into our cars other than this, so it's pretty safe. Parts of Laindon and Basildon are another matter, but it depends if you are in an ex-council 1960s build area with communal parking out of sight around the corner, or on a newer residential estate, so you can't assume a whole area is bad.

The Police had said it was worse in Billericay than Langdon Hills, as proper organised thieves were targeting more high end vehicles that people tend to have there.

Harold Wood was ok years ago (when I lived in Romford). Harold Hill however was once designated a deprived area under the "Single Regeneration Budget" SRB scheme. Harold Wood was not up there with Gidea Park or Emerson Park for desirability, but is better than parts of Romford, Collier Row, Elm Park and Harold Hill, the latter of which was mainly local authority housing.

Traffic may be a bit of a pain in rush hour, Ardleigh Green traffic lights can be rather busy.

One thing you would notice is travelling into town is that the Abelio Greater Anglia service to Liverpool Street is pretty ropey compared to C2C. C2C are far more reliable, is cheaper and have Air Conditioned trains with toilets

[chibbard]

tvrted said:

Do not confuse Harold Wood which is east of the A12 and Harold Hill to the west. The "Hill" is not good but Harold Wood is better especially around Shepards Hill. Noak Hill area is the best part of the Hill.

Haha,I was born on Harold Hill and spent my younger years growing up there. I remember my parents aspiring to live in Harold Wood and we even looked at a couple of houses there but never did buy one. I also used to work in Harold Wood for a few years (at Bates BMW of Harold Wood). In my opinion most of the area has merged into one toilet along with Romford etc. London is growing and growing and going back to Romford/Harold Hill/Harold Wood now feels like years ago as a kid going to Ilford (it has that dodgy feel to it). I live in Wickford now (further out of London) but Wickford and some surrounding places has a nice feel about it. Unfortunately, a few years from now London will catch up and ruin the place. But I will move far away/emigrate by then I suspect !!!! It's sad but that's the way the area is going !!!! PS Somebody said to me recently they live in London. When I asked where, she said Collier Row. Oh how I laughed but she was right, people consider it London now !!

[rubystone]

chibbard said:

Haha,I was born on Harold Hill and spent my younger years growing up there. I remember my parents aspiring to live in Harold Wood and we even looked at a couple of houses there but never did buy one. I also used to work in Harold Wood for a few years (at Bates BMW of Harold Wood). In my opinion most of the area has merged into one toilet along with Romford etc. London is growing and growing and going back to Romford/Harold Hill/Harold Wood now feels like years ago as a kid going to Ilford (it has that dodgy feel to it). I live in Wickford now (further out of London) but Wickford and some surrounding places has a nice feel about it. Unfortunately, a few years from now London will catch up and ruin the place. But I will move far away/emigrate by then I suspect !!!! It's sad but that's the way the area is going !!!! PS Somebody said to me recently they live in London. When I asked where, she said Collier Row. Oh how I laughed but she was right, people consider it London now !!

Pretty much sums up the area, sadly.

Re Billericay..yes, there was a targeted spree on 4x4s...pretty much anything high end and nearly new was fair game...and Billericay has its fair share of them!!!

[_Superleggera_]

As above if you are commuting into London the C2C line is much better for the commute.

[Grey Ghost]

_Superleggera_ said:

As above if you are commuting into London the C2C line is much better for the commute.

This is very true and the C2C line gives you access to the City and Docklands very easily.

OP, do you have a budget or need for anything specific that might allow a few of us to give you some pointers on possible areas to live ?

[trumptriple]

Lived in Harold Wood for 4 years, moved out 2 years ago. As has been said there is a difference between Harold Hill and Harold Wood. Never had any problems at all living there, car and motorbike always fine.

Getting to work was pretty good into Liverpool Street. Although we did rent in Upminster before that and the C2C line was much better. Nicer place to live too, but more expensive. Harold Wood will get Crossrail of course.

I did find it quite boring though, and we moved out after we had a kid and decided to go somewhere else before he started school. Since I left they have completed the new housing area on the old hospital site, so I've no idea how that has changed things. Traffic in Gubbins Lane was pretty bad sometimes anyway.

[vkcs22]

Thanks for your input guys!

[roofer]

Harold Wood is fine, Harold Hill a khazi.

And Wickford is. stehole.

[roscobbc]

Lived in Havering Borough most of my life. Can't disagree with some of the comments about Harold Hill - although a good many of the 'faces' from old will be oap's by now and the area is no worse than central Romford. Ever walked through Romford market and town centre during the day - not good. Irrespectively the eastern side of Harold Wood is OK'ish. Smarter buyers will understand that prices for properties close to Harold Wood Station have yet to rise significantly from the halo effect of being on the extended Crossrail route and that TFL's coverage now goes out as far as Brentwood. Try the eastern most outpost of London, just outside Upminster (still in LB of Havering) Cranham - easy access to Upminster District Line Tube/Fenchurch Street main line.

[PaulKemp]

Squirrels Heath road there are some good streets off that my mum still lives there surrounded by decent people
Ardleigh Green varies from quite good to millionaire
Other way across the A127 Wingletye lane
Drive down some streets less white vans more Mercedes you get the idea

Edited by PaulKemp on Monday 23 November 15:56