Living in Epping – Moving to the Essex Market Town

Are you thinking of living in Epping?

This Essex market town is the ideal spot for a multitude of different buyers looking at buying in living in the Essex area.

Living in Epping offers locals superb transport connections to surrounding towns and the capital.

Alongside excellent links to the capital, living in Epping also provides locals with easy access to a range of rural locations.

Relocating to a new area is never simple.

Before you start organising your move, it is important to gather as much information about an area as you can.

If you are thinking of living in Epping, this is the perfect article for you!

We hope to provide you with some great tips, ideal for those looking to move to the area.

Discussing everything from property prices to the best schools in the area, we aim to provide you with a thorough guide to the area.

If you are thinking of living in Epping, this is our complete moving guide to the Essex town.

House Prices in Epping

Like many towns around surrounding London, homes for sale are in high demand in Epping and are being snapped up by many who want to leave the city for more space and a calmer lifestyle.

Despite there being just 72 homes on the market Epping has a diverse property portfolio, from large multi-million-pound homes to new builds and first-time buyer properties.

That said, the most readily available properties taking up a share of three quarters of homes for sale currently are houses.

The centre of town has a range of Victorian and Edwardian semi-detached and terrace houses, and these are very sought after when they come on the market.

Price wise, the average cost paid to purchase a home during September 2021 is £598,228. Expensive but cheaper by hundreds of thousands compared to London’s astronomical housing prices.

At the low end of the market, you can purchase a one-bedroom apartment from £239,995.

Two-bedroom homes start from £300,000 and if you are moving to Epping with a family then you need to budget for around £450,000 for a larger three bed property.

Renting in Epping

With three times more homes available to buy than there are to rent in Epping, the choice for renters is extremely restricted making rentals very hard to come by.

Zoopla are advertising just 6 lettings as of 1^st September 2021.

Currently there are no one bed homes for lease with two bedrooms costing around £1466 per month and three-bedroom homes start at £1732 per month.

Cost of Living

Is it expensive to live in Epping?

Considering the fact that leafy Epping is a swift and easy 30-minute journey from central London’s more expensive locations, the benefit is that resident’s enjoy cheaper property prices and lower rents, hence its growing popularity.

However, Epping is still a commuter town, and still relatively expensive when compared to other locations across the UK.

According to Payscale, the average annual earnings in Epping is currently around £25,000. (www.payscale.com/research/UK/Location=Epping-England%3A-Essex/Salary).

Many workers who commute from Epping might earn high wages in the city.

However, a large number are just ordinary people working locally with lower incomes struggling to make ends meet.

Unfortunately, since Britain opted to leave the EU, we have all been subjected to having to pay higher prices for imported goods including food, electrical goods, fuel, and clothing.

If you’re right up against it at the end of each month, attempting to save money might seem impossible.

But you will be surprised at how little changes can make a big difference.

Some expenses are difficult to change such as mortgage repayments or rent, but other outgoings can be reduced.

The first step is to keep a daily “spend diary”. Knowing exactly how much you are spending and what you are spending it on is crucial.

Here are a few top tips to get you started:

• Use cash for groceries on a weekly basis. Give yourself a limit and stick to it. It is a strange phenomenon, but when you see your cash going down it really makes you question your purchase. What is left at the end of the week can go into a jar to pay for outings etc.
• Epping sits on the far outskirts of the Central line. Save on your transport costs by either walking a mile or two to another station or cycling a few miles. Obviously being closer means cheaper rail fare.
• Plan your meals, do a list, and don’t deviate from it. Shop at cheaper stores such as Iceland, Aldi, and Home Bargains. The large Tesco superstore in Epping has weekly offers across a huge selection of groceries.
• If you do use a debit card, try to use one with a round up app. Plenty of banks offer this service. By rounding up to the nearest pound the remainder goes into a savings account automatically without you having to do a thing.
• Move any credit card dept you may have to a 0% interest free account. It is really easy to do. Money Supermarket is helpful with this (moneysupermarket.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer).
• Similarly, shop around for the best deals on gas and electric. Changing energy providers is something many are reluctant to do but, it can potentially save you hundreds of pounds. Visit Compare the Market, (comparethemarket.com/ps/energy/) and see how much you could shave from your bill.

These are just several small ways to help you with your cost-cutting.

There are many more ideas to implement effective budget control.

These will, in turn, ensure that you get the most out of your very hard-earned wages when you live in Epping.

Transport Links

One of the most attractive attributes of Epping is its very convenient travel links.

There is a good selection of regular bus routes offering services to many of the surrounding towns and villages around Epping.

Sitting very near to the junction of the M11 and M25 makes travel by car pretty simple.

Though it can be a little congested at peak times.

The M25 presents access all over the south of the UK and beyond.

For those commuting into the city centre via train, the local Epping railway station has services to Bank (30 minutes) and Oxford Circus (45 minutes).

Sitting in Zone 6 at the end of the Central Line, a season ticket for Epping will cost in the region of £2000.

A purchase well worth making if you travel daily into London.

The closest airport is London Luton, (36 miles) with Gatwick (45 miles) and Heathrow being a journey of 62 miles.

Best Schools in Epping

Epping and surrounding areas are served by a total of 38 state primary schools.

There are a further six independent primary schools and three special schools which take primary age pupils.

There are six secondary state schools in the district.

Out of these only Davenant Foundation School, and West Hatch High School have sixth forms.

Epping Forest College is the only other state facility for pupils from 16-19 years.

There are a further three independent private schools in the district, two of which (Chigwell School and Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College) have sixth forms.

The three highest performing schools as per the latest round of inspections are Chigwell School, Davenant Foundation School and Debden Park High School.

More information on researching and finding good schools serving the Epping area is available via the Schools Guide.

Things to do in Epping

Living in Epping provides locals with plenty of attractions and local amenities to draw visitors to the area.

One of which is the town’s location on the northern edge of Epping Forest, London’s largest area of open space with more than 6,000 acres of woodland.

Epping forest offers various leisure pursuits, including walking, running, cycling, horse riding, angling, football, golf and more!

The forest is now owned by a charity and managed by the City of London and Epping residents are particularly proud of it.

Epping also has a solid reputation for fine dining and plays host to a number of highly-rated restaurants.

The George and Dragon pub and restaurant is a unique setting with its traditional Georgian exterior contrasting sharply with its contemporary and traditional décor.

The outside courtyard is the perfect spot for a pre-dinner tipple or replenishing beverage.

Ready to Start Living in Epping?

Are you thinking of living in Epping?

You have already made a great choice!

Epping is an excellent location with a choice of good value properties, meaning there is surely a great home for you.

GoodMove will make your move to Epping a smooth and simple process.

We take great pleasure in ensuring your move runs efficiently and effortlessly, helping you to arrive at your new home in no time at all.

As well as our competitively priced removals package, we can also provide extra services such as short-term or long-term storage should you need it.

GoodMove cover all areas of Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex and our friendly estimators can call round at a convenient time for you and strategically plan your move to perfection.

During these exceptional times, GoodMove are also offering a new video survey service.

Using our new technology, we can gather all the information required to assist with your move, from the comfort of your home!

Video surveys will help you save valuable time and go a long way to maintaining the best safety levels.

Find out more about how we could get you moving to Epping or any other location by calling the number listed above.

Alternatively, fill out a quick quote form or click on our live bot in the bottom right and a member of our customer services team will be in touch shortly.