Living in Romford: area guide to homes, schools and transport links
First off the block is likely to be a joint venture between the local council, Havering, and developer First Base, on the Bridge Close site that sits on the edge of the town centre between Waterloo Road and the River Rom. The plan is to build 840 new homes, a health centre, a school and commercial workspaces.
Proposals include a new bridge across the Rom to improve access to the station, where the forecourt is getting a £1.4 million facelift ahead of the much-anticipated arrival of the Elizabeth line in December.
As estate agent Max Harding from local firm Balgores says, Romford is coming up in the world. This is in no small part thanks to young entrepreneur Sarah Walters, who in a few short years has gone from jotting down her ideas in a notebook in her bedroom to managing a creative agency employing 16 people.
In those years her agency, called Made Public, has commissioned leading street artists including Eine —former prime minister David Cameron gave an example of his work to Barack Obama; revitalised The Quadrant, a tired shopping arcade, by encouraging start-up businesses include Lockie’s Kitchen opened by Towie star James Lock, and put on street theatre festivals and music and comedy events.
The Retailery in Market Place is Sarah’s small business hub. Home to a buzzy café, independent restaurants and a not-for-profit bar, it also acts as a shop window for creative launches, a live music venue, and in the basement is an entrepreneurial “incubator” where start-ups can develop their ideas.
Sarah, 30, says: “I went to Goldsmiths to do Fine Art and History of Art and there they drill into you that art is for everyone, so after graduating in 2009 I came back to Romford, my home town, and asked myself the question, ‘Where will I find everyone?’ And back came the answer — in the town centre.”
Romford is close to the A12 London to Lowestoft road. It is 16 miles north-east of central London with Chigwell and Brentford to the north, Hornchurch and Upminster to the east, Dagenham to the south and Ilford to the west.
The property scene
With plenty of Thirties semis, Romford also has Victorian terrace houses built when it first became a commuter town with the arrival of the railways in 1839. Many modern flats have been built in recent years.
Typical three-bedroom Thirties semis range from £400,000 to £650,000. Romford’s most expensive houses are in Gidea Park, where Romford Garden Suburb was planned in 1911 and more than 100 architects designed homes in the Arts and Crafts style.
These are often called “The Exhibition Houses” and four are currently for sale, priced from £825,000 to £1,495,000.
A later Gidea Park development, The Modern Homes Exhibition, was added in 1934 and 1935, mostly in Modern Movement style including one in Heath Drive by Tecton, the firm of architects led by Berthold Lubetkin.
What's new?
Kings Park by Countryside is a development of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in St Clements Avenue near Harold Wood station, which is due to get the Elizabeth line in December.
One-bedroom flats start at £285,000, with two-bedroom homes from £365,000 and three-bedroom penthouses priced from £575,000. Visit kings-park.co.uk or call 01708 348578 for more information.
Clermont Place in Manor Road is a development of nine four- and five-bedroom houses. All but one of them are built in a contemporary style — the odd one out has been built in keeping with the Victorian properties close to it.
Four-bedroom houses start at £640,000, with five-bedroom houses at £775,000. Through estate agents William H Brown. Call 01708 764418 for more.
New Enterprise Court in High Road, Chadwell Heath is an office-to-residential development of 83 one- and two-bedroom flats that are ready to move into now.
Fifteen remain for sale, with prices ranging from £290,000 to £340,000. Through estate agents Balgores. Call 01708 755507 for details.
Tara Court on Southend Arterial Road in Gidea Park is a development of eight flats that are almost ready to move into. Three flats remain on the market, with prices starting at £300,000. Call Haart on 01708 762384.
Affordable
Countryside is holding a Help to Buy event this weekend, February 17 and 18, at Kings Park in Harold Wood (as before).
Renting
Romford has three times as many homes to buy than homes to let, although Balgores estate agent Max Harding says the town is becoming increasingly popular with buy-to-let investors who see the opportunity provided by the arrival of Crossrail.
Two thirds of all Romford rental homes are flats and most are in new-build blocks, with prices ranging from about £725 a month for a one-bedroom home to £1,550 a month for a three-bedroom apartment.
Staying power
Local estate agent Max Harding says the unaffordability of homes in more central areas of London is driving people out to the suburbs and Romford is benefiting.
Postcode
The town centre falls into RM1 and RM7. The most desirable postcode is RM2 which covers Gidea Park. Harold Wood is RM3 and Chadwell Heath is RM6.
Best roads
Anywhere in Gidea Park.
Up and coming
Max Harding says the whole of Romford is still relatively affordable.
Travel
Romford is on the Shenfield to Liverpool Street line which was taken over by Transport for London Rail from Abellio Greater Anglia in 2015. Trains to Liverpool Street take half an hour and run every few minutes.
The line will form part of the Elizabeth line when it is launched in stages from December. There will be all-through services to the West End, with trains to Bond Street taking 34 minutes and trains to Heathrow airport in 62 minutes.
Romford also has Overground trains to Upminster where commuters can pick up the District line Tube. Gidea Park, Harold Hill and Chadwell Heath are nearby stations on the Shenfield to Liverpool Street line.
Romford, Gidea Park and Harold Hill are in Zone 6 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £2,492. Chadwell Heath is in Zone 5 and an annual travelcard costs £2,328.
Council
No party has overall control of Havering council. The Conservatives are the largest group, with residents association councillors holding the balance of power. Band D Council tax for 2017/2018 is £1,597.73.
Lifestyle
Shops and restaurants
Most major high street brands are represented and there is a Debenhams department store. Romford has an ancient market dating from the 13th century. It is based in Market Place and is held on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Romford’s busy nightlife scene sees clubbers flocking to Fiction, Kosho, Yates and newcomer Imperium 38.
Open space
Romford is well supplied with parks small and large, including two nearby country parks — Havering Country Park in Havering-atte-Bower, and Hainault Forest Country Park.
Raphael Park in Gidea Park has a landscaped garden by Sir Humphry Repton — March 2018 marks the bicentenary of the great designer’s death — and there are herds of red deer and Red Poll Cattle in Bedfords Park, Broxhill Road, Havering-atte-Bower.
Leisure and the arts
The big leisure news is the recent opening of Sapphire Ice & Leisure in Western Road by Dancing on Ice star Ray Quinn and BBC sports presenter and former Olympian Colin Jackson.
The centre has an ice rink that is now home to the London Raiders ice hockey team, plus a swimming pool and gym.
Brookside Theatre in Eastern Road is a rescued Fifties war memorial hall, where now there is a mixed programme including musicals, plays, live music, comedy and tribute bands.
Premiere Cinemas in The Mercury Mall has a flat-rate ticket price of £4. Vue in The Brewery centre is a 16-screen multiplex cinema.
Schools
Primary school
All but three of Romford’s many primary schools are rated “good” or better by Ofsted.
The “outstanding” primary schools are: St Peter’s RC in Dorset Avenue; Warren Juniors (ages seven to 11) in Gordon Road, Chadwell Heath; St Ursula’s RC Juniors in Straight Road; St Mary’s Hare Park in South Drive in Gidea Park and Broadford in Faringdon Avenue, Harold Hill.
Concordia Academy, a new primary Free School, opened in 2016 and has yet to be inspected by the education watchdog. It is currently based at Langtons Junior Academy in Westland Avenue in Hornchurch but it is getting a new building in Union Road, Romford.
Atam Academy (co-ed ages three to 18) in Redbridge College, Little Heath, is a Sikh state all-through school which opened last September with an intake of first-year primary school children; a nursery and secondary school will open in September this year and a new building is being provided on a site at Redbridge College. The school has not yet been inspected by Ofsted.
Comprehensive
There is a wide choice of secondary schools in and around Romford.
The following are rated “outstanding”: Sacred Heart of Mary RC (girls, ages 11 to 18) in St Mary’s Lane, Upminster; Chadwell Heath Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Christie Gardens, and Hall Mead (co-ed, 11 to 16) in Marlborough Gardens in Upminster.
Rated “good” are: Frances Bardsley Academy (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Brentwood Road; Royal Liberty School (boys, ages 11 to 16) in Upper Brentwood Road; Abbs Cross (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Abbs Cross Lane, Hornchurch; The Warren School (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Whalebone Lane North in Chadwell Heath; Redden Court (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Cotswold Road in Harold Wood; Emerson Park Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Wych Elm Road in Hornchurch; Drapers’ Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Settle Road in Harold Park; The Coopers’ Company & Coborn (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in St Mary’s Lane in Upminster, and Gaynes School (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Brackendale Gardens, also Upminster.
Grammar
Nearby Redbridge council has two grammar schools: Ilford County High for boys in Barkingside and Woodford County High for girls in Woodford Green.
Further education
With a number of comprehensive schools finishing at age 16 there is a demand for further education colleges. The following are rated “good”: Barking & Dagenham College (co-ed, ages 16-plus) in Dagenham Road; Havering College (co-ed, 16 plus) in Ardleigh Green Road in Hornchurch and Redbridge College (co-ed 14 plus) in Little Heath which recently merged with Tower Hamlets College and Hackney Community College under the New City College umbrella. It is now one of the largest such colleges in London.
Private
Private schools are: Raphael Independent (co-ed, ages three to 16) in Park Lane in Hornchurch; Goodrington (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Walden Road, Hornchurch, and Immanuel School (co-ed, ages three to 16) in Havering Road, which is a Christian private school.