Real Estate

The Essex border spot where commuters are guaranteed a rush-hour seat


Tube passengers know Upminster as the name on the front of District line trains that make their way north-east through tough Barking and industrial Dagenham before emerging in the leafy suburbs on the border of the Essex countryside.

 

Families move to Upminster for a gentler pace of life, parks and open green spaces, good schools, an easy commute both by train and the Underground, and Thirties houses that are adaptable to modern family life.

 

Upminster’s not-so-distant rural past has left its mark, with one of London’s few remaining windmills, currently undergoing restoration; a large 15th-century tithe barn, now used as a museum displaying  agricultural equipment; a collection of period buildings in what was once the isolated village of Corbets Tey to the south of the town centre; a medieval manor house that belonged to Henry VIII’s fixer, Thomas Cromwell, and is now home to the local golf club, and an 18th-century vicar who improved on the work of Isaac Newton.

 

William Derham, rector of Upminster from 1689 until his death in 1735, was a busy scientist, a member of the Royal Society and publisher of many scientific books and papers.

 

His most famous work, an improved measurement of the speed of sound, was published in 1709. It followed experiments using a 16ft telescope mounted in the tower of the parish Church of Saint Laurence, measuring the flash of distant shots fired from various points around the Upminster neighbourhood.

 

Havering, the local council, is unusual in that while it is Conservative-run, powerful residents’ groups prevent it from having overall control. The two Upminster wards have six councillors from the Upminster and Cranham Residents Association.

 

The association is currently campaigning against a plan by Mercury Land Holdings, the council’s own development company, to build 48 new homes on Upminster’s mini-golf course in Hall Lane, and against the removal of 30-minute free parking and increased parking charges, which it claims will put people off using the town centre.

 

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Development came late to Upminster, only starting in earnest after the arrival of what became the District line in 1902 (Daniel Lynch)

Estate agent Terry Holmes, a director of Beresfords, says the area has hardly changed in 30 years.

 

“This is the charm of the place.  There may be a few name changes on the shops in the high street but there has been very little development, only a few infills and small blocks of modern flats, and that’s about it.”

 

He says Upminster has one foot in London, the other in the countryside, but the easy commute is important to a lot of buyers who move out to the district from east London.

 

“There are trains to Fenchurch Street for the City and being the last stop on the District line guarantees a seat to work in the morning rush hour.”

 

He also points to the Overground service to Romford, which will connect with Crossrail when the Elizabeth line opens and is set to provide a huge boost to the area.

 

Upminster is within the M25 but only just; it is 23 miles by road north-east of central London with Harold Wood, Romford and Brentwood to the north; open countryside to the east; South Ockenden to the south and Hornchurch to the west.

 

The property scene

Development came late to Upminster, only starting in earnest after the arrival of what became the District line in 1902.

 

There are some Edwardian and Twenties detached and semi-detached houses in roads close to the town centre off Hall Lane, with those overlooking Upminster Golf Club and Ingrebourne Valley the most sought after.

 

The most expensive home currently for sale is a detached five-bedroom house in Ashburnham Gardens, priced £1,825,000. A four-bedroom detached house in The Fairway nearby is on the market for £1.4million.

 

A four-bedroom semi in Waldegrave Gardens is on the market for £875,000.

 

Thirties detached and semi-detached houses predominate. The best examples, including some in the mock Tudor style, are south of the town centre in the Springfield and Gaynes estates off Corbets Tey Road.

 

Many of these houses are now being extended to provide generous ground-floor modern living spaces. There are later Fifties and Sixties houses in the Upminster Park Estate, known locally as the “rivers estate”, with roads named after rivers such as Avon Road, Severn Drive and Trent Avenue.

 

Bungalows are scattered throughout the area and prices range from £400,000 for a two-bedroom bungalow in Derby Avenue to £950,000 for a four-bedroom bungalow in Clay Tye Road. Detached bungalows offer the potential to add an extra floor to create a chalet-style house.

 

There are also modern blocks of flats, with those close to the station popular with first-time buyers and commuters.

 

New-build homes

With the exception of a proposed scheme on Upminster’s mini-golf course, there are few new homes developments.

 

Two new four-bedroom houses in Foxhall Road, built in a traditional style by local builder Haverbridge Homes, are for sale priced £874,995. Constable Mews, off St Marys Lane, is a scheme of eight three-bedroom detached houses, priced at £650,000.

 

Contact Balgores for both (01708 259539).

 

Rental homes

Upminster is not busy with rentals and there are seven times more homes to buy than to rent. Two-bedroom flats in modern blocks start at about £1,000 a month, with three-bedroom bungalows at £1,400 a month and three-bedroom terrace houses at £1,450.

 

The most expensive house available to rent now is a four-bedroom period home in rural Folkes Lane, at £3,000 a month.

 

Staying power

There is an active local market with a lot of trading up and trading down, with the ready supply of bungalows the obvious buy for downsizers.

 

Postcode

RM14 is the Upminster postcode.

 

Best roads

The roads off Hall Lane such as The Fairway, Holden Way, Ashburnham Gardens are north of the town centre and a short walk from the station.

 

Up and coming

Beresfords agent Terry Holmes says people who don’t depend on the daily commute can take advantage of cheaper house prices in areas furthest from the station, such as on the Upminster Park Estate.

 

Travel

Upminster is next to junction 29 on the M25. From Upminster station there are trains to Fenchurch Street for the City taking around 25 minutes.

 

The station and Upminster Bridge are the last two most easterly stations on the District line, with Underground trains to central London.

 

There are also Overground trains from Upminster and Emerson Park to Romford.  All stations are in Zone 6 and an annual travelcard costs £2,568.

 

Council

Havering council is Conservative run but without overall control. Band D council tax in 2018/2019 is £1,658.06.

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Upminster has a pretty town centre, especially in the spring when the cherry trees and the strip of spring bulbs at the edge of Upminster Park are in flower (Daniel Lynch)

Shops and restaurants

Upminster has a pretty town centre, especially in the spring when the cherry trees and the strip of spring bulbs at the edge of Upminster Park are in flower. The centre is along Corbets Tey Road, Station Road and St Marys Lane.

 

For such a small town, Upminster is remarkable for having its own department store, Roomes, established in 1888. There are two Roomes shops, both in Station Road — the department store and Roomes Furniture & Interiors.

 

There are also branches of Waitrose, Aldi, which has recently reopened after a facelift, and Iceland. Chain restaurants include Pizza Express and Prezzo.

 

There are independent cafés and restaurants including Sweet Rose Cakery for afternoon tea; Healthy Roots for vegetarian and vegan options; and The Station Pantry opposite the station. Osteria Due Amici is the local Italian restaurant and LEFKE is a traditional Turkish grill restaurant.

 

 

Open space

The two town centre parks are Upminster Park and Clockhouse Gardens. Upminster Park, a Green Flag park in St Marys Lane, has a children’s playground with a nearby refreshment kiosk; tennis courts; football, cricket and hockey pitches; table tennis and an outdoor gym.

 

Clockhouse Gardens, also in St Marys Lane, is an ornamental garden with a medieval moat, originally laid out in the 18th century as a garden for New Place, a house demolished in 1924.

 

Parklands, in Park Farm Road and Corbets Tey Road at the southern end of Upminster, was once part of the Gaynes Estate. It is lightly wooded with a popular fishing lake. A listed 18th-century bridge over the lake has recently been restored.

 

Lovely walks can be had in Ingrebourne Valley, a local nature reserve that runs between Hornchurch and Upminster. There is a visitors’ centre, run by the Essex Wildlife Trust, in Hornchurch Country Park on the former Hornchurch Airfield.

 

Leisure and the arts

Upminster is an outdoorsy sort of place with lots of sports clubs.

 

Upminster Golf Club in Hall Lane describes itself as “one of the top private members golf clubs in Essex” and also hosts the Upminster Bowls Club.

 

There are two tennis clubs: Grosvenor Lawn Tennis Club in Grosvenor Gardens and Cranston Park Lawn Tennis Club in Coniston Avenue. Upminster Cricket Club and Upminster Hockey Club are both based in Upminster Park.

 

Queen’s Theatre in Billet Lane in nearby Hornchurch is a 500-seat producing theatre and the nearest cinemas are in Romford.

 

The nearest council-owned swimming pool is at Hornchurch Sports Centre in Harrow Lodge Park in Hornchurch.

Primary schools

All the local state primary schools get a “good” Ofsted rating. One of the most popular is Upminster in St Mary’s Lane, where the Infants’ School gets an “outstanding” rating and the Junior School is rated “good”.

 

Comprehensive 

The Coopers’ Company and Coborn School (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in St Marys Lane is a multi-faith state comprehensive which dates back to 1536, moving to Upminster in 1971.

 

The school is very popular and still takes a few pupils each year from near its former home in Bow.

 

Religious observance of a world faith, ie Christianity, Judaism , Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism, is the key criteria for admission with a further 10 pupils each year accepted on aptitude for sport and another 10 on aptitude for music. The school is judged to be “good”.

 

Terry Holmes says children from north of the town centre generally attend Hall Mead (co-ed, age 11 to 16) in Marlborough Gardens, rated “outstanding”, and those from south of the town centre attend Gaynes School (co-ed, ages 11 to 17) in Brackendale Gardens, which in February last year was judged to be “inadequate” by Ofsted and has now converted to an academy run by the local Loxford School Trust.

 

Sacred Heart of Mary RC (girls, ages 11 to 18) in St Marys Lane is “outstanding”; the boys’ Catholic school is The Campion School (ages 11 to 18) in Wingletye Lane in Hornchurch, also “outstanding”

 

Higher education 

Havering Sixth Form College (co-ed, ages 16 to 18), also in Wingletye Lane, is rated “good”.

 

Private 

There is one private primary school in Upminster itself — Oakfields Montessori (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Harwood Hall Lane.

 

Nearest private schools outside the area are St Mary’s Hare Park (co-ed, ages two to 11) in South Drive, Romford; Raphael Independent (co-ed, ages three to 16) in Park Lane, Hornchurch, and high-achieving Brentwood School (co-ed, three to 18) in Middleton Hall Lane in Brentwood.

 



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