Key Distances
Fastest Train to London: 33 mins
Distance to a Beach: 35 min drive (Leigh-on-Sea)
Distance to Nearest Major Airport: 38 mins on public transport (or 25 min drive)
Distance to Natural Parks and Wildlife: 20 min walk
Other Key Locations
Lakeside Shopping Centre: 5 min drive
IKEA: 10 min drive
Chafford Gorges Nature Park: 10 min drive
Travel Costs:
Full year rail ticket: £2,580
Monthly rail ticket for 2 days per week: £99
Intro
Since COVID has made workers operate from home, many believe these working habits are here to stay.
And with London still being an expensive place to live, first time buyers have been exploring options further away. If you only have to travel to the office twice a week, you might find that the longer commuting time is more bearable.
Purfleet is a classic example of this. It’s technically part of Thurrock located in Essex, but with the fast commuting options available many may mistake it for being part of London.
The Area
One of the biggest selling points of Purfleet is the amenities within easy reach.
Lakeside
The Lakeside Shopping Centre is a 5 minute drive from Purfleet. But Lakeside is not a normal shopping centre.
There are over 250 shops in the centre, 50 restaurants and many entertainment venues. There’s a 13 screen cinema in the complex, along with mini golf, a bowling alley and even a climbing wall.
Lakeside is perfect for doing a big shopping trip (if you are sick of ordering things from home) and can be an easy day out with the kids.
Other Retailers
Alongside the Lakeside there are other big name retailers in the area such as IKEA, B&Q and Costco.
Transport Links
London Bridge can be accessed in 40 mins
A key feature attracting many people to Purfleet is its ideal commuter links.
Trains
Purfleet station is on the C2C rail line, allowing fast access to West Ham, Limehouse and Fenchurch Street stations. The journey to Fenchurch street is typically around 30 minutes. This means that if you have a job in the City of London you could make a round trip to work in approximately 1 hour. London Bridge can be accessed in 40 mins, or a journey to Shepherd’s Bush (located in the other half of London) in just over an hour.
Given that there are some locations on the London underground network that take longer to get across London, these fast links are a huge selling point for the area.
Roads
If you prefer commuting by car to work, Purfleet has many options available. The immediate area hosts a large range of business parks that provide employment.
The wider Thurrock area has 3 international ports within driving distance that trade globally with other countries, even as far as Russia. The port of Tilbury (a 20 minute drive away) employs 20% of Thurrock’s working population, and with the large expansion plans this workforce is expected to grow.
There are also many logistics hubs that are based by Purfleet that provide employment. Some of the larger ones include Tesco, Amazon and Seabrook.
Holiday breaks
Purfleet is in comfortable reach of holiday transport links. The Eurotunnel link from the UK to France is within 1 hour of a car drive from Purfleet.
If a local beach holiday is something that you prefer more of, the beach town of Whitstable is a 50 minute drive away.
The town of Maidstone (Kent) is even closer for Purfleet residents, achievable in a 35 minute car journey. Here you can find castles, museums, public parks, festivals and even a gin distillery for tourists.
House prices
Prices in Purfleet have increased 16% in the last year, signalling growing interest from buyers.
Despite having great transport links, house prices have remained more affordable than other areas around London.
First time buyers have found that the savings they needed for buying a modest flat in the London area can stretch further and purchase a larger house with the same budget.
The current high value streets in the area in terms of house sales include Baton Close and Vellacott Close.
Flats
The current prices paid for flats in Purfleet are in the region of £186,000
Semi Detached
Semi detached homes are more expensive at £350,000
The prices for Purfleet property are much lower than the average first home price for a buyer in the London area (currently £489,000).
For many people, a bigger home gives them a better quality of life. It can be difficult raising a family from a small flat and a larger home can provide some much needed space.
But even if you decided that your first purchase was going to be a flat instead of a larger home, the lower price point offered in Purfleet makes this a possibility for first time buyers. Saving a 10% deposit can be achieved much earlier in Purfleet than trying to afford somewhere closer in Greater London.
It is worth noting that during the COVID period house prices in Purfleet have increased 16% in the last year, signalling growing interest from house buyers.
Future Developments
Having future development in an area can really help a town take off. Although some people don’t like their local surroundings changing, the simple fact is there is a shortage of housing and good quality developments can help to solve this.
Purfleet is part of the Thames Regeneration scheme – which
High House Production Park
Purfleet is about to welcome the High House Production Park to the region. This is a brand new creative space for the arts industry to develop in the area.
The park includes:
- The Backstage Centre – a world class training centre for the creative industry. Hosting everything from technical/ production practice, costume construction, hair & makeup design and the performing arts.
- Events spaces for meetings, conferences and workshops in grade II listed restored barns
- Royal Opera House set production space
- Acme studios – providing self contained studios for artists
There are further plans in the works to build an additional 90 studios for more artists.
Brexit Freeport
Tilbury and the wider Thames area is one of 8 ports in the UK selected to become a freeport. Freeports allow businesses to bring their goods into these zones without having to pay taxes or tariffs if they are later shipped to another country.
Freeports also have a wider benefit for the community. The companies that operate in the freeports will be able to pay less national insurance for workers that they employ. This should provide an additional incentive for growing companies to establish bases in these regions and help local employment.
If local employment in the area improves, this can result in the value of homes in the area also rising. And once you own a home, any increase in house prices can benefit you if you decide to sell later on.
New Town Centre
Thurrock Council have given initial planning permission for brand new £1.3bn town centre to be built in Purfleet. This is incredible news for the area, with the initial details as follows:
- A new town centre
- Medical centre
- Primary school
- 2,850 new homes
- A new rail station with a direct route into Fenchurch Street
- 1 million square feet of dedicated space for television and film production studios
- 50,000 new trees planted
The initial phases of the project look promising, with a significant proportion of homes planned for inclusion within the Shared Ownership scheme.
Are there any drawbacks?
We want to be transparent with any potential home buyers. So we’ve list some of the challenges of the Purfleet area below:
Lack of many high streets
Purfleet has historically been an important town for industrial work with its many ports and storage units. The town was primarily used for business activities instead of housing. This means that area didn’t need as many common high streets that other UK towns required for their local residents.
As the population of Purfleet increased, shops and amenities did become more established in the area. The classic example of this is the Lakeside shopping centre.
But these areas are usually housed in larger developments, and there still remains a lack of local shops on your doorstep within walking distance.
With the wider regeneration plans of the area underway – it is expected that more local shops will arrive in Purfleet in the coming years.
Less pedestrian friendly
There is no getting away from the fact that with its nearby motorways, business parks and busy ports Purfleet still remains more suited for business activities. This area is not meant to represent rural England, but it does have a fairly significant concrete footprint. Don’t expect to roam around sleepy streets when walking through the area.
The train links from the station are very good at connecting Purfleet to London and other areas. However if you decide to live in this area you probably will need a car to get around the main amenities.
Again – the new development scheme will significantly help this and is expected to provide a new town centre 1km long for strolling, jogging or even skipping.