The Commuter Guide - Local information on house prices, property value and commuter access

INGATESTONE This is a village with small town pretensions and well over 4,000 inhabitants, many of them East Enders who have moved up and out. Its best features are a collection of 19th-century almshouses and the High Street, which is on a reassuringly human scale. A three-bedroom semi-detached will cost up to £380,000; a five-bedroom house in a smart address like Chantry Drive, £950,000. One of its greatest attractions is the Anglo-European School, to which parents send their children from all over Essex. Many of the passengers drive south to avoid the parking problems at Chelmsford, though they lose with one hand what they gain with the other because it is more difficult to get a seat at Ingatestone. Pony lovers like it because they can live this close to London and yet get out for a canter at weekends. Ingatestone Saddlery Centre supplies the kit.