Living in Romford

Romford is a traditional Essex market town absorbed into London, and it still has one of the region's biggest markets, held in the Market Place under a charter dating back to the thirteenth century. Around it, the town centre is a large shopping destination, with several shopping centres, including The Brewery, built on the site of the old Romford Brewery, and a wide range of chain stores and restaurants.

Unusually for outer London, Romford has a genuine night-time economy. South Street and the surrounding roads are lined with bars, clubs and pubs that draw crowds from across east London and Essex, particularly at weekends, which can make the centre busy and noisy late at night.

Romford station has Elizabeth line trains to Liverpool Street, Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street, taking around thirty minutes to Liverpool Street, and faster Greater Anglia services reach Liverpool Street in around twenty minutes. The Overground runs south to Upminster. Buses serve the wider suburbs, and many residents drive; the town is ringed by a busy road.

Havering is one of London's greenest boroughs. Raphael Park and Lodge Farm Park are close to the centre, and larger country parks, including Bedfords Park and Havering Country Park, lie to the north. Housing is mainly interwar semi-detached houses, Victorian terraces, bungalows and modern flats close to the centre, often with gardens, and rents sit near the bottom of the London range. Romford suits families and people who want space, value, a large town centre and a real nightlife scene, and who are comfortable with a long commute to central or west London.