Harlow
Essex · East of England
Best for: Investors
Property & affordability
What can I get here?
£330,000
Typical property price
£207,750–£527,125
Range across property types
+3.7%
Price change, past year
£527,125
Detached
£415,000
Semi-detached
£327,000
Terraced
£207,750
Flat/apartment
Vs London: 35% cheaper than the London reference figure.
Recent movement: Up 3.7% over the past year.
Vs nearby: Cheaper than 94% of the other 18 Essex candidates in this dataset.
We don't hold per-bedroom price data for these towns - the figures above are the overall median and by property type, not broken down by bedroom count.
London commute
30 min
Fastest journey
92
Trains per day
Harlow Town
Station
London destination: London Liverpool Street
The reality: Well suited to a daily commute.
The verdict
Harlow ranks #21 of 80 in this dataset with a VillageScore of 56.5 (Grade B). It scores particularly well on Property & Value and Connectivity, making it a strong fit for the Investor profile in particular. Its weakest area is Risk & Safety (1.3/100 among the 80 candidates) - worth weighing against what matters most to you.
Why is Harlow #21?
56.5Data last updated: August 2026
top tier among the 80 candidates
Based on:
- 70% weight: property prices here compared with London prices (cheaper relative to London scores higher)
- 30% weight: one-year house price growth (stronger recent growth scores higher)
- Both figures are converted to a percentile rank across all 80 candidates before combining - the score is relative standing, not a raw price
top tier among the 80 candidates
Based on:
- 70% weight: fastest rail journey time to London from the nearest station
- 30% weight: number of trains per day on that route
- 32 of the 80 candidates have their own sourced station data; the other 48 inherit the figures for their nearest mainline station as a proxy, since a direct entry wasn't available for every location.
around the middle of the field
Based on:
- Average of 6 factors, each independently percentile-ranked: footpath access, green space access, and proximity to a supermarket, GP, pharmacy, and community facilities
- Distance-based factors are inverted so being closer scores higher
one of the weaker scores among the 80 candidates
Based on:
- Based on recorded crime per 1,000 population for the local authority this location sits in (lower crime scores higher)
- Calculated at local-authority level, not per-village - every town in the same local authority receives the same D4 score, even if their real-world feel differs street to street.
around the middle of the field
Based on:
- Average of 5 factors, each independently percentile-ranked: primary school quality, secondary school quality, distance to nearest primary school, distance to nearest secondary school, and family recreation provision
- Distance factors are inverted so being closer scores higher
comfortably above average
Based on:
- Weighted average of 6 named sub-components, by local authority: Housing Pipeline (25%), Planning Protection (20%), Infrastructure Investment (20%), Employment Growth (15%), Digital Infrastructure (10%), Climate Adaptation (10%)
- Housing Pipeline uses the government's Housing Delivery Test %; Planning Protection uses years of 5-year housing land supply
- Employment Growth uses ONS BRES employee jobs data (% change 2022-2024); Digital Infrastructure uses Ofcom's gigabit-capable broadband coverage %
- Climate Adaptation uses Environment Agency flood-risk scoring; Infrastructure Investment uses UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation per resident
- Calculated at local-authority level, like D4. Planning Protection specifically has no sourced figure for 2 of the 13 authorities (Broxbourne, Epping Forest) - their Future Change score is computed from the other 5 sub-components, reweighted to 100%.
Every dimension score (0-100) is itself a percentile rank among these same 80 candidates, not a raw measurement on a fixed scale. A score of 80 means "stronger than roughly 80% of these 80 locations on this factor" - not "80 out of 100" in absolute terms. Full methodology →
The good
- +Property & Value: top tier among the 80 candidates (81.6/100)
- +Connectivity: top tier among the 80 candidates (80.3/100)
- +Future Change: comfortably above average (67.6/100)
The bad
- −Risk & Safety: one of the weaker scores among the 80 candidates (1.3/100)
What it's actually like
Read off the same scores as the rest of this page, not local knowledge we hold about Harlow specifically.
The vibe: Leans toward longer-term buyers watching future value - its Future Change score (68/100) is one of its clearest strengths.
You'll probably love it if...
- ·You value property & value - it scores 82/100, among the strongest of the 80 candidates.
- ·You value connectivity - it scores 80/100, among the strongest of the 80 candidates.
- ·You value future change - it scores 68/100, among the strongest of the 80 candidates.
You might not like it if...
- ·Risk & Safety matters a lot to you - it scores 1/100, one of the weaker results in the dataset.
Who lives here: We don't hold demographic data directly, but the scoring pattern - particularly its Future Change score - suggests this location skews toward longer-term buyers watching future value. That's an inference from the scores, not a measured fact about who actually lives here.
Weekends: Lifestyle scores 46/100, around the middle of the field - a mix of some local amenities and some reliance on nearby towns.
Local amenities & green space
Real counts within a 5-mile radius, plus a sample of named pubs, cafes, and green spaces from OpenStreetMap - not a curated or rated recommendation list.
Pubs & dining: Around 18 pubs and 37 restaurants & cafes within 5 miles.
The Clock House (0.3 mi) · The William Aylmer (0.4 mi) · The Essex Skipper (0.6 mi) · The Phoenix (0.8 mi) · Skylight Restaurant at Harlow College (0.1 mi) · Waffles and More (0.3 mi) · Starbucks (0.4 mi) · Nando's (0.4 mi)
Shopping: 6 supermarkets and around 123 independent businesses (a proxy for local shops, not a shopping-centre count) within 5 miles.
Green space: 911.7 hectares of green space across 422 sites within 5 miles, including 6 registered parks & gardens.
Harlow Town Park (0.4 mi) · The Stow Recreation Ground (0.6 mi) · Glebelands Park (0.7 mi) · Blackbush Spring Park (0.7 mi) · Northbrooks Park (0.8 mi)
Named venues © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Risk & opportunity
Figures for the Harlow local authority area, not just Harlow itself - the same authority-level basis as Risk & Safety and Future Change above.
Risk
High flood risk - around 41,700 properties across the authority area (Environment Agency, 2024)
4.9 years of housing land supply - below the national 5-year benchmark
117% of target homes delivered over the last 3 years (Housing Delivery Test)
Future opportunity
+2.4% change in local jobs, 2022-2024 (ONS)
£10.41 per resident in UK Shared Prosperity Fund investment, 2022-25
89.5% of premises have access to gigabit-capable broadband
Doesn't cover transport dependency, named developments, or population trends - we don't hold real data on those for any of the 80 candidates.
Who it's best for
Best fit: the Investor profile scores highest here (68.2/100).
No persona profile scores notably low here relative to the other 79 candidates.
Similar locations
Closest VillageScore to Harlow, Essex candidates first.
Things to know before you view
- ·Risk & Safety is this location's weakest dimension (1.3/100 among the 80 candidates) - worth researching in more depth before committing.
- ·Risk & Safety and Future Change are calculated at local-authority level, not per-village - see "How we score it" below for what that means here.
- ·All dimension scores are percentile ranks among these 80 candidates, not absolute measurements - a lower score means relatively weaker within this specific list, not necessarily bad in absolute terms.
v2.0 Production · last updated 2026-08-21