The Essex area home to chocolate box cottages and gorgeous countryside ideal for commuters

Five Essex towns have seen huge spikes in popularity over the past 12 months
-Credit: (Image: Colin Bell)


An Essex district with chocolate box cottages and gorgeous countryside views is also home to the county's highest rising rental properties. The cost of renting has increased across the whole county but in Uttlesford prices are rising faster than anywhere else.

Uttlesford is home to plenty of quaint towns and villages including the likes of Thaxted, Great Dunmow and more. The medieval town of Saffron Walden boasts pretty chocolate box-style cottages and it's own traditional market.

Thaxted, nestled peacefully within open countryside, has been left mostly untouched with plenty of natural beauty to explore. Winding cobbled steps, historic architecture and a beautiful windmill makes it feel as though visitors are stepping back in time to a fairy-tale land.

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According to the latest set of figures from the Office for National Statistics, the average monthly cost of rent is £1,205 - the eighth lowest of Essex's 14 districts. But the cost of rent has increased by 10.3 per cent compared to last year - the highest rate across the county.

But the slightly cheaper cost of rent makes Uttlesford an ideal place for commuters to consider. Thousands of new homes could be built in Uttlesford over the coming years with proposals for as many as 14,741 new homes to be built between 2021 and 2041.

Audley End, Newport and Elsenham are three stations not too far from Saffron Walden that are all served by Greater Anglia with frequent trains into London Liverpool Street. It's a journey that takes around an hour by train.

People renting homes in England paid an average of £1,327 a month in the year to August, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. In Scotland the average home costs £969 a month to rent, and in Wales £752 a month. No figures are available for Northern Ireland.

It means rents have gone up by an average of 8.5% over the course of the year in both England and Wales, and by 7.6% in Scotland. Rent hikes have been particularly high in London, having risen 9.6% over the course of the last year.

Rents are also up by 9.2% In the North West, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. In the South east they’re up 7.7% year-on-year, in the East of England by 7.6%, in Yorkshire and the Humber by 7.0%, and in the North East by 6.7%. You can see how much rents have gone up in your local area by using our interactive map.