Hopkins Homes, Hopkins Homes at Beaulieu

Beaulieu is one of the most ambitious and best-delivered new communities in the country. It has 176 acres of parkland, its own train station with direct services to London Liverpool Street, an Ofsted Outstanding all-through school that opened ahead of schedule, a working square with shops and cafés, and established streets that already feel lived-in rather than just built. The infrastructure that most new developments promise and few deliver is genuinely here.

Hopkins Homes at Beaulieu are built to match the quality of the setting. These are three, four and five-bedroom homes with traditional brick detailing, considered architecture and the kind of specification you'd expect to have to pay to upgrade elsewhere: Roca sanitaryware, Haier double ovens with air fry cooking, quartz worktops to five-bedroom homes, sliding fitted wardrobes to the principal bedroom, air source heat pumps with underfloor heating to the ground floor, and full flooring throughout included as standard. Nothing is an afterthought.

The homes are also built the right way. That means handpicked materials, attention paid to how each street looks from the outside as well as how each room works from the inside, and the craftsmanship that comes from a builder who is rated Excellent on Trustpilot and takes it seriously. At this price point, the details matter. They're here.

Chelmsford itself has been named the best place to live in the East of England for 2025 by The Sunday Times, a city with a genuine centre, good retail, restaurants and a river, without the cost or congestion of London. Beaulieu Park station puts London Liverpool Street around 35 minutes away by direct train, and the A12 keeps you connected to the wider county. Stansted Airport is 17 miles away. For families, the choice of education is exceptional: Bright Horizons nursery in Beaulieu Square, a primary school directly opposite the development, The Beaulieu Park School (Essex's first all-through school, rated Outstanding), and the independent New Hall School all within easy reach.