Crawley and around

jonewer

Moved to Redhill about 18months ago.

Its a pretty good balance between commuting convenience, provincial market town, close to countryside, and good house prices.

The trains go to both Victoria and London Bridge which is excellent. Town centre suffered horrifically in the early 80's as the old market hall was demolished and the ugly thing was erected in a crass act of architectural vandalism. The main problem with the town centre is that the local pond life tend to sit under the covered area with their weapon dogs, spitting and smoking and shouting obscenities at each other. That said, it is due to be re-developed so fingers crossed.

The plus side of this however is that said pond life leave everywhere else alone and there's some really good pubs just outside the centre. In fact if you avoid the town centre you need not see a chav at all!

From the point of view of value for money, for the price of an identikit 2.5 bedroom 30's semi in Orpington we got a 4 double bed 2 bath semi with detached double garage/annex block and drive through car port. And a sauna!

Lots of good Victorian housing stock and some really very nice roads in the Grovehill/Blackborough Rd. area.

Redhill isnt perfect but its a better compromise than anywhere else we could afford.

propertyman

schoolrunmum wrote: »

Another vote for East Grinstead here....why not think of Copthorne/Crawleydown/Turners Hill/Felbridge areas?

why think of Copthorne/Crawleydown/Turners Hill/Felbridge areas ?:rotfl:

I know there are houses there, I have often flown over them. :eek:

propertyman

jonewer wrote: »

Town centre suffered horrifically in the early 80's as the old market hall was demolished and the ugly thing was erected in a crass act of architectural vandalism.

That said, it is due to be re-developed so fingers crossed.

You know when you are getting old when the town centre redevelopment is getting re developed

jonewer wrote: »

Lots of good Victorian housing stock and some really very nice roads in the Grovehill/Blackborough Rd. area.

But being built on greensand clay, you have to make sure its not one of the not so few that have tried to walk down the hill to catch a train......

jonewer

propertyman wrote: »

But being built on greensand clay, you have to make sure its not one of the not so few that have tried to walk down the hill to catch a train......

Really? I spoke to a local surveyor who said the only real problems in the area were drains..... Now you have me worried though! As it is I spend about 30mins a day scrutinising bricks for cracks.....

JodyBPM

abankerbutnotafatcat wrote: »

We're in Earlswood and think we have the best of both worlds - 6 minute walk to Earlswood train station Monday to Friday to work (and it's before Redhill so you've got a good chance of a seat!!) and then a 25 minute walk (up a steep hill, propertyman!!!) on the weekends to the coffee bars etc of Reigate.

Ditto this, we're in Earlswood too, and the commute from Earlswood station is convenient, and you usually can get a seat. If we socialise, or want to spend an afternoon moseying around shops, we head to Reigate. I would say we rarely go into Redhill town centre unless we're popping into Sainsburys.

Another thing to be said for Earlswood is that the infant school is fantastic, not only does it have an Outstanding oftsted rating, but as a parent of children there, I truely can't fault it. The middle school, Brambletye, has recently been taken over by the infant school head, and although it is already a decent school, looks like its being brought up to the outstanding levels of the infant school.

We will be looking to move soon, for a bigger property and secondary schools, and I must say I'm struggling to find areas in the locality which rate as well as Earlswood to us for ease of commute, price and pleasant crime free feel.

jonewer

/waves to JodyBPM

EmRayMarRhys

Horsham's nice

JodyBPM

injectionday wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the comments, you've given us a lot to think about. The main reason for picking Crawley was because we know a family there (in Three Bridges) who recommended it but I'm not sure that we've done enough research really. We've got two kids (eldest just started school) and we really want a 3 bed house and garden. We're in a 2 bed flat now and we've outgrown it.

If you're looking at 3 beds and a garden for £230K, you would be looking at probably the worst areas, or a house that had some issues in Redhill or Horley for that price range, whereas I would imagine that you might get a "middling" Crawley area for that. I'd be inclined to think that the worst areas of Redhill/Horley are better than the "middling" areas of Crawley, but that's only really my opinion, and I'm possibly influenced by living in a nice part of Redhill. Realistically, with your budget, within commuting distance of London, you are going to have to struggle to buy in any area which I personally would consider nice TBH.

Are 3 beds a necessity? Could you perhaps go for a 2 bed in a nicer area, and then look to do a loft conversion perhaps in a few years. If so, I'd still suggest Redhill, and then save the money you'd save on commuting over Crawley towards an extension fund maybe.

With young children, I would definitely check out the schools in the area.

Other places you could consider may be Salfords (but avoid the Whitebushes estate)

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-31341358.html

or Smallfield (but check for airport noise, and you would need a car to get to the station)

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35960705.html

Good luck with whatever you decide.

abankerbutnotafatcat

An example of a 3 bed doer-upper in Redhill

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36783425.html?backListLink=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Fmap.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DUSERDEFINEDAREA%5E%7B%22id%22%3A329995%7D%23_includeSSTC%3Don%26auction%3Dfalse%26displayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26includeSSTC%3Dtrue%26lastPersistLocId%3DUSERDEFINEDAREA%255E%257B%2522id%2522%253A329995%257D%26locationIdentifier%3DUSERDEFINEDAREA%255E%257B%2522id%2522%253A329995%257D%26maxPrice%3D250000%26minPrice%3D210000%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26previousSearchLocation%3DIncluding%2520East%2520Reigate%2520(Drawn%2520Area)%26radius%3D0.0%26searchLocation%3DIncluding%2520East%2520Reigate%2520(Drawn%2520Area)%26searchType%3DSALE%26useLocationIdentifier%3Dfalse%26box%3D-0.24359%2C-0.12857%2C51.21032%2C51.26030%26popupPropertyId%3D36783425%26mapType%3DMap&fromMap=true

Strapped

Quick rightmove search on RH10 (thebetter end of Crawley) for 3 beds under £240k (allowing for negotiation) gives the first 3 as:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37090100.html

Road noise from Crawley Ave (theflyover down from Jn10 of M23) but good part of town, easy bikeride/long walk to 3B station, lovely park nearby, catchment forHazelwick secondary school

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33942329.html?premiumA=true

Probably road noise from M23, walkableto 3B station, good estate, catchment for Hazelwick

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-21724290.html

Same estate, but better location on it,no M23 road noise and only just “on” the estate, walkable to 3Bstation, nice-ish pub (the Hillside) nearby on the Balcombe Road.

so I'd say you could get a decent areain Crawley on your budget.