Where to live in Crawley?

ExNicotineQueen

Hi all,

I am currently house hunting in the Crawley area. I know this used to be classed as a terrible place to live not so long ago, but wanted to hear from people who live/have lived here in recent times and what it's like to live here and what the better areas are to look in.

From viewing houses, Broadfield seems to be a dump and the Three Bridges/Maidenbower/Pound Hill areas seem to be more expensive but the room sizes are tiny.

Also, given the close proximity to Gatwick, can you hear the planes / is there a lot of noise pollution?

Thanks

LadyL2013

I have friends in Maidenbower and it's nice. Only really noise from aircraft if they do a missed approach as it's not directly under flight path.

Mahsroh

Think I would avoid Ifield if you're concerned about noise pollution from aircraft. Maidenbower not a bad shout, or somewhere around Tilgate Park...... With Three Bridges you have exceptional rail links... though I don't think it's the nicest of areas (based on what others have told me - haven't lived there myself)

If it was me, i'd look slightly further afield (read my username backwards!! ) Although it is more expensive!

OUNN

Hey there,

I was born in Crawley and have how moved back for work after a few years away.

As has been mentioned the are no flight paths over the town, so the only time any aircraft apart from helicopters will fly over the town is if they are on a missed approach.

Personally I'd avoid Broadfield, and to some extents Bewbush as well. Langley green is ok, but a little close to the airport and industrial estates for my liking.

I'm in Three Bridges now which is great.

It depends what you want. Are you renting or buying? Where will you be working?
Three Bridges, Maidenbower, Worth and Pound Hill are all really conveniently located for Three Bridges train station. (The main one into London, and the only one to avoid Southern Rail) - but you pay more in those areas

Maidenbower is the newest addition to Crawley, and it's still not that new. But the houses there are of a more modern construction, so they will have smaller rooms. Because of this though, Maidenbower might be slightly cheaper.

It all depends what you're after really

bamgbost

Crawley is ok. Just like many places, it has good and bad areas.


As you yourself have spotted, three bridges and Maidenbower are the nicer , and more expensive areas to live. Got many friends who live that way.




If you want a little bit more econonomical living you have areas Tilgate is not too bad.Similar to you, we moved here about 2.5 years ago now. My mrs heard a lot of negatives, hence why we ended up in Horsham... 10miles down the road. A lot nicer, but a lot more expensive too!


What exactly are u looking for? And do you need to be close to work, train station, etc?

ExNicotineQueen

Thank you for your help so far, much appreciated.

I'm looking to buy a 3 bed house. I have family in London so don't want to move too far away. I currently work in Beckenham, so short commute is what I'm looking for.

As long as I can get to East Croydon station within a reasonable time (my current commute is 1hr 30m just to get there and doesn't include the tram journey to Beckenham, ridiculous, I know) then I'm happy.

I have viewed at a few houses in Horsham but it seems very 'villagey'? It also seems a long way away from things, kind of like in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I need to give it another chance. I'm trying to cut down my commute time as it is and it seems moving further afield keeps adding on more time to the journey.

Ideally I want to be within walking distance of a main train line that runs a regular service to London (and preferably not one that is only Southern rail!) as otherwise car park and car costs add another £150 per month to an already expensive commute.

Three Bridges would be ideal for me as it's one stop to East Croydon and only takes 15-20 mins, whereas Horsham can take anywhere from 35mins to 1 hour. Tilgate is another area that we liked, but all the houses seem to have the same strange layout with a lot of wasted space. I have seen some nice houses in the Three Bridges area but my god, they either go within the day or are massively out of my price range and as this area is a seller's market, they almost always are not willing to negotiate.

I am open to any other area suggestions. Have also looked in Redhill/Merstham areas but the prices seem to have runaway lately and nothing has been within my price range (max £325k).

Mahsroh

ExNicotineQueen wrote: »

I have viewed at a few houses in Horsham but it seems very 'villagey'? It also seems a long way away from things, kind of like in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I need to give it another chance. I'm trying to cut down my commute time as it is and it seems moving further afield keeps adding on more time to the journey..

Wouldn't say villagey. It's not as big as Crawley and doesn't have as many shops, but a lot of your high street shops are there.... It's a decent sized town with decent shopping an very good selection of bars/restaurants. A market town, yes, but definitely nothing like a village! Agree though, based on your commute there are better / closer options. From Three Bridges you'd be adding 20mins onto your commute.

Three Bridges would definitely be a winner if your commute involves going to East Croydon. Location wise, you will not get better than Three Bridges (probably why you''re struggling to find somewhere there!). Have you looked at Horley? Not show how that compares to Redhill but might be slightly cheaper. Also look at areas like East Grinstead. Okay, it's not on the Brighton mainline but is only about 35mins by train direct to East Croydon.

Mahsroh

Another 'outside the box' option is Hayward Heath. Distance is possibly further from East Croydon than Horsham (haven't checked that) but on the Brighton Mainline so good rail links. There are fast services that basically go Haywards Heath - Three Bridges - Gatwick Airport - East Croydon.

ExNicotineQueen

Mahsroh wrote: »

Another 'outside the box' option is Hayward Heath. Distance is possibly further from East Croydon than Horsham (haven't checked that) but on the Brighton Mainline so good rail links. There are fast services that basically go Haywards Heath - Three Bridges - Gatwick Airport - East Croydon.

My partner works in Haywards Heath so would be ideal for him, however we did view some houses here and I just didn't like the area. Funnily enough when we first started searching we looked at Brighton (ended up being priced out), Burgess Hill/Wivelsfield (decided it was just too far out) then Haywards Heath which didn't like and have now sort of settled on Crawley due to convenience. East Grinstead I've found out of budget and also the houses are tiny.

Yes have also viewed properties in Horley, some were nice but the prices seem to have risen dramatically recently, not to mention a lot of them don't meet our criteria. Plus I think it's a bit too close to Gatwick for my liking and what with the talks of Gatwick's expansion, I don't want to be stuck somewhere where there is a lot of noise pollution.

OUNN

When we were looking to buy, I wanted to move to Haywards Heath (I went to school and college there). But the wife didn't really like it.

I was amazed at how much more we could get for our money in Crawley vs Haywards Heath (in the areas I wanted to live).
In the end it became a no brainer really.

For the budget you're looking at, it will probably be a 3 bed semi in the Three Bridges/Maidenbower area.

I like Horsham a lot. It has a great feel to it. But for a few things (cinema etc), we'd still find ourselves back in Crawley.

If you're still looking in Crawley, perhaps consider stretching the area to include Furnace Green and Gossops Green areas.

Furnace Green is close to the station (it's the other side of the railway line to Maidenbower, next to Tilgate).

Gossops Green is near Crawley station - which is on the branch to Horsham. It would be a southern train to Three Bridges and change or straight through. Good friends of mine sold a 3 bed end of terrace with garage in a lovely little area there last year for your budget

Always remember that layouts can be changed. If you find a good house in a good location which ticks most of the boxes except for wasted space. Think if you could, or would want to look at changing the layouts/extending etc.

On the London to Brighton trainline, you have Balcombe between Haywards Heath and Crawley. This is a village, trains don't stop very often, but it may be in budget (I haven't looked)

Mahsroh

ExNicotineQueen wrote: »

Plus I think it's a bit too close to Gatwick for my liking and what with the talks of Gatwick's expansion, I don't want to be stuck somewhere where there is a lot of noise pollution.

Any expansion (if it ever happens - who knows?) will be south of the existing runway so probably wouldn't impact Horley quite so much. Areas of Crawley are likely to be more affected. That was the main reason I said about avoiding Ifield in my original reply to this thread.