Brighton area anyone?

Nice_Username

Hi doeas anyone on here live in Brighton? I'm travelling down there from London this weekend to look at 4 properties in Littlehampton, Newhaven, Worthing and Hailsham. I just wondered if there were any places I should avoid (I have 2 daughters aged 13 and 9 and want a decent area) or any other areas you could recommend?. Ideally I would like to be in Brighton itself as I love the place. Must be a minimum of 3 bedrooms and budget is between £150,000 to £220,000 although I could go higher (but don't want to get maxxed out on the mortgage as I don't like my job and want the freedom to be able to leave whenever I want).

Any advice/tips would be very gratefully received.

Thanks

smileykylie_2

Hi I am in Hove
Your viewing area is very wide, particularly hailsham and littlehampton they are pretty far from brighton.
Prices here are ridiculous, 1 bed flats anywhere from 160 - 250 three beds over 400 here. Many people I know are moving to shoreham, portslade and worthing. Newhaven is Ok but does not (in my opinion) have a very nice feel to it if you know what I mean, pretty industrial feel.
Good luck with your viewings.

silvercar

According to the national press, school options in Brighton are a nightmare with places being allocated by lottery. Having just missed this years allocation, think about how you will get your children into the schools of your choice.

Cardinal-Red

I'd actually say none of those places count as Brighton!

My advice would be avoid Moulsecoomb - no offence to anybody who lives there, but my times there was pretty rough.

Having said that, it's all relative - that time was nothing compared to the time I spent growing up in Liverpool...

Sunny2

What about Lewes? - it's a nice town - but watch for flooding. or Ringmer? Don't know too much about the schools. Although I think Sussex Uni is around Rigmer somewhere? Then I spose there's Uckfield, which is probably 20-30 mins or so from Brighton?

fc123

Schools are a total nightmare in Brighton.

The areas you quote I don't consider to be Brighton though...they are nearby...but Newhaven, on a map looks near but the coast road is a traffic jam in places so the journey can be much longer than it appears..

Back to schools...EVERY decent state school is oversubscribed in ALL years.
The only schools that have places are Falmer and Patcham...look up the results.

Worthing is meant to be nice but I have no idea about schools at all in that area.

We pay and it's a killer on the household budget.

We rent a 1 bed house @ £1250 pcm....though it is in a great St. To buy, I guess it would cost around £500k.:eek:

You can get a 2 bed house in certain parts of Brighton but they are not paticularly chi chi. Cheaper areas have a lot of student lets which, though they are probably v. nice students, isn't great if you want a family type area.


The families I know personally who have great living space and access to great education for their kids are pretty loaded.

Burgess Hill schools have a good reputation and it's not too far from Brighton.


Check out school situation first. The LEA will not tell you the truth over the 'phone about availability. I have 1st hand experience of this.

jtb2412

Having moved to Littlehampton last October I can honestly say we totally love it here ! We do rent so I'm not sure what prices are like for buying but we had no problem getting our 3 kids into schools (2 at junior school and 1 at secondary). There are several schools to choose from, both infants and juniors but I think the local community college is the only secondary school about without having to travel. Bus links are excellent and Bognor, Worthing and Brighton are within easy driving distance (Bognor and Worthing about 10 mins away).

There are quite a few 'old folk' about and I think a lot of people come here to retire but we're not all pushing zimmerframes about !

The beach today at high tide and gale force winds blowing was great fun ! Personally I couldn't think of a better place to bring up our kids

livinginhope

The worst place in Brighton you could buy would be Whitehawk,far worse than Moulscombe or Coldean
The only places in Brighton itself,where you may be able to afford,where you won't be living in a war zone,would be Holligbury or the roads off of Lewes Road.
Shoreham is lovely,but prices are quite high now,along the coast to South Lancing prices get cheaper and no really bad areas.
Worthing good for the over 50s,only area to avoid I would say is The Maybridge estate.Durrington is nice and reasonably priced.
Littlehampton is ok,schools are quite good,Angmering school being only slightly better than Littlehampton school,no areas to be avoided here really,but I wouldn't recommend Wick or Clun Road area.Rustington is a bit 'posher'
East of Brighton,Rottingdean is expensive and quite exclusive,Saltdean much cheaper and more value for money,I quite like it there I agree about Newhaven,just don't like it.
Even further East is Eastbourne,you either love it or hate it,personally I love it,but I would avoid North Langney and Willingdon Trees areas.
Hope this helps,not much time to elaborate,but if you find a house to look at,let us know where it is and we'll let you know if it's a 'nice area' or not
LIH

fc123

Above mentioned Saltdean...good space for the money but school issues. Nearest is Longhill in Ovingdean (which is ok) but every year group is oversubscribed.
Also East Saltdean (cheaper) is in different LEA, so kids have to go to school in Newhaven.

Trollfever

Gets a bit crowded under the A27 at Shoreham and does suffer from road, rail and aircraft noise.

Should be some bargains in Newhaven soon:

http://www.oakdene-homes.co.uk/developments.cfm?id=7885E5D2-063A-9723-8147EF974609F6FF

fc123

Trollfever wrote: »

Gets a bit crowded under the A27 at Shoreham and does suffer from road, rail and aircraft noise.

Should be some bargains in Newhaven soon:

http://www.oakdene-homes.co.uk/developments.cfm?id=7885E5D2-063A-9723-8147EF974609F6FF

but what are the schools like under the flyover?

PS; OP which part of London? We left S London 3 yrs back (but i already had a business in Brighton for 7 yrs). It's great but more expensive than suburban London.