What's it like to live in Broadstairs?

[ehmumbo]

Looking at moving to the coast.

What's Broadstairs like?

It looks nice...

What is there to do?
Is it quite mixed?
What are your best areas to live?
What do you like about it?
What don't you like about it?

Thanks

[ehmumbo]

Or Ramsgate? Morcombe Bay?

[Blessedwithboys]

Hello Broadstairs is lovely, nicer then Ramsgate. It gets very busy especially in the summer when it has folk week. The beaches are beautiful, it has lots of lovely restaurants and good night life. There are good schools in the area as well.
Birchington and Minnis bay are nice aswell a bit further up the coast and quieter. It depends what is is you're after.

[The39Steps]

Hi

We moved to Broadstairs from London about 7 years ago. It's a lovely place to live - it's obviously quieter than London (by a long way!) but there's a real sense of community and you get to know people very quickly if you want to get stuck into local life. There's a theatre, a cinema and HE college as well as lots of language colleges so it never gets completely dead in the winter unlike a lot of seaside towns.

I've noticed it's increasingly busy in the 'off' season - the beach was really crowded yesterday.

It's very white compared to London but that is changing gradually and during the summer, we have a lot of BME day trippers because the beach is an easy walk from the station.

We live in the middle of town for preference - didn't think we'd cope with having to drive to a shop! but there are some lovely places out of the town centre.

It is increasingly populated by DFLs (Down from Londoners as the locals call us) which has pushed prices up and put a real strain on schools. All the good local primary schools are oversubscribed and while you don't have to live 200m away, catchment areas are shrinking.

Not much I don't like to be honest - certainly nothing that has been a nasty surprise (well, except for the UKIP led council :( )

[ehmumbo]

All sounds lovely!
Apart from UKIP wtf??

[ehmumbo]

It looks so nice - you are very lucky to live there!

Does the train to Kings Cross run ok? Looks like it takes 1hr 15 - is that right?

[The39Steps]

Yes, we managed to keep Farage out as our MP but a place with an overwhelmingly white working class British-born population inevitably it seems has a large number of UKiP voters.

I get the train often to London (don't commute daily but do occasionally) and 9 times out of 10 it runs bang on time. Yep, 1hr 15 mins door to door. The slow train is cheaper but it has a trolley :D

[ehmumbo]

Trains running on time is definitely a plus!!

Do you know which the good primary schools are 39steps?

[The39Steps]

Holy Trinity is a good one and Bromstone isn't bad. St Mildred's/Upton and Callis Grange/St Peters are linked infant/junior schools. Upton is more academic/sporty and St Peters is better for arts and pastoral care.

St George's which is a secondary has just opened a primary section and I think they just had a reception intake this year so presumably next year it will be reception/year one. Don't know much about it but the secondary bit has a good reputation.

[ehmumbo]

Is it possible to get a family house for £500k?

Where are the nice areas?

Where are the bit so nice areas?

[justonemorecupthen]

Yes definitely possible. We live in a 5 bed detached in Broadstairs recently valued at £500K.

Broadstairs is lovely

Good luck!

[Kal123]

Hi all,
My husband, 3 girls and I are looking to relocate to broadstairs. We are looking for prices around 350 to 400,000. Would we find anything in the ‘nicer’ areas of Broadstairs? If so, where are the nicer areas?? Any help would be appreciated.
I’m just starting to look into this so any advice would be great.
😊. X

[The39Steps]

You should do! You may have to go for 3 rather than 4 bedrooms though. Assuming your children are school age though, schools are the biggest issue - the primaries in Broadstairs are all over-subscribed meaning that unless you're living in catchment at the start of reception/year 3 (two are split into infant/junior), you'll struggle to get your children in.

There is a new primary at St George's (which is a secondary) which has spaces.

Area-wise, as a general rule of thumb, central Broadstairs and towards North Foreland 'the chessboard' is nice, up towards Pyson's Lane/Ramsgate is generally less nice. St Peter's village central is nice but outlying areas less so.

[boomboom78]

Found it!

We are also looking at relocating to Broadstairs too. Would it be a massive shock to born & bred Londoners?

Could anyone tell me the best areas to be close to the shops etc

[boomboom78]

I know Broadstairs is nicer now but is Ramsgate up & coming? I like the idea of a bigger property & tbh not bothered by things a little rough around the edges.

[The39Steps]

I think Broadstairs will always be nicer because it's small and it's always been quite posh.

But yes, Ramsgate is definitely up and coming and you'll get more for your money there.

I would just caution not to get too carried away by big places at cheap prices. Often they are big and cheap for a good reason. Don't forget that Thanet is still desperately deprived - parts of Ramsgate are in the top 10% of poorest parts of the South East. It's pretty easy to see which are the nice bits of town though.

Spend some time here, have a wander about (it's the harbour lights switch on at the weekend) and get a feel for the place.

[boomboom78]

Thanks 39 we are actually going to try & get down this weekend for s look. My scale of big & cheap is probably skewed by the fact that where I am I need 1.3m or so for a 3 bed terrace!

[ukeboxbaby]

Hi

My husband and I are thinking of moving our family to Broadstairs. We have a 5 year old and a 4 month old baby. We like the look of the Haddon Dean school.

Is Broadstairs safe at night?
Are there many mum and baby/ toddler classes/ activities in Broadstairs?
Is Margate safe to go to for baby/ toddler activities or nightlife?
Do the trains to Stratford and Kings Cross run on time?
How friendly is it? Is it easy to meet people and make friends?

Any info. you could give would be really appreciated.

xxx

[KristinaH1]

Hi all

The above info is really useful but would like to hear a little more about Ramsgate/Margate if anyone has any opinions/advice. Ideally we want to relocate to Broadstairs but you do get quite a bit more for your money elsewhere. I know they are meant to be a little rougher but would be great to hear peoples thoughts and do the positives outweigh the negatives.

Thanks!

[Kaz85]

Hi,

We're also thinking about moving to Broadstairs. Has anyone on here done it?

Any helpful hints or tips?
I really want to know if they're any rough areas or areas to avoid.

Thanks

[sticks1]

Hi, sorry to gatecrash. Was wondering if you ever moved to Broadstairs? I’m thinking of leaving London to do the same. We are not in a position to buy, so would be renting.

We really like Broadstairs but I’m mainly worried about the grammar school system. Does anybody know what St. George’s secondary school is like? I know the results are not great but that seems to be the way with non selective schools there. I prefer the schooling where I am now but we just need space and fresh air. So I need to compromise. Also, I’m a bit worried that local people must hate people moving down from London.

Would really appreciate any info. Thank you

[The39Steps]

I have, as I said above. St George's is a very good school but it's very oversubscribed. The primary bit is still quite new so if you have a younger child and can get them into the primary, the older sibling into secondary.

Catchment area is very small and you need to attend church and/or a uniform group (scouts etc). You'll need a letter from your vicar.

St Augustine's at Westgate is also supposed to be good.

It's worth your kids doing the Kent Test at 11 or there's another test at 13, simply because it gives them more options. You can buy books to study from in WH Smith to get them used to the format.

Local people don't really hate people moving down from London - well I've got loads of friends who are 'natives' and they don't seem to hate me! :)

[SmiledWithTheRisingSun]

Are all the good primaries religious?

[sticks1]

Thanks so much for your reply 39steps. My eldest is in year 5 and I’m sure she’d do fine on the Kent Test and would suit a Grammar style education. I have twins in year 3, one of which is very arty and creative but has to work a bit harder academically. One is great at maths . Not sure they’d all pass and I don’t want them to think they’re not as smart etc.So confusing!!

And I’m glad you friends don’t hate you 😂

[Jules1414]

It is overrated. The high street is mostly estate agents and newsagents, nothing worth visiting. The tiny jetty area is pleasant but swamped with hundreds of students, and tourists in the summer months. The park is full of homeless people. Absolutely nothing to do there unlike nearby Deal with its castles, pier, timeball tower, townhall, museums, country park etc. The people are very annoying, they assume that they are better than everyone else in the country based on their living in Broadstairs. They usually have the arrogance to refer to all other Thanet residence as being dirty and stupid, espouse that schools outside of Broadstairs are inferior, even though Ramsgate has 2 excellent grammar schools and an esteemed private collage. For the pretentious only.

[SmiledWithTheRisingSun]

Do you live in Deal Jules?