Anyone live in Haywards Heath or Horsham?

[saxatablesalt]

We are planning a move out of London next year and wondering about parts of Sussex commutable to London. Haywards Heath and Horsham both look like good bets - does anyone live there? Nice places to live?

Not sure of budget yet but likely to be in the region of 425-500k. Very possibly 550 but unlikely. DH will be commuting to London four days a week. I work from home. We have a three year old DS who is due to start primary school in September 2020. Don't think we'll be able to move before the January application deadline sadly so we'll be applying late wherever we end up.

I agree with @ward that both Downlands and Oathall are good schools but Oathall is in HH therefore there is always the possibility that your child would not get into in.

I would be very wary of moving into any town where the main school, the academy has significant issues. Especially when your other suggestions - HH and Horsham both have excellent schools where it wouldn’t actually matter where you lived in the town.

I know the areas well. If you are unable to drive I would stay in London. Playdates/parties/activities often necessitate a car. Public buses are very infrequent. As an ex Londoner I miss public transport and walking to places.

I live just outside of HH we moved from south east London 7 years ago and suggest you look at Lindfield as well - right next to Haywards Heath (they merge) but the High St has a very “village” feel. Not hugely diverse but nowhere in the s east seems to be outside of Brighton (and London) and it’s very nice.
Lots of ex Londoners.
Oathall is in Lindfield, and it isn’t oversubscribed but there are a lot of new houses going up. Primary school places are hard to come by but there are good schools in the villages which are worth considering. Oathall a good school, as is Warden Park and also Chailey Secondary in East Sussex.
Re prices - You’ll get more for your money in Burgess Hill. Re stuff to do - HH isn’t that bad the High street is a bit soulless , lots of chain restaurants and Nowhere has much on compared with London, but loads of local clubs for young ones and lots of sports/outside space.
Burgess Hill is 15 min max drive from Haywards Heath.
Personally I would base around where you need to be day to day, and for secondary being close to schools. We live just under 3 miles from DCs school and the public transport is diabolical after London expectations.

My sister lives fairly rurally and manages fine without driving. My DH can drive so evenings and weekends are fine

If we stay in London we'll be in a flat with no garden forever.

I honestly can't get worked up about schools. My secondary school had a 23% GCSE pass rate. It was the kind of school the police used to rock up at at home time because they knew things would start kicking off. I Ieft with eleven GCSEs and went on to get 4 A grade A levels, a first class degree and an MA.

We live in The Haywards Heath area and were previously in Burgess Hill. If you are considering B/Hill, it does have the benefit of the Triangle, and the new leisure complex going in should be good. Do look carefully at primary school catchments, though. When we applied for DS1 there was a bulge year and very few people got schools other than their catchment, unless applying to the Catholic primary, or less well thought of schools (most people want to be in catchment for the Gattons or Birchwood Grove, and not in catchment for Manor Field, with many not liking London Meeds).

It depends a bit on what you want. HH feels more cosmopolitan, with a lot of ex-London families. Lindfield is also lovely, and many parts are walkable to HH train station, but it is expensive.

If you like villages, there are also train stations at Hassocks and Balcombe. Hassocks is a longer commute, and to my mind, not very village-like. Does have excellent schools, but the primary years are quite big (90 intake I think). Balcombe, on the other hand, is closer to London than HH, but quite small and full of London migrants. The primary school is quite well liked, but very small, with mixed-year classes, and feeds into Warden Park at Cuckfield.

@saxatablesalt I agree with you about schools .. if you are academic and want to do well you will regardless .. the problem we have had this year in Horsham is children have been given schools in Crawley without any friends which for my dd would have been devastating . I'm very glad we didn't have to deal with it . I think it will only get worse as time goes on due to many young families moving into all the new houses recently .

I mean my DS wouldn't have any friends anyway - he'll be starting from scratch at primary school in London too.

Hello! I realised it's an old thread but we have been exploring areas to move to (from London of course). If children have been given schools in Horley - does it mean it actually doesn't matter which catchment your house falls within? We don't have any children yet but school is definitely one of our main considerations. Thank you!

Lewes is nicer