What’s Coxheath like near Maidstone?

[MrsStefanie]

Hello

I’m new to mumsnet so hello 👋🏽. I’m expecting my first baby in December a little girl 💝! We are trying to move out of my parents before she’s born “hectic I know” I was wondering if any of you could help, we currently live in Crawley where Iv lived my whole life basically but for our budget you get a house in terrible condition in a terrible place😞 whereas near Maidstone you can get a detached/semi detached for the same price that doesn’t need a lot of work. We’ve heard near Maidstone there’s lots to do and some schools are very good, we are viewing a house in coxheath so I was wondering if any of you are from there or have heard of it? Good schools? Places to avoid near Maidstone? Everywhere has it’s bad places I know that, like Crawley has changed so much, I know it’s a convenient place to live but it’s so built up and overpriced it’s crazy! Sorry I won’t go on anymore. Also is Boughton Monchelsea an ok place? Thank you ☺️

Hi! And congratulations on your forthcoming baby!

Coxheath and BM were always considered "naice" parts of Maidstone and I haven't heard anything recently to disagree with that. Compare similar houses with prices in other parts of town to see.

For example:

- 2 bed semi in Coxheath - £237,500

- 3 bed semi in Shepway - £240,000

I would avoid Shepway and Parkwood parts of Maidstone as well as anything too close to the town centre. Downswood seems popular with friends of mine and Allington and Aylesford on the western side.

What's your budget? Happy to trawl Rightmove!

And yes, many good schools all around. Kent still has the grammar system so those are generally excellent. Some of the other secondaries are very good too considering most of the "best" pupils are lost to grammar.

Aw thank you so much we are so excited, it's our first little one 🥰!

And thanks both of you for taking the time to reply, it's so nice to have peoples views especially those that live round the areas. Our budget is 300,000 and a 3 bed minimum is what we are looking for 😊. We did want to move to areas near Leybourne as it's that small bit closer to my family in Crawley but nothing that we like has come as we would prefer semi detached or end of terrace as I know our budget probably isn't big enough for Leybourne and the surrounding area. We did like a place in Larkfield but it went. We do like the new build type houses as nothing needs to be done aside from the minor parts. Sorry I'm going on now 🙈! But thanks again to both of you for replying I really appreciate it because it's scary moving somewhere me and my partner don't know 😊

It has its nice areas and just ok ones. Main issue is transport links - where will you be needing to get to for work?

And the schools seem so much better than Crawley, a lot more choice. Is there a lot to do in terms of restaurants and shopping places? Thanks again for your reply's ☺️

There is a big SECAMB (ambulance) depot in Coxheath, lots of staff working 24/7 just check that new house isn't near this as I imagine it could be disruptive, not talking blue lights and sirens just lots of staff. But other than that Coxheath is really nice.

Have you looked at West Malling?

- Leybourne - no drive though

- East Malling - reasonably new house

- Coxheath - I'm guessing this is the one you've seen

- Barming, but bear in mind if you need to commute Hermitage Lane can be really bad a lot of the time

- also Coxheath - I have a friend that lives in one of these houses and she loves it

I'm out of touch as far as restaurants are concerned but there's always nice places around (West Malling always used to have a restaurant culture - not sure if it still does, but it's a lovely place). Lots of surrounding villages with pubs, etc.

Maidstone's a reasonable sized town with some good shops. If you want other decent shopping centres Bluewater or Lakeside aren't difficult to get to and Canterbury is nice for a change. There's also the McArthur Glen outlet at Ashford too. If you've got car(s) then you wouldn't have a problem.

As @bookgirl1982 says, transport links can be hit and miss. Some areas only have one train or bus an hour, and the buses stop early. If you need public transport it'd be worth looking at the options available when you find a property you like.

Select some Rightmove properties to have a nose at and if you don't want to book actual appointments to book, take a trip down and do a drive around. That's what I did when I moved areas. Saw some houses that I was very keen on online but when I actually drove down the roads didn't like the area at all, so saved my and the estate agent's time by not booking a viewing.

Thanks so much @FunnyHappyGirl you've been so so helpful! Yess the one you said your friend lives in is the one we really like so far 🥰! And we've also seen that barming one, we've also seen a really nice one in Boughton Monchelsea. And your right we defo need to drive round and have a look. @bookgirl1982 thanks for this also, luckily my husband works abroad a lot so he will fine and I work at Gatwick airport but I can pick my hours but I'd probably search for something closer to where we move. There's so much more choice round them areas.

Also @FunnyHappyGirl Sorry to fire more questions at you, when you said your friend loves it, does she like the streets to as I can see it's a development isn't it 😊?

We would need to redo the kitchen in that one so we will have to have a look at it and take that expense in to account and whatever we see on the day! And yes I did see that ambulance place on the map but couldn't work out what they actually do there so il defo look in to that! Thanks so much for the reply's I honestly couldn't be more grateful!

I'm excited to book some more viewings but il defo drive round to the ones we are interested in like you said 😊.

We have viewed so so many in Crawley and surrounding areas and also we viewed a house in wouldham don't know if you know that area? But we didn't end up going for it!

Sorry for the block writing 🤷‍♀️! I'm new to this 🙈

@itbemay sorry I'm getting used to this site as I download the app 🙈! Yes we have looked that way but nothing we like is within our budget unfortunately, Iv heard from someone at work it's a lovely area but nothing has come up that doesn't need loads of work, like houses come up that are at the top of our budget but need most things doing 😞

Hiya, I lived in the Maidstone area until a couple of years ago, and still have family and friends there. Coxheath is nice, so is Boughton Monchelsea, good local primaries, quite small and nice village community feel. With secondary schools some are v v good and have become oversubscribed like Valley Park, but that is on the other side of town nearer towards Downswood that you mentioned. Maidstone is unusual having 4 Grammar schools as well. If you did live in Coxheath and didn't go to one of the Grammars, you'd probably get Cornwallis Academy, (Ofsted Good) or depending on distance from your home maybe New Line Learning Academy which is currently Requires Improvement. Saying that, you don't need to think as far as secondary schools yet! Congratulations by the way

There's a lovely area with Outstanding primary schools that a lot of people with young kids move to for this reason, but house prices reflect this and are £££, have a look at Bearsted. If that's out of your budget there is also Madginford which is very close by (pretty much between Bearsted village and Downswood), where your budget could get you this:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-80699570.html

There's also Grove Green up the road, with another outstanding primary. Vinters Park is nice and houses cheaper than Grove Green. There's a lot of new house building going on in Otham and I know a few people who live there, it's a bit further away from the town but still only 15 minute drive, I think it's called Langley Park and they've built shops and a primary school to accommodate for all the new houses.

I also know of quite a few families who have moved to Ashford where there's been a lot of new housing development, because it's cheaper than many parts of Maidstone. It's about 20-25 mins down the M20 from Maidstone.

Feel free to pm me if you have any specific questions, I lived in the Maidstone area for many years!

@bluebelle79 Hi, thanks so much for taking the time to message me all this much needed info!! Sorry for my grammar by the way, it's been awful in my posts 🙈!

This is so good to hear, I defo love the village feel because Crawley isn't like that, it's so built up now, so I'm happy to hear that!

And I know it's thinking ahead but I like to hear about secondary schools "I think far ahead 😂" and we want to stay and set up home for a long time so it's defo very helpful to hear about them. And thank you very much 🥰💝 this is what makes us finding a home so much harder! So much to take in to account!

Iv heard about this Langley green and Iv also heard Ashford is a very nice area Altho it's even further from my family which is what I worry about 😞. I will have a look at the other places you've mentioned, this is all a great help and I'm so happy people and you have said these areas are nice because we have no clue!

And I will defo drop you a message, hopefully not too annoying! And sorry for the delay the app didn't notify me! We've booked more viewings for Monday so fingers crossed we find something we love 🤞! I'm very excited!! Thanks again for taking the time to reply ☺️ x

No problem at all, feel free to message me if you have any questions True, Ashford is that much further away if you're trying to minimise distance from your family. Will you / your oh be looking for new jobs or commuting to current ones? It's very brave of you to make the move away from family