Hayward's Heath

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Tell me all mumsnet!
DH and I are planning our next move there so we can move our 2 young sons from a 2 bed to 4 bed house (currently in Sutton).
Well obviously do some exploring over the next year but just for a starting point I wondered what / if there are areas to avoid/ the naice areas. Restaurants and pubs etc? Are there nice independent coffee shops and what is the general vibe of the area. TIA

Hanging on to this thread because we are looking at Hayward’s Heath to move to from New Malden (so not far from you right now!).

The thing that confuses me is there doesn’t seem to be any secondary schools after 16 years old...

This is helpful: maps.cdrc.ac.uk/#/geodemographics/imde2019/default/BTTTFFT/10/-0.1500/51.5200/

The shops are nothing special, but you can pick up what you need. Crawley although less so now Debenhams is shutting and the High Street is being decimated/Horsham/Brighton have better shops, all within reach.

There is a big Sainsburys in the centre, a park (unsure how safe), usual restaurants (Pizza Express etc) and some ok places for a glass of wine.

The Triangle Leisure Centre at Burgess Hill is good, there are lots of National Trust places nearby.

Lots of dentists, cosmetic surgery, car showrooms and other aspiring middle class trappings. I’d be surprised if you can get more for your money there than in Sutton or New Malden. There are some new house developments but they seem a bit out of town. I’m not local so this is not a very informed opinion.

I'm from Brighton and was considering Haywards Heath, its nice but a bit boring.

There's more to do in Burgess Hill (Triangle swimming pool is great, nice little soft play etc) or Horsham (but expensive).

If you are going to move to Haywards Heath, the first thing you need to know is that there's no apostrophe. 😊

Secondary schools - there's warden park in Cuckfield which purports to be a separate village (pretty though with a villagy feel) but is actually part of Haywards Heath.

It's got a good Waitrose and a Sainsbury's. Obviously a train station on the London/Brighton line.

Some good but unexciting normal chain shops. I don't think there's much in the way of independent coffee shops but has the chain ones.

It's known locally for being well-to-do and there is some snobbery for the less well-to-do burgess hill.

Lindfield is nice and villagy. It has a nice green. Feels v rural.

It's ok but not very exciting. Better than Horsham I would say but It's not Brighton.

Thanks for the replies so far, the Triangle leisure centre looks great! I currently use Kingston for shopping so am used to a 30min drive for decent shops so Crawley/Brighton sounds good. I'm not too bothered about it being exciting, I'm not a huge fan of Brighton tbh. Our lifestyle is probably more country walks and nice pub lunches and I suppose as the kids get older weekends will start to revolve more around their activities too

Thanks!

I know it’s crazy but you can definitely get more for your money. The average New Malden sold detached house price is £1.1mn compared to £633k in Haywards Heath!!!

Have a look at Hassocks - next door to Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill. House prices are similar. It's on the London line too. It's a large village - great local primary and secondary schools in the village, health centre, park, loads of country walks from doorstep. There is a long road of shops with small supermarkets - Budgens, sainsbury's local, McColl's/post office, pet shops, bakery/coffee shops, bike shop, hairdressers, beauty, chemists, nice pubs etc but it's just a very short drive to BH or HH for big Tesco's, B&Q, swimming pools, hospital etc. Easy to drive into Brighton for the seaside, theatres, museums. It doen't have a pretty village centre like Hurstpierpoint, Lindfield or Ditchling village which are all very nearby(and have nice pubs) but it is quiet and very nice, feels really safe. Lots of young families and older people. Mix of houses, bungalows and some new build developments. We moved here last year from Brighton to downsize but wanted to be near rail line and favourite walks on the South Downs, grew up in London. Thought we'd miss the hustle and bustle but haven't at all, great to be able to park everywhere for free.

Most older kids go to Sixth form colleges after GCSE's in Sussex.

It’s a nice but boring place. Decent enough base to get to other places. I’d probably choose Lindfield or Cuckfield over Haywards Heath “proper”, depending on whether there’s a property that suits.

There’s a couple of decent independent coffee shops in Haywards Heath itself, one of which has a Mexican takeaway / delivery some evenings.

Restaurants are fairly standard and mainly clustered around the road up from the station. A few nice pubs dotted around but you probably need to drive for the better ones.

Lots of new build housing estates on the outskirts of town and everyone seems to moan about whichever the newest one is. The local Facebook page is obsessed with helicopter sightings, for some reason.

It’s not especially dodgy compared to some areas of larger towns, but I’d probably avoid the America Lane area and the US-themed roads nearby if you can afford anywhere else.

I'm making a list of all the villages / sub areas to go and visit so that's really useful thank you. Guess it'll depend where we can afford too I think budget will be around £600-650k

Do you want a town? The villages are nice... Particularly Plumpton, I have always liked and Lindfield is pretty. Town wise, if I was moving back I would go to Lewes, though probably more expensive, its got history, and is interesting. It had good pubs when I was a teenager, and easier to get to Brighton.

Lindfield has some lovely independent shops, restaurants and Lindfield Coffee works, a great off license, deli, butchers and green grocers. Aside from Waitrose, the bank and station you don’t need to go to Haywards Heath at all.

We moved from SW London and no where compares to Kingston, it takes 40 minutes and I still return to shop there.

Country pubs and walks are great, as is being close to the sea.

For sixth form colleges most go to College in Horsham, or to Basvic in Brighton. HH did have a sixth form college and most hope it returns.

I used to work there and would describe it as lacking in character.

For sixth form colleges most go to College in Horsham, or to Basvic in Brighton. HH did have a sixth form college and most hope it returns.

There is a new sixth form college now, but no idea what it’s like - opened in September 2020 (wonderful timing!)

Does anybody know how the schools around Haywards Heath is like for SEN?