Are there any decent, liveable seaside towns in UK which aren’t silly expensive or horribly rundown?

[Moidershewrote]

Basically that - DH and I would really like to relocate with our 2 primary aged kids to live by the sea (near a sandy beach) in either England or Wales - ideally we’d like a half decent primary / secondary schools, friendly community feel with clubs / kids activities etc and not run down/full of pound shops etc and access to train station within approx 5 miles and local buses would be great. We’d love to live somewhere that is walking distance of a beach.

It feels like we’ve looked into so many places and for one reason or another we end up discounting it - usually because either schools seem crap or no train station or no community feel.

Places we’ve immediately rejected are:

• Kent (grammar schools / Kent test)


• Brighton (too expensive / pebble beach)


• Portsmouth/S’ton/Plymouth (too big / towny feel)


• Essex/Somerset coastline (not the right vibe for us)


• E/W Sussex (not sandy😆)

Would love to hear any personal recommendations from people who have moved to another coastal town with kids / or live in one and think it’s brilliant (and why)🙏 We do love Devon, Dorset, Anglia.. Would consider Wales, or NW/NE England.

Another vote for Morecambe. Or Morracambee as my friend who is local calls it. Lovely beach, great buzz and some stunning old houses ripe for doing up. Lancaster is so close by and a really fab small city.

I think you've answered your own question. The ones with high property prices are that way because they're not horribly run down, hence people want to live there, hence higher prices.

Of course, if lots of people bought houses in the run down ones, it would drive out the "undesirables" who are the ones causing the towns to be run down!

You'll be fine as long as you avoid the West End!

South Wales.only coastal national park and it’s blooming lovely.you could pick any of the coastal bays and you’d be happy.expensive yes.glamorous no.but the nicest places ever deff big fat yes.and all the bays are great for different reasons.

if you look at north east, tynemouth, south sheilds, seaburn. They are all served by metro which links sunderland and newcastle

www.nexus.org.uk/metro

Everyone thinks that Southend is just kiss me quick hats and candy floss, it’s not.
This house is just down the road from me and you are practically on the beach.
Its a private Estate.
Its a 10 min drive to 3 good grammar schools.
You can walk to the station where you will be in London within the hr.
But what’s best for us is that you are only 20 mins drive from the airport.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123142280#/media?channel=RES_NEW&id=media0&ref=photoCollage

alnmouth in northumberland. More remote but has train station

The coast between Tynemouth and Whitley Bay. Good schools, fab beaches, and three metro stops in this stretch alone (all of which are 28 minutes into Newcastle City Centre and about 40 into the airport, plus also ferry to NL goes every day) Great facilities (e.g. kayaking, sailing, golf) decent council run leisure facilities, pools, libraries etc. So many bars and restaurants, independent shops, all types. Close to the "proper countryside" windswept beaches, castles, moors, mountains, little villages. Several decent universities close. This area has seen housing prices rise steeply, but £650k would still buy a lot - probs more than you are asking for. Downsides, not many but it is far from where your family are (it is 3 hours to London, train every half and hour) and the weather. Dryer than the west, but god it can be cold and windy. The closer you are to the coast the better for not getting the worst of some weathers (snow) but the absolute worst of others (wind). Also gets a bit of an influx of irresponsible beach goers in the summer (anywhere with good transport to excellent beaches probably suffers the same). It isn't so much a stag and hen party destination now but both Tynemouth and Whitley are lively on a Saturday night.

Flippin heck! The snooker room - my father would be in his element!😀

I’m liking the sound of it, going to do some further investigation 🕵🏻‍♀️🕵🏻‍♀️🕵🏻‍♀️

Ohhh stop!😅 I love Totnes… If only it had a beach😬

It’s not totally ruled out, but it is a long way from family 😬

Where are you?

South Shields.
There's run down area's like anywhere and a Town centre thats on its arse but Newcastle is close and Gateshead Metrocentre too.
We have miles of coast walks and many lovely beaches both here and along the road in Sunderland. There's a fair ground and lots of green space down there too. North Shields is easily accessible too, across the river Tyne, for Tynemouth, Whitley bay for more beaches.
I'm not sure about Schools as mine didn't go here when they were young as we lived elsewhere.
House prices up here are much cheaper vs in the South.

I live in South Shields. Our beach has just been named best in England and our coast is stunning. However the town centre isn’t the best. It’s not far to Newcastle and the metro centre though. I love it here and would never move! Tynemouth is gorgeous too though

And the local secondary ( non selective) state school is consistently high in the rankings.
Pebble beach but lovely and not touristy

Have you considered somewhere like Wimborne in Dorset. About 20 mins drive to the beach/new forest and really lovely small town.

I hadn’t read your post but ive pretty much just rewrote yours haha

I agree with you on all points. I mostly grew up in east Kent, but my family moved there from London when I was 9.

My (not grammar) school was pretty dire and my parents had no real idea about the impact of grammar / comp situation having not really looked into it (some quality 80’s parenting at its best). Almost none of my school year went on to further education, let alone university (I did and had the piss taken out of me for it). I suppose I don’t have great memories of the place, despite the beauty of the coastline and the many (!) sandy beaches 🤭

As I say, my siblings kids have had a rift created due to the kids being split across grammar / comp schools. It’s shite.

Well hello!👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

I was going to say tynemouth too . I live near

Cleethorpes

We moved from Ealing, London to Bournemouth 18 years ago and we were really happy there although I loved London. The grammar school system in Bournemouth can be a disadvantage, my daughter went to the girls grammar school and although she got amazing grades, the pastoral care was awful. My son failed the 11 plus and I really wish I hadn't entered him for it, although in theory he should have passed but failing really dented his confidence. We have moved to West Dorset recently and I can highly recommend Lyme Regis, so beautiful and so friendly.

Bahhh ha ha you ruled out the whole of Somerset due to the ‘vibe’?! What on earth is that??

People raving about Exmouth - do any of you actually live here all year round? It's charity/pound shop central. Yes, the beach is nice, but much of the rest of it is rubbish. They might have "done up" the promenade a couple of years ago but there is nothing there I'd actually want to do. I live 5 miles from it and if you want anything other than food, you have to go into Exeter. The secondary school is huge and doesn't have a great reputation.

Sidmouth is a nice place but there is no station anywhere near. There are buses into Exeter but they cost a bloody fortune. In fact public transport in East Devon is poor in terms of provision and massively expensive. It's why most kids learn to drive here as soon as they turn 17. Sidmouth also suffers from flooding on a regular basis - there are films on YouTube of The Byes.

I’m very familiar with Sussex and I do love it, the SDNP is gorgeous and was in Worthing recently and it looks great, it has really changed in the last 20y.

It might be a pipe dream, I guess that’s what I am trying to ascertain by seeking opinions - some of the suggestions are new and sound really interesting - especially S. Wales, partly as we have some family there too - nice to have a connection.

Sorry if me discounting counties offended you - I think I’ve more than explained the Kent thing though and I am open to suggestions on the others (as well as Scotland).