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.

It used to be terrible. We used to have a weekend called Bradford ladies and Liverpool Dockers. No locals used to go out. People would be shagging in doorways 😱

thankfully that has ended. I think the turn is coming due to generation changes. We have a fab beach, good surf, amazing sunsets. Great rivers,near to the lakes. It is a beautiful place without the tat. Youths seem to be claiming it as their waterside playground which is amazing. We love to watch them on paddleboards, kite surfing, the beaches are white, Sandy and huge . We can see it transforming through our eyes organically.

with Lancaster University too and the city centre being 20 mins away ( can walk from Morecambe to Lancaster on canal which is a beautiful walk itself through rural and cottage gardens ) the prices compared to down South are ridiculously low

Whitburn or South Shields in Tyne and Wear (South Tyneside), Seaburn in Sunderland, Tynemouth as has been mentioned lots.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads same here!
Best beaches in the country, gorgeous houses, clean, excellent transport systems, great schools, amazing restaurants and shops!

Adjacent to Tynemouth (half a mile down the road, this would be nearer a million)

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125935109

Actually in Tynemouth:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119817551

Needs updating, but amazing sea views:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124307657

Again, right on the edge of Tynemouth, but 5 bedrooms and a games room!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125652842

What’s not to like?!
(I’m biased as am from there 😃)

Ah, that makes much more sense!!

Tynemouth Whitley Bay Cullercoats Monkseaton

Lived in Monkseaton for many years and loved it.
Good schools. Access to beach. Metro link straight into Newcastle.

Tracey Emin always makes Margate sound lovely. I love her so am convinced.

Gorleston

@tigerbear gorgeous properties, what's the weather like there?

I grew up in a little coastal village called Hightown which is north of Liverpool.

Just north of that are Formby, Freshfield, Birkdale, Ainsdale and Southport which are all nice too :)

Gower all the way. Mumbles is lovely and the schools are great. 1 hour from Cardiff, 1 hour from pen y fan, beach on your doorstep. It's perfect here 😍

5 bedroom house in Mumbles for 415k www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124009238

@whalleyt i was there last week, and whilst it’s def cooler than the South, it was about 23-25ish some days.

The Yorkshire Coast - Filey or Whitby!
Lovely area

Loads of places on the Welsh coast. It depends on how close to cities you need to be but the Mumbles is great, as is anywhere along the Carmarthenshire coast. We have a place in Pembrokeshire (near Saundersfoot) and I’d move there in a heartbeat if my DHs work would allow. I’d also look around New Quay way too.

I’m not being biased because I’m Welsh - I’ve lived everywhere from London to the NW and the Midlands but West Wales has it all. It’s not cheap (as everyone seems to think Wales is 🙄) but its certainly better value for money than elsewhere. You’d get a 4 bed detached within 2 miles of the coast for around £400-500k.

@tigerbear you are selling it to me, I don't know enough about coastline up North.

Seaside towns generally seem to have high levels of deprivation, and quite high crime rates.

Some buck that trend, but can be insular,

We found out there’s a reason Sussex is so expensive, the crime rate is comparable to the national average with good levels of employment and fast connections to London. The beaches are a mixture of shingle and sand, but I would look at West Sussex regardless. The crime rate is much lower than Bournemouth or Thanet…

@whalleyt absolutely go visit!
It’s amazing!!

Like this - www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125406038#/?channel=RES_BUY

or this www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125024303#/?channel=RES_BUY

Don't move to the.coastal places I'm Hampshire. I couldn't wait to move away.

Over the border to Dunbar or North Berwick

or Berwick upon tweed or Alnmouth in the NE

@tigerbear I will!

I’ve never been to Stoke but I have been to Teignmouth and a shitpit it is not. Maybe that poster’s mother lived there many years ago and maybe it wasn’t very nice then as it would be nonsense to call it that now.

This would be your doorstep ❤️

Lancaster / Morecambe. The MINUTE I retire, I'm up there from SE England like a shot.

Newton Abbot is grim but I’m sure doesn’t have a coastline so can’t be one of the pics.

Lytham is lovely and is completely separate to Blackpool.

Barrow in Furness is a dump, more like Blackpool. But you do get access to the Lakes

It is worth checking out the Fylde coast.

The futher North you go, the better value of property so would you be able to afford private schools?