What's it like to live in Haywards Heath?

[Holmcross]

Hi

We're looking to buy a house somewhere reasonable to commute into London a few days a week (one into South west London near Clapham Junction and Twickenham, the other into the City) in a town which is nice to raise a family in with some green space around. We're a couple and hope to have children in next few years.

We have been looking at Haywards Heath. Does anyone live here and can tell me what it's like to live there? What are the trains like, what's the town like, are there any areas to avoid, any other tips?

Our budget is about 600/650k and looking for 3 bedrooms with a small garden.

Thanks you!

It's a pretty standard commuter town. The area to avoid is Bentswood, generally the best area is closer to the station or in Lindfield.

Bump

Thanks, that’s helpful on areas

Hey! Are you also looking?

The trains are pretty good actually, but the area around the train station can get blocked with traffic quite often. The town is alright but very bland, though the broadway which has loads of little bars and restaurants is nice. Crime is low but the area around America Lane and surrounding streets is much more deprived than the rest of the town.
Burgess Hill is a bit cheaper but not quite as good for commuting.

My DH grew up and went to secondary school in H Heath and his elderly parents still live there. He says it was quite a dull by safe place to grow up. We’ve been many times for family visits and ‘The Orchards’ (the central shopping area) is fairly useful, but not very exciting with mainly standard shops - a handy, but smallish M&S though, which is a bonus!

Personally I wouldn’t live there as it’s just too dull and not close enough to anywhere else that’s interesting either.

I lived and commuted to London (near Westminster) from Brighton for many years and if you can cope with a slightly longer commute then I’d highly recommend it (you could also live in Hove or Preston Park as there are direct trains from there too). It’s a really vibrant city with plenty to do, plus the very long prom and seafront which is great for walking, chilling and eating out.

Alternatively if you’re after a smaller place, but with some life in it then Lewes (pronounced Lewis) is MUCH more interesting and characterful than H Heath. Good array of independent shops as well as coffee shops, shopping and a small Waitrose.

Avoid Burgess Hill - it’s just not very nice, underinvested in by local councils and the shopping precinct is rubbish.

Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint are both nice, fairly sleepy small towns (that like to call themselves villages) with very good schools from infant to secondary.

It's fine but bland and rather boring. That's part of the reason why I moved away from there. I always had to go shopping elsewhere often too as there's not much else other than hairdressers and estate agents

Did you move to HH in the end? I'm looking to move there as the commute to King's Cross seems okay. Currently live in Abbey Wood which I love and is a brilliant commute with the new Elizabeth Line and also live next to the ancient woodland which is lovely but need to move closer to family (to help out) who live near Hayward's Heath.

We moved to Haywards Heath as I was commuting to Surrey and our Son was commuting to Art College in East London. It is a bit boring but very nice countryside very accessible. It's a lot cheaper than Brighton or Lewes for housing, your budget would go far here. You can get to the coast and Universities quite easily but public transport is not so good. Gatwick is very accessible and there's a regular train to Cambridge. They're starting to build a multi Plex cinema and there's quite a good classical music scene. Lots of outdoor sports facilities and open spaces for dog walking. We can go to London for a night out easily, with less stress than night journeys in London.

Thank you - that's re-assuring. I can cope with 'a bit boring' as long as it's relatively safe and okay for commuting. It's a question of affordability; I love Lewes and it's really quaint but it's more expensive and I'd need to change twice to get to King's Cross which makes the journey just a bit too long.

You only need change once for Kings Cross from Lewes, anywhere between Lewes and East Croydon. Personally prefer a nicer hometown that HH, if you can do that extra 15 mins or so each way.

That's weird, when I looked at Trainline it definitely showed 2 changes (maybe the second change is the short walk between St pancras International & King's Cross). Will have a look at Lewes too, but housing there is (quite a bit) more expensive.