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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To move to Folkestone - tell me all!

158 replies

Putthedamnlidonit · 30/05/2020 20:14

Hi everyone,

We are considering a move to Folkestone from Portslade as the schools are better and we would like to get a bit more for our money. We have a budget of 700k max, have three children toddler -age 7. We are quite alternative and like the liberal feel of Brighton but can't afford a decent house and garden there. Have read through some awful threads about Folkestone but no recent ones. So, is it nice? Schools look excellent, are there plenty of things to do with kids, similar to Brighton and Portslade? We like where we live but are fed up of having a tiny garden. No need to commute to London anymore. Any advice much appreciated! Thanks!

OP posts:

DroopyClematis · 30/06/2021 18:08

Lived in Kent for nearly 25 years.
Some of it is absolutely gorgeous, but there are still some dodgy bits, like many counties.
I'm afraid that I wouldn't put Folkestone in the gorgeous bracket. Or even the lovely bracket.
It's ok for a day trip but I wouldn't live there.
Yes it's started some regeneration but it'll take time to re-establish itself.
There are plenty of other lovely places in Kent... Deal, Canterbury, but have a look at some of the villages and smaller towns more inland.

Kent has always been described as 'The Garden of England' but it's not because it's been beautifully gardened, it's because it's where crops grow. The landscape can be rather bland.

There is a lot of deprivation in Kent, much of it along the coast.

Personally, I'd move further along the coast towards Sussex or even , in it.

BeeeMac · 30/06/2021 18:33

@ folkestonegirl thank you that’s my feeling it ticks a lot of boxes outside of the beautiful one
I’ll keep looking to see if I can find something in my price range

Mynameisgertie · 26/06/2023 19:42

This might be useful for more information on the town: https://rebeccamasonneon.com/thingstodoinfolkestone

Visiting, or moving to, Folkestone — R E B E C C A // M A S O N

Things to do in Folkestone, visiting folkestone, what's on in Folkestone, moving to Folkestone

https://rebeccamasonneon.com/thingstodoinfolkestone

France556 · 26/06/2023 20:16

LakieLady · 31/05/2020 07:27

You might want to consider Hastings, OP. It was a shithole a few years ago, but it's starting to turn a corner. A lot of alternative/arty types have moved down over the last few years, and it's changing.

There's one road in the town centre that a couple of years ago was really rough at one end and like Brighton at the other. It has quite a good community spirit and lots of stuff going on.

The west of the town is more on the up than the east, and prices are still low, but climbing. Last year, rents and house prices went up more (pro rata) in Hastings than "naice" Lewes or Brighton. For your budget, you could get an enormous period pile, maybe even in the trendy Old Town. The area around Alexandra Park is lovely.

Re Portslade, it's so far from Brighton centre that you don't really get the Brighton vibe. On the edge of lovely countryside though.

If you have girls, the single-sex Helenswood has a good reputation.

Hastings is a fantastic place to live but not if you have school aged children. The schools are really bad. Also the council is about to be put into special measures which will have an impact on services

Wasntmeanttobelikethis · 12/08/2025 13:08

Where did you move to, OP? Being very nosy!

Starling7 · 12/08/2025 16:46

I live in Bexhill and often visit neighbouring St Leonards and Hastings. St Leonards has recently become an amazing buzzing area full of artists, musicians etc and definitely a vibe. Hastings also voted green like Brighton. Historically Hastings has been a very deprived town and still is in many areas, but it's really coming up. Bexhill is quieter but still becoming more arty etc. If I were you I would consider looking Round here. Xx

BologneseGurl · 12/08/2025 17:18

HeyThereDelilah1 · 30/05/2020 21:08

Look at Hythe, down the road from Folkestone but a million times nicer and with an alternative / arty scene. I grew up there and now live in London, the only scary experiences I’ve had at night have been in Folkestone, there’s a lot of poverty and huge drug problems.

Omg I so agree with this I lived there mid - late 2000s

BologneseGurl · 12/08/2025 18:01

In the mid - late 2000s I lived in a block of flats in Folkestone that was nicknamed ‘The Crack House’ and the town centre was grim as …

But I left in 2009 so my experience could be very outdated

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