Brighton area

[Joelijane]

We are currently thinking of our next move. Living in a 2 bed flat in Upper Norwood we need more space for our 2 boys, 4 yrs and 20months. Given how expensive property is we know we have to move out of London to get what we want, 3 bedroom house, garden near good schools. Our budget is limited between 325-400k depending on my work increasing which I'm working towards! We are keen to start researching different areas and I'm starting with brighton and surrounding area. Does anyone have any knowledge or tips on specific areas that might fit what we want? It's quite overwhelming but keen to start the ball rolling. Thank you

Harrow Road is very far from being “one of the nicest” roads in Worthing! Absolutely nightmare parking and no gardens. Also in a secondary catchment black hole. Allocations come out in 3 weeks here and all bar the boys (about to be co-Ed) secondaries are over subscribed. They’re all quite good which is comforting. I’d be looking in Tarring in order to try and get a place at either Durrington or Worthing High depending which side you looked.

That house puts in in the area for Thomas A Beckett infants and juniors and Worthing high school. All with good ofsted reports. Worthing high used to be pretty poor but over the last 5 years has really improved after a new head came in.
The are a few nice oldie world style pubs in the area too. The George is within walking distance and pre COVID was always popular.

I didn’t say it was the nicest but popular which it is as it is close to town and the station. All the roads in Worthing which don’t have parking restrictions are a nightmare for parking so it is something you have put up with if you want the location or look into dropping the kerb.

@Proudboomer yeah it is on the edge of a housing a estate but was just posting as an example of the sort of house you could get in that budget. There won’t be any centrally located gorgeous period houses for that budget...

[quote Incrediblytired]@Proudboomer yeah it is on the edge of a housing a estate but was just posting as an example of the sort of house you could get in that budget. There won’t be any centrally located gorgeous period houses for that budget...[/quote]
Nothing wrong with the area or the house itself but it is a bit of a treck for schools and other amenities. Not too far from the lido so that is a plus in summer.

Shoreham-by-Sea, Steyning, Worthing, Lancing all worth looking at.

@Joelijane fair enough I didn't know anything about it & only visited in 2019, it was really nice.

@Proudboomer as a teacher and parent of a y6 child, living in west Worthing, there are no catchment areas for secondary, whatever the Rightmove website says. It’s a total lottery and if you have a child who is not in the priority categories, is either the oldest or an only, you get what you are given. West Park as it is huge will accept kids from that part of town for primary but in reality, OP will be applying late if she chooses Worthing (and there are many great reasons to do so, travel to London and house prices and schools being favourable) so will be given what is left. I live less than 1km from a secondary but am still not sure that my child will get in and fully prepared to end up with Chatsmore or whatever it is called now or St Andrews. Some kids last year living in Goring ended up at Woodard in Lancing or Angmering.

The problem with the areas East of Brighton like Saltdean is they have no train service which OP DH will need.

You won't afford a house in a nice area of Brighton or Hove on that money OP sorry.

I would look at Worthing as there are regular direct trains to London.

There are also trains to London from seaford, Berwick, lewes but you can’t afford lewes. Eastbourne could be another option and the schools there are supposed to be good.

@MaskingForIt

Shoreham-by-Sea, Steyning, Worthing, Lancing all worth looking at.

There is absolutely no way you are going to get a reasonably ok house on that budget in Steyning or Shoreham. Worthing maybe, Lancing probably but who on earth would want to live there.

Dominicains I am in the bn12 post code and my youngest left chatsmore a few years ago and I would pick it over St. Andrews which has gone down hill in recent years.
When my children were younger we lived in lancing and I didn’t like Woodard and chose chatsmore over it. Not an option for everyone as it is a catholic school and not everyone wants a catholic school.
I know Worthing is over subscribed but I thought durrington was large enough to take the overspill but things could have changed in the last few years especially with the amount of new builds and the proposed building on chatsmore farm and mash barn .

And Arrivederla is right avoid lancing as a massive new estate along with an IKEA is about to be built there. Over 600 new houses being built on a flood plane and a new roundabout off the a12 to access IKEA and the estate. The traffic on the coast road and the top road is already a nightmare and once the new development is built it will only be worse.
The village itself used to be quite nice but now it is just takeaway shops and charity shops so even without the building works I would still avoid.