To move to Brighton and Hove

[Decisionsdecisionsss]

I've name changed for this as I'm giving away lots of info but I am a regular poster.

We made the decision to relocate to B&H from Bromley (South East London suburb) but we are now at the stage of offering on a property and I'm getting really cold feet.
I've been told the secondary schools are too risky due to the lottery. We would be moving away from an area where the schools are consistently good with the option of grammar school (probably wouldn't go to it but it's an option) so it's important that we don't sacrifice a good education for our three boys (currently under 6). We have seen a property we like in Patcham, which would mean our children going to patcham infants, juniors and secondary school but I've heard mixed things about it.

Has anyone made a move like this and was it worth it?! Does anyone live around there they can give some advice?
We wanted to move to be close to the sea and the downs, and we love the vibe and atmosphere particularly in hove and more relaxed lifestyle than London, but we can't afford a big enough house with a garden in the part of Hove we like, so would be looking at Patcham. We are also considering Shoreham.

Any views on these areas would be great. Im wondering if this dream of mine is a bit selfish and whether the kids would be better off staying put, but I've wanted to be near the sea forever, so I'm so torn, and Id also love the opportunity to get into water sports for ourselves and the kids, but would that even happen if we are further up from the sea!?
So. confused! Help!

We moved out of Worthing to Wales because of the crime, ridiculous traffic and building on every spare bit of grass which exacerbated the traffic, lack of infrastructure..we moved out of Brighton to start a family for similar reasons then quickly realised Worthing was no better. Shoreham was nice but is being ruined by the flats pp mentions. You could look at Henfield, Steyning, Hassocks. I know its nice to be right by the sea but IME the negatives of that particular area outweigh the positives.

I think this is unbelievably exaggerated. Hastings and St Leonard’s are brilliant community areas. Of course there are drug addicts but nowhere near as many issues as there were. It’s a deprived area so not as pretty as South West but still fab

I made the move from SE London to Hove two years ago and wake up every day thankful that I live here next to the sea! I loved London too but there’s something really special about being down on the coast and to me Brighton and Hove still have the absolute edge over anywhere else mentioned here. Hove, Patcham, Preston Park etc are all VERY family friendly. I too was cautioned about schools but in my experience all the primaries have been and my friends who have have older kids than my primary age ones and have all been through the secondary system and they’re all well educated, nice children off to university. Like I said I am so thankful I made the move. I would do it again in a heartbeat. If you want to be by the sea and raise a family yet also have some fun and exciting things to do around you then the family areas of Brighton and Hove are unbeatable. Happy to answer PMs.

I wouldn't. Chichester is lovely! Bognor is a shite hole, to be honest unless you're quite well off, most of Sussex is a dump. And yes I live in Sussex so know first hand 😂😂

Brighton is great and Patcham good for families. It's Brighton - you don't move to Brighton if you want Haslemere or Tunbridge Wells. It's a bit edgy but very tolerant and lively. All the kids I know brought up and educated in Brighton are great we'll rounded adults making their way in the world.

I don't live in Brighton but visit many times, also Hastings. I really like both towns. Yes there's crime and drugs, but you have these problems everywhere. MN is funny about 'crime and druggy' areas, and does seem to have it in for coastal towns. I see people on here asking about the best zone one/two areas to live in ( London ) and people fall over themselves recommending the biggest crime ridden dumps known to man. MN is still very London centric.

It really isn't!
but don't come here anyway - I'm afraid I'm not a fan of Londoners selling up and bringing their insanely inflated buying power to the south coast as it's very bad for local house prices

I hate Brighton. Lived there for five years. Expensive, pretentious, dirty, boring. Hove is shit in that it's full of Hove Actually mums and the property is ludicrously expensive for what you're getting.

There are some lovely newbuild in Barnham.

Haywards Heath gets you good secondary schools.

I looked for a long time at Shoreham (I used to live in Brighton but live in London for work reasons now). I love Shoreham but the flooding risk really worries me. There's not much there that wouldn't get obliterated in a bad flood given its position with the river.

If you only have to be in London once a week and need to get to Surrey easily have you looked at places in and around Bournemouth/Christchurch? Far easier to get to the M3 and although the train takes ages, if it's once a week, it's totally doable.

I live in Brighton and I love it. Have lived in other places and returned. Brighton is a place that people love to hate but I really enjoy living here. This summer me and the (primary age) kids have spent nearly every day of the holidays at the beach, even if it's just an evening BBQ. Friends' teens have all been doing daily trips down to the beach- having it on your doorstep is amazing. I live in an area near Patcham and can see the appeal of it. In terms of secondary schools, Dorothy Stringer and Varndean both do very well- Patcham High is good too I think...a different kind of cohort but a small school which is good.
Shoreham also a good bet...don't know about schools there though.
Life is never boring here! Yes it's not perfect but I feel grateful to live somewhere with so much going on. Spoilt for choice with family activities and then having the countryside and quieter stretches of coast so nearby too.

Have you looked at Bexhill? Maybe a bit quieter then you'd like but the schools are good.

Hm, goes off to examine the map...

Should have said that there is also lots going on culturally with the festival but year round great theatre / music / comedy. Chichester gets a pretty good deal with those things too, although maybe Brighton has more genres/ variety.

Don't leave London! I moved back to Brighton from London ten years ago and I miss London so much. Bear in mind that the cost of living in Brighton is the same as London without the jobs market to support it, or the range of things to do.

Sorry to hijack but does anyone know much about areas further in, eg. Polegate, Hailsham etc.
Moving to that area and starting to worry a bit.

Thanks for all your comments. Trying to reply whilst looking after 3 kids in this heat including a 4 week old, please someone put me out of my misery!

Anyway, @iliveinbrighton our main criteria was being close to the sea, close enough to walk or cycle. We settled on poets corner and the area around Aldrington station. We very nearly bought a house there, but realistically it was too small for a family of 5 and limited garden space so we decided against it.
We then thought we would be better going a bit further back for more space, but that obviously limits access to the sea, although someone upthread has said driving to the hove side of the coast is easy enough.

I'm glad to hear quite a few people like Patcham! It's good to hear some positive experiences.

In terms of school, someone mentioned the cohort is different to Dorothy stringer. Is that a nice way of saying it's more 'rough'?
I went to a school next to a big council estate, I'm not a snob in the slightest and want the kids to mix with a whole range of people, but I wouldn't wish my school experience on my own kids, school was just survival for me! I don't get the impression its like that round there though.

I live in a very small village about 20 miles from Brighton. I don’t even go for the day as I don’t feel safe. Drug addicts and drunks everywhere-even during the day. Could never imagine letting my kids out to play anywhere around that area. Have you actually spent much time in Brighton? You seem to have idealistic values. Your budget isn’t too bad, if certainly be looking at the villages around Sussex.

Poets corner is lovely- excellent primaries nearby, close to Hove beach and Blatchington Mill secondary not too far. But like you say, the flip side is small houses and gardens round that way!
I wouldn't imagine Patcham would be risking the experience you had 🤞. It's improved greatly recently and is now oversubscribed I think- Patcham has seen a lot of families move from other areas of Brighton due to space & cost too..

@Childbeinganiggtmare I haven't spent much time in Brighton no. Ive been there a few times when I was younger for nights out, a hen weekend, and I've been there once for the day.
I've spent a lot of time in Hove, we have a friend who lives there who we visit quite a bit so I'm familiar with that area. I am definitely too idealistic though. The idea I have of this relocation probably won't match the reality, especially judging by this thread!

I have name changed as I live close by and will put some information. We moved to horsham last year as we owe a restaurant there and we love it. We had a business in haywards heath too so where there every day and will be opening our second branch there very soon as we liked it and want to be back there. Brighton is not far.

The schools in Horsham and haywards heath are very good. We moved from Crawley which was not great.

I like brighton for a day trip but I really wouldn't live there if I didn't have to. Its very expensive. Always busy and the schools aren't great from what I have heard. It's a tourist location too so it wouldn't be like a small town living.

Pm me if you want to know anything else.

@stuntbubbles I think you just sunk my home...

East Grinstead is quite nice too. We lived there for a bit. Worthing is ok for the beach for a trip but not selsey near Chichester is a very nice costal town. We have friends living there and they love it. They moved there from Hampshire.

I grew up in Tunbridge Wells and went to school in tonbridge. They are OK. Tunbridge Wells better than tonbridge in my opinion and not too far from Brighton.

Personally I think Brighton and Hove are up themselves and crazily expensive. I'd much rather live in or near Hastings, even though parts of it are rough. Much prefer the countryside there too, you've got Hastings Country Park and lovely quiet seashore along to Rye.