Moving to Brighton?

[britflick]

Hi, we're thinking of moving to Brighton from North London, because we feel we've been priced out.
If we stay where we are, we'll have to buy or rent within 1/5 of a mile of the only decent school around, and probably end up in a 1 bed flat.
My son will be starting school in September 2013. Have I left it too late to consider a move? Am I letting myself in for the same problems in Brighton :)
Would love to know any mumsnetter's opinions on the local primary schools. If I'm going to make the move I obviously want to get it right. We have a small budget, but I think it will stretch a little further in Brighton. Would love to come and live there, and my son loves the city. Any advice, gratefully received.

Where in the city do you all want to be and what sort of budget do you have?

It depends what sort of area in Brighton you want/need to be, if you are thinking of anywhere within an easy walk to the station so that you can commute, I doubt very much you will find it any cheaper than North London, possible even more expensive.

The prices do fall once you get outside that ring of an easy walk to the station, but still not massively cheaper than London - you can find places such as Worthing much cheaper & still has good commuter links & still by the sea

Central Brighton Primary Schools are also often over subscribed, especially the good ones, but you wouldn't be too late to get your DCs name on a list - why not try contacting our local Family Info Service - they post on here or you can ring them, their office is in our town hall they can help with up to date info on local School admissions.

That said, having moved from London to here myself when DD came along - you won't regret it, its a far nicer place to bring up DCs

good luck

I live in Brighton.

The schools are hugely oversubcribed in the central area and the "nice" areas. You would seriously need to live within about 500m of a good school.

Renting, you are looking at about £1000 for a 2 bed flat, possibly a bit less/more depending on what you need.

Its a lovely place, but I wouldn't consider it as a cheap option and the schools are a nightmare to get into.

Good luck

I am not living in brighton yet. I am moving hopefully soon from london. Having two children on school year, finding schools and place it's being a nightmare.I hope soon i'll be packing and I think I won't regre it. Good luck

Center of Brighton is difficult for schools. As an example we failed to get into the local outstanding school because we were 700 meters away, the furthest they took was 654 meters.

I would go somewhere near Fiveways - there is Balfour (outstanding, but most people I know dislike it because it is high-pressure), Downs (juniors very good, infants pretty good though the head is quite strict), Hertford (infants and juniors very good - despite the recent ofsted!)

You will have the same dilemma here re schools. My ds went to Downs and then Stringer and can't recommend highly enough He is 18 now and still says his school days were amazing!I have always lived within streets of those schools though and I think that is what it takes to get in so you need to look at Fiveways/Preston Park and parts of Hollingdean( which is a bit cheaper)

I don't know anyone who dislikes Balfour and I disagree it's high pressure. What an odd thing to say. There isn't even any homework in infants apart from reading books

OP, do your homework before coming here. Brighton is pretty much full!

Yes I agree Balfour's a great school never heard anything about pressure

Cake, it's not really an odd thing to say. Op is asking for opinions, and that is mine based on what I know. I have a dozen or so friends with dc there, and most of them complain about it for one reason or another. It's always been the outstanding school in the area, of course, but that doesn't mean the ethos suits everyone.

hi, we've moved to Brighton and are renting at the moment with the idea of buying next spring of so. We're also waiting for our first one, so I guess schools will be a factor when choosing the house. I've heard a lot of positive things about the Preston area, but we'd love to live by the sea. What do people think about Kemp town in terms of family live/schools etc? thanks!

Kemp Town isn't good for primary and terrible for secondary so I wd avoid.

Gosh i would say house prices are considerably cheaper down here than in North London. I have a three bed house for the price i sold my 2 bed london flat - however obviously look on right move to get an idea.

Also worth considering Hove? The train journey is pretty much the same timings wise at peak hours as it is from Brighton and it's a lot less busy/cramped IMO.

I would agree with Katiecubs - it is considerably cheaper in Brighton than in North London, but still not cheap iyswim. We were priced out of N16 our money has gone a lot further here but we still have a massive mortgage. The quality of life is so much better though.
But do be careful if you;re looking at Hove, you can get stung over there for schools. There are a lot of no mans land areas and when we were looking the secondary situation there was not good(that may have changed) unless you can afford private or are religious! I know a lot of people who moved from Hove to preston Park to get their child into a good school.
Downs and Balfour are great but as other have said hard to get into. Do some research though, it's not impossible. I'd look at the School admissions booklet if I were you before you settled on a particular house. It tells you all the stats about how far away the furthest child admitted was in the last intake. You can then compare this to any prospective houses. Once you have decided on an area potential school you should try to go see them on their open days if possible - you'll have to apply by January for Sep 2013 intake.
Good luck!