If you had £500k to buy a house near Brighton, where would you choose and why?

[CobOnTheCorn]

DP would like to live in Brighton but I'm not so sure so my compromise is somewhere close by. Say within 10 miles.

I don't know the area that well so we're going to spend next week in Brighton and take a look around a few areas. So, where do you think we should visit?

Agree with beattie(hello) everyone I know who has done it has run out of steam and it has affected their family lives terribly

Yes, not keen to commit to a long commute. We don't live inLondon at the moment so commuting isn't alien but we live close enough that the commute is manageable...just!

My parents moved to Brighton from Purley 30 years ago (when I was one) and Dad has commuted all this time.

I did Newhaven to London Bridge for a few months, it really is no worse than a commute to SE London which I did for years.

I live in Haywards Heath and DH takes 45 mins to London Bridge. It doesnt have the alternative vibe - but you can go to Lewes or Forest Row or even a bit in Lindfield or Ditchling for that. If you have young ones it is central and near enough to Brighton (20 mins) for a manageable day trip and close enough to London to still be able to enjoy.

Reading your posts and I think getting an idea of your priorities, apart from Lewes you won't get the quirkiness you want. And even there it's more lentil weaving than edgy.
If you don't mind suburbia, I think you should look at Hove, around the Goldstone area, close to Hove Park.
Also Denmark Villas and Hova Villas - very close to Hove station, and good gardens.

Went to a wedding in Worthing recently, right by the Mulberry in fact and it was a lovely area. Nice town centre too.

mrspink Haywards Heath seems to offer a practical option of reasonable commute and close to the other areas that we like.

What is it like living there?

Bewitched do you know about the schools in Hove? We love the park and there are some lovely houses nearby but are there good schools nearby too? I can't remember the specifics now but I have some recollection of struggling to find decent schools near to houses that are close to the park.

If you can forego a massive garden, have a look at Fiveways/Blakers Park /Golden Triangle area (Chester Terrace, Waldegrave Road etc). You will be near London Road Station, Preston Park and bus/walkable to Brighton station (depending on road). The area is heaving with families and decent state schools - Balfour and Downs for Primary and varndean and Dorothy Stringer at Secondary- all easy walkable distance to each other. Loads of nurseries and playgroups too, near 3 parks - Large Preston Park, very small but lovely for young children, Blakers Park and also small Hollingbury Park. Lots of buses down to seafront in about 10 minutes and a short drive out to the Downs and lots of village pubs and long vistas.

However, everything seems close and quick to get to compared to living in London- whichever area you choose.

I have always lived in that area for schools its lovely and tbh I don't think I would consider anywhere else if I had a young family.

It's a "naice" place to live. Most things are available within walking distance or within a short drive. I live there, parking is £6 ish a day at the station - but there are plenty of buses and DH walks 20 mins to avoid the charge. On a rainy day he takes a taxi which is £5 so still cheaper than parking! Some parking on roads surrounding if you dont mind a 2-5 minute walk.

HH is great for us as we are within walking distance of town and can wander in when we need to. Only frustration is no decent clothes shops for children but there is an MandS, Jojo maman bebe, Next, Fatface, DP, New look, WHSmith, Boots. Over run with coffee shop choices: Caffe Nero, Costa, Il Caffe Co, couple of independents and a Starbucks in the big Sainsburys. Also a Sains and Tesco local and an Iceland as well as MS food and a co-op. Big Tesco and Waitrose in nearby Burgess Hill and an Asda at Hollingbury outside of Brighton. But it also has an independent butcher, fishmonger and a couple of greengrocers which are fab.

Restaurants and Cafes include several Chinese, Indian, Fish and Chips as well as a Thai. Also Pizza Express, Cafe Rouge, Prezzo and Zizzi and a Harvester. Also several independents and bars.

Large leisure centre with pool and lots of parks, woodland and close to Ashdown Forest and Downs for outdoorsy activities.

It seems to be a lot more coastal focused and lovely to be so near Lewes and Brighton but also still within good commutable distance of Croydon, Bluewater and London.

PM me if you would like to know about local schools or anything else!

Thanks noddy, do you mean Hove or generally East Sussex?

I meant Fiveways/Blakers/Preston Park

Gotcha, thanks. Our friends live near those areas and their some goes to a v good primary and he's off to either Stringer or Varndean next year - I hear both are v good.

But the gardens! I'll keep looking in those areas as some of the houses are lovely. I saw one for sale overlooking Blakers park recently which is a lovely spot and it needed some work which is ideal for us butr the garden is smaller than our current one which feels too small.

Do you have a required number of bedrooms, detached etc? Apart from a big ish garden what are the other items on your wish list! And what are your no nos?!

lovely 4 bed semi in Hurspierpoint

4 bed detached in Ditchling

6 bed semi in Sheffield Park

South Chailey with a swimming pool!!!

3 bed in Keymer

Any good?

mrspink sorry - been out all day, our first day in Brighton. We're going to start exploring tomorrow so your links are v helpful.

I think my favourite house is the one in Keymer. Reasons: love the view at the back, we could do it up, below the stamp duty threshold and close to a station. No idea what Keymer is like though!

Hurtpierpoint is a bit too done up for us and the price reflects that, also a bit further from the station than we'd prefer.

The Ditchling one is already on my radar

Sheffield Park house is def too far from a station.

Not keen on the Chailey house, a bit far from the station and a bit too far from the nearest school too.

I'll pm you to ask about s hooks and somewhere for us to go in HH

Sorry I know there are schools near Hove Park but no idea what they are like, we lived somewhere else when mine were at school.
Fiveways and further up Ditchling Road worth a look.

Thanks, I'll have a closer look at the roads near there now we're here.

Oh and my wish list is:
4 beds
Semi rural
1 mile to train station
1 mile to good primary school
Osp
Detatched
Project to do up
Massive garden
Walking distance to local amenities

My reality list is:
3 beds (perhaps with scope to extend)
1 - 2 miles to train station
1 mile to good primary school
Osp
Project to do up
Large garden

No nos:
Mid terrace
Small garden
No osp
More than 2 miles from station
Longer than 1 hour to London
More than 1 mile to primary school
Too close to train station/busy road/sewage works etc

I just typed a massive reply to you Cob, in favour of Burgess Hill, and lost it. Have to go now, but briefly;

I reckon Hassocks would be for you in terms of a bit alternative, villagey etc, but its a bit pricey, at least 2 shabby chic shops for instance!

I moved to BH from London because my teenage son would have been miserable in Keymer/Chailey/Ditchling where we also looked.
Here he can get the train in 10 minutes walking distance back to his London friends, or to Brighton for school, Lewes for friends etc.

I can walk to a field and then open countryside in 1 minute for dog walks, and
yet drive into town (not exciting I admit) in 2 minutes
BUT I can park easily and do
Waitrose, Boots, Post Office, etc all the boring stuff dealt with with no hassle.
Good doctors, hospitals near.
Then drive in to Brighton in 15 minutes for shops, restaurants etc.

I actually love it here, though it isn't smart, or as sought after as other villages. Massive gardens, good housing stock in your budget.

I would do it again, although didn't use the local schools, for choice in future would go to Hurstpierpoint, but the traffic is a mare, and I would still end up coming back here for everyday stuff, rather than going there for chic.

I think BH is now in danger of falling victim to urban sprawl and will soon merge into one homogeneous large over populated area. But I have friends there who quite like it... I think you have to visit and see what you think. I personally wouldnt want to live there.

I will carry on searching in HH and surrounds....

I don't know if you have property bee, but looking at the Keymer house on rightmove with property bee downloaded (you can only use it with firefox but it is worth downloading it), you can see that it was originally on for £540,000 and they dropped the price on the 25th July.

The balance is hard to strike. The urban sprawl you refer to mrspink is something we'd prefer to steer away from (even though we both grew up in cities). But to move somewhere more rural means gphaving to travel to access amenities.

We left London about 5 years ago and moved to the home counties/suburbia thinking it would offer bet of both worlds (close to London but easy access to countryside). In reality it is neither here nor there, there is little to distinguish it from from similar towns all the way round the M25.

I'd like to avoid making the same is take so I'm looking for independent shops and something a bit different.

Burgess Hill is on our long list Teamburgess mainly because of the commute. In fact we saw a v lovely house on rightmove in BH but it seemed to be surrounded by an industrial estate. We need to visit to get a proper 'feel' but realistically we can only visit so many places with2 young dc in tow.

Kiss I've never heard of property bee but what you say about the price drop is v interesting...I'm off to google.

Really the best way is to come down and drive round these places and get a 'feel'.

We did this when we were house-hunting and it is surprising that what looks good on property details websites, doesn't always reflect the feel of the place.

Good luck!