Advice for good places to live in the South East countryside

[Frenchboat]

Hello there,

Looking for advice of good places to consider a move to in the South East- Sussex, Kent, Hampshire etc

We currently live in the countryside in Surrey and love it. Good choice of excellent schools, pretty villages, beautiful countryside , very safe but still a lively community, lots of great places and towns within 15 minute drive. Lots of tea rooms, pubs, shops on doorstep do not too rural.

The downside? The cost of houses. We are just bursting at the seams now and can't afford a house big enough. We can't extend much as plot size is tiny but couldn't afford to anyway.

Does anyone know of any places similar (must be in SE due to husbands job) but are more affordable? Good schools are a must.

Budget is £400k.

We don't want a mansion, but somewhere with more than one reception room would be fantastic!

Thank you

Bumping for you as l would be interested too. Where does your dh commute to?

We are in Surrey and are thinking along the same lines....
Horsham? We have visited it once and thought it was quite nice.
Sometimes it's hard to find somewhere when you are used to the affluence in Elmbridge.
I have been looking at places near Southend on Sea recently - Thorpe Bay you can get a beautiful house around that budget and commute into London. I'd love to be by the sea but we'd be further from family.

Rye, Battle, Tenterden all lovely but not really commutable. Sevenoaks has good train links to London.

Also, Canterbury is beautiful, but long drive into London.

You won't get a house with two reception rooms and 4 beds in a reasonable part of Sevenoaks for £400k. You also have the grammar/secondary modern system in a Kent so bear this in mind. Fine if you have spare cash for private or DC that are a shoo in for grammars.....

Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Hassocks and surroundings?

just on the border between East and West Sussex.

Try the East Sussex borders. The train system isn't that great, but a 15min drive to somewhere like Tunbridge Wells can get you into the city in around 45mins. The houses in Crowborough are much more affordable (and bigger plots) than Tunbridge Wells. Or how about one the way to Ashford? Still commutable and from what I've seen the villages nearby are beautiful.

I think that the gap has narrowed significantly in house prices over the decade from home counties to further out. We would love to move down to just outside Chichester but it is surprisingly expensive .... East Sussex is about 20% cheaper than West Sussex. Think tha you need to narrow down your priorities how much commenting time will you endure - how much will the commute cost - this varies enormously depending on what line you are on...where do you need to get to in the city east to west --- this will focus your search to a train line and then you can work out how far from the station you want to be i.e. drive or walk ... then focus on schools - look at their catchments...to find the villages you want....surely there must be an app for this process now???

Good website for schools and commute times is www.locating.com

Sorry that should have been www.locrating.com