Should we leave London for Hastings?

[Usernamenotavailabletryanother]

Hoping you’ll tell me what to do, as have no idea.

We’re in east London at the moment, have 2 kids aged 8 and 11 (eldest starting secondary next week).

Both worked in London until DH was made redundant at the beginning of lockdown. I work in local government but not sure I want to continue to do so.

We’ve never, ever wanted to leave London before- but have had our heads turned by Hastings/St. Leonards. Is this a terrible idea?

Could be work wise, but with a much smaller mortgage we could be more flexible with the type of work we do.

I’ve heard that the secondaries aren’t great; how bad are they?

Has anyone made the move and loved/hated it?

Any advice or views would be very welcome

The Alexandra Park area is indeed a lovely place to live.

If you are considering a move and have any questions about schools or anything else, feel free to ask me.

Yes username - and I will come back in a month or two and report on the secondary schools - when DD gets her in year place!

Just to add - you are right, some stunning houses around Alexandra Park, really beautiful. I am really happy with mine, it has a cracking view of the sea, the castle and much of the town.

The park itself is one of the best parks I've been to - I used to live near Victoria park in Hackney which I loved but this one is IMO better. Tons of different spots to walk, lovely reservoirs you can fish in, quiet places, more family places, a good cafe, even a miniature railway!! Pre Covid times regular events staged there. The variety of trees and wildlife in the park is staggering if you're into that kind of thing. Very good tree climbing if you have young kids.

That’s so good to hear, @Vintagevixen- especially as we used to live next to Victoria Park! When we looked around the area around Alexandra Park, we all said how much it reminded us of our old area which we all loved so much. We’re less taken with the area of east London we live in now, and I think this was a big part of why we had our heads turned...

@CatkinToadflax, I very much appreciate that- any info about schools would be very welcome. Have two very different kids, so any info would be helpful, thank you

We are making the move to the Alexandra Park area of Hastings within the next month (sale/purchase permitting). We have spent a lot of time in Hastings/St Leonard's area over the last few years (holidays/long weekends). We are drawn to the area because of the amazing countryside/pubs/restaurants and all things arty-farty. Train links to Brighton, London, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford International. There is a lot of poverty here - but the good things outweigh the bad. I mainly work from home but need a to go into the London office once a week. We looked at Worthing also - which is lovely. There are lots of Facebook groups for the Hastings and St Leonard's area but the most useful one for finding out which roads might have more antisocial issues than others is called 'DFLs, OFBs, DFSs etc' and also for offers to meet up once I've landed, joining cinema groups (Kino and electric cinema) open water swimming to name but a few. So my advice is contact the locals who made the move. Unfortunately/fortunately, depending on how you look at it - there is a very buoyant/competitive housing market. Prices have not fallen in the five years this area has been on my radar and in fact have increased significantly in price for a 'finished product'. I believe there is a bit of tension between the locals being squeezed out of the rental/housing market and a local estate agent informed me that 80% of the viewings are from people who are from outside the area. Good luck with your decision

DipperL I am trying to figure out what the acronyms "DFLs, OFBs, DFSs" stand for. I'm guessing Down from London and over from Brighton for the first two? But what is DFS (other than a sofa shop )?! It's bugging me that I can't figure it out!

@MeanwhileTime 'Down from Surrey (or Suffolk)'. Such a great group - full of info straight from the horse's mouth 🐴

Aha, gotcha! Thank you

Kids from Hastings travel to T Wells, Tonbridge and Maidstone so they are still loosing that tier of pupils from comps to the grammar system.

Great tip DipperL - didn't know about that Facebook group, have applied to join!