Buying in Margate

[Isabe11e]

Hi all,
Just wondering if there are any Margate Mumsnetters there out there who can advise on good areas/streets to buy a property in the town. Are there areas to avoid? I
TIA!
Isabelle

Personally I would look at Westgate and Birchington more than Margate proper. I don’t know it hugely well, but moved a few years ago to a neighbouring seaside town and have been going there regularly all my life as have relatives there. Despite people saying it’s been”up and coming” for forever I still find most of the town itself very depressing and run down...

I lived in Margate for a short while. Nice beach but nothing else there. Have you been there?
I really wouldn’t recommend Margate to anyone it is not a nice town. The beach is nice but again that’s only really useful in summer months which isn’t exactly the longest time of year. And ok fair enough you get the theme park but that’s only open during summer months too. Hardly any shops, the high street is dead.
Broadstairs nearby is supposed to be better and popular for home buyers. This is what I’ve heard I can’t say from experience.

If you're a creative/ relocating from London it could suit you. Slightly off topic but you might find the tongue in cheek articles in 'The Daily Margz' illuminating.

thedailymargz.tumblr.com/post/149165643365/hastings-v-margate-punch-up-over?is_related_post=1

I lived in Margate for a short while. Nice beach but nothing else there.

No offence but you're very out of date. There's some lovely restaurants and shops, not to mention the Turner Contemporary!

@goldenpalms I doubt I’m out of date I only left Margate in February this year

I doubt I’m out of date I only left Margate in February this year

Well there's a lot more things in Margate than just a nice beach, so...

I suppose what I really want to know is if there are any really dodgy to areas to avoid.

Cliftonville West and Margate central wards have the highest anti social crime figures for Kent. I would especially avoid Cliftonville west. There are quirky shops and bars in the area, much like up and coming areas in London such as Peckham and Brixton (but cheaper) but would recommend looking at the areas further out such as Cliftonville east, towards Broadstairs and Birchington, Westgate.

@goldenpalms Have I touched a nerve or something? Your comments are coming across quite agitated? :/

Anyway my comment is Just saying I personally wouldn’t recommend Margate as a whole. I spent over a year living there during summer and winter, didn’t like it and so moved on. It’s not for everyone but could be for you, OP. Just go there for a short stay of say a month and try get a feel for it before making the decision? Just a suggestion 😊

Also like a PP said, Cliftonville West and Central areas can be rough so avoid those areas to live definitely

Lollzzz DidYouSaySomething! I work in Hackney so totally get the humour ;-)

Thanks to everyone else for your comments/suggestions.

Ps Just read that Cliftonville is apparently one of the hippest places in the country! Presuming that's CliftonvilleEast, then??

www.kentlive.news/whats-on/whats-on-news/cliftonville-been-named-one-hippest-1138200?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

DidYouSaySomething that's a hilaroius article! thanks for maing me laugh on a srtessful day
The seaside influence, haha.

OP you are getting some good advice here.

Margate has been 'up and coming' for years - it has been a very very slow improvement and still has a long way to go. Yes you have the Turner ( which has very little art to actually see!) and some quirky shops ( which keep closing with another shop reopening) but its deprived with drug and alcohol problems and anti social behaviour galore.

Walk down northdown road and see the deprivation alongside a couple of 'trendy' coffee shops which charge ridiculous prices with a few ' creatives' hanging about and some people down from London - the local community have little real opportunities and poor educational and health provision.

Don't be fooled by the Instagramers showing their big Victorian houses they are renovating in Cliftonville and Margate, most of these are on some of the worse streets in town surrounded by run down streets with brothels and drug houses only a few doors away.

It all sounds very bohemian ( if you like that sort of thing) but the reality is being surrounded by anti social behaviour and a run down town is draining,
depressing and scary at times, no matter how nice you F&B painted walls are.

Westgate, Birchington and Broadstairs are much better, whitstable is best if you can afford it!

OP what is it you are looking for that you are hoping Margate is going to provide? Is it creativity (if so move to Folkestone which is infinitely nicer and has as much if not more investment in the arts) or a ‘hip’ vibe (if so move to Whitstable which is far more DFL established) or picture postcard seaside (if so move to Broadstairs which is far more beautiful) or is it gorgeous, affordable housing stock (if so look at Ramsgate which has loads of period properties at affordable prices)?? All I am saying is unless it is for family reasons there are lovelier locations all along the Kent coast that are preferable places for a seafront lifestyle...

Have I touched a nerve or something?

It’s just frustrating to see someone write off an entire place when there’s a lot more to it than just a nice beach. But I suspect the OP knows that, as she wouldn’t be wanting to move there if she didn’t!

is it gorgeous, affordable housing stock (if so look at Ramsgate which has loads of period properties at affordable prices?

@SheridansSmyth is Ramsgate more affordable than Margate would you say?

@goldenpalms I wasn’t the only poster to say something bad about it. A pp had said it was depressing before I posted. Which it is. I’m just glad I was private renting so I could move out quicker than it may have been to sell up and move somewhere else.
I was simply writing from my experience. Margate is nice to visit in the summer. There are much better places to live though. Sorry if that offends you 🤷🏻‍♀️

@mummadaffodile it’s simply not true to say there’s “nothing else there” though.

@goldenpalms

is it gorgeous, affordable housing stock (if so look at Ramsgate which has loads of period properties at affordable prices?

@SheridansSmyth is Ramsgate more affordable than Margate would you say?

I don’t live in either so I only know what I have heard anecdotally from people I know (plus am in a couple of Kent coast property groups as moved down here from London myself a few years ago, but have ties in the wider Kent coast area and have visited my entire life) which is that Ramsgate has good housing stock and is far more affordable than all the other towns I mentioned plus many more (Deal, Sandwich, Herne Bay, Sandgate to name some other). In fact I don’t think there are many more affordable places than Ramsgate other than Dover...and you don’t really want to live there!

Westgate is nice and close to Margate. Both Margate & Ramsgate are tricky, lots of run down areas and the shopping areas are pretty bad. Broadstairs is really lovely though too.

Seriously think hard about moving to Margate. It is a pretty gritty place. The vibe on a lovely summers day may be one thing but take a walk up the high street on a wintry weekday afternoon. Much of it is boarded up and last time I went (had an appointment somewhere, not by choice) there was a gang of boys openly smoking drugs and a mentally ill man wandering about talking to himself. It was like something from an apocalypse film. Really felt scared. There are much better places to live in Thanet or round about. Even the trendy old town shopping area was mostly boarded up last time I went. They have a good PR machine which has been banging on about it being up and coming for years. I also fear for the reopening of Dreamland after it didn't reopen this summer after COVID. It has been in financial trouble for a couple of years before that. Much as I would love to see Margate return to its heyday of the 50s and 60s I would choose to,live elsewhere until that happens.

Agreed @Buggedandconfused Ramsgate is nearly as bad as Margate in places.

It's not town specific as such it's areas within the towns Margate old town is nice , Palm Bay is nice Cliftonville is not.

Much of it is boarded up and last time I went (had an appointment somewhere, not by choice) there was a gang of boys openly smoking drugs and a mentally ill man wandering about talking to himself.

I don't know where the OP lives currently, but is Margate any worse than the rougher areas of London? Doubt it!

I get that this is not a super fresh thread but I felt I should chip in. Recently made the DFL transfer to Margate with a pandemic mindset accelerating our ambitions to move to an owned place of our own and out of the big smoke. Yes its got some rough patches (well quite a few) but it also has a lot going for it.

Thing 1 - you can actually afford a 3-bed house (in our case) totally missed the boat on doing that in London.

Thing 2 it still has Culture. live music (when that's a thing again) at places like Elsewhere / Bar nothing, Art and artists.

Thing 3 Food and drink, sure they keep some weird hours and you don't have the same choice as London but there are some great Independent providers. The list here could be massive but let's start with New Street Bistro, Bouy and Oyster, Slab, Woodys, Seaside Kitchen & Cake Parlour, Forts, Skinny Dip, Rose in June, George and Rose, Roost... oh it keeps going...

Thing 4, An important one this - community feel. We had only been here a week and we already had new friends, regular friendly faces and places. Admittedly we are still to make social inroads at school but the virus situation doesn't help (masks and cueing etc).

Thing 5 The skies (actually are amazing) If the light is important to you. Oh and the sea (iv never been a big sea person) but I have to say it's winning me over.

Things that are less good - Not many trees (I like trees and lived near a wood). Not so much in the way of museums and the like. Not a big fan of the tacky seaside stuff...Yes there are plenty of rough bits.

We are on the east side on town so quite far from the station but worth it. Chuck "margate" in here and see how it stacks up to the national averages. www.adt.co.uk/crime-in-my-area. Hope that helps.