Where is reasonable near Brighton?

[4happyhours]

Just been verbally offered a job in Brighton and am looking for (single mum, two older kids) three bed options where I can commute up to maybe half an hour or so (have car or the jobs ten mins from station) to work but be able to get to Petersfield within an hour at weekends. I guess this means north and west of Brighton. I don’t know the area at all. I know Brighton town well but not the outlying towns. Salary will be c£46k I estimate, so that will limit mortgages.

Petersfield is on the Waterloo - Portsmouth line, you'd need to get the train along the coast towards Portsmouth and change at Havant. Quite a long winded journey and from the Brighton area it would be easier to drive.

I used to live in Seaford which is lovely and much much cheaper. There is also a train station there, train goes to Lewes and Brighton.
You have the south downs and the sea on your doorstep.
Don't be tempted by Newhaven, it's properly rough.

@Shehasadiamondinthesky

I used to live in Seaford which is lovely and much much cheaper. There is also a train station there, train goes to Lewes and Brighton. You have the south downs and the sea on your doorstep. Don't be tempted by Newhaven, it's properly rough.

Thank you ! I did wonder why Newhaven was coming up cheaper ...

If you could cope with being as far out as Eastbourne then there are a few 2 bed houses on the market at just under 200k.

Is Eastbourne commutable? Fast direct train?

Don’t believe everything you read about Newhaven.
Lots of redevelopment happening.
There are rough bits just like anywhere but it has a great community feel and really came together as a community during COVID.
Plenty of lovely people, great open areas and easy train routes to Brighton and London.
Tbh I’ve met far more rough people from Brighton than I have Newhaven

If OP wants to be able to get to Petersfield in an hour going east of Brighton won't work

I can see I have to rethink what I can get where ... if I can get two bed within 45 min of Montpelier with a second sitting/dining room that could be a spare room, then I'm laughing ... has property been going up or down recently in price?

You won’t get a second living room that you can turn into a bedroom in your price range as they would already be marketed as three beds.

You could afford this in lancing
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/93942491#/
It is above a parade of shops but does have three beds.
The only other thing you could look at is a two bed and have a sofa bed in the lounge.

Lancing is cheaper than Worthing unless you look at east Worthing which I would say is about the same as most of lancing village but north lancing is a lot more expensive.
They are building a brand new 600 bed housing estate on the old mash barn farm site so it might be worth looking to see if there is going to be any shared ownership properties going up.

Is Uckfield a nightmare to commute to and from?

OP, in your shoes, I’d rent for now. The market is so weird but there is definitely inflation in pricing because of stamp duty. If you have nothing to sell, it might be worth holding on buying until the market cools off towards the end of the year. That will give you time to work out where you want to live too without paying over the odds - especially as right now stock is really desperate so in the ‘hot’ places near to Brighton you’ll be seeing offers go in way and above ask as there is an element of panic in the air.

@3happyhours

Is Uckfield a nightmare to commute to and from?

I used to do Brighton - Uckfield many years ago. By car it's okay - the A26 flows quite well usually apart from a little bottleneck around Lewes. By train it's pretty much impossible as the trainline goes up and not down, okay for London but not Brighton. It would take at least 1 and a half hours from Uckfield to Petersfield though. If you're coming to terms with a longer distance to Petersfield then Uckfield is a pretty good shout, Ringmer is okay too but no train station going in any direction. East of Brighton is cheaper - aforementioned Polegate, Eastbourne etc but the commute into Brighton is a bit slow by car.

My Nan lives in seaford amazing little town just outside Brighton, there two buses 12/12a run over the hill to Brighton in 20mins which also go through new haven so that wouldn't be to far out either, train line back in to lewes then you would have go back out to Brighton so the bus or car would be your best idea!!

Thanks everyone.
Eastbourne and Polegate might be viable options by train.
As Petersfield will only be a two year thing and I'd be driving it at weekends I think that's got to be the compromise ...

Loved a flat in Eastbourne when I went for viewings but the lovely drive back to Brighton was lengthy ...
Thinking of going smaller to meet budget and be within worthing to peacehaven orbit ...

I do the commute the other way from Brighton area to Uckfield area and it's about 40 minutes or maybe a bit less depending on the time of day. The routes in/out of Brighton can get clogged up at rush hour.

Plumpton? It’s the wrong side but great rail links

Have a look at Shared Ownership- there’s pros and cons, but in your position it might be a good idea:

www.sharetobuy.com/properties/?location=Brighton+-+City+of+Brighton+and+Hove&locationId=32199&lat=50.8425&lon=-0.13204000000000005&developmentId=&radius=5&minBedrooms=3&maxBedrooms=&maxMonthlyCost=&maxDeposit=&minFullMarketPrice=&maxFullMarketPrice=&sort=1&view=list&rentOrBuy=1&minBedrooms=3&developerId=