Looking to move within the South East. Ideas please? Need good schools & public transport, but only have around 170k to spend.

[SparklePrincess]

So where in the South East has good schools, good public transport, (dont need London access) I probably wont have a car, hence good transport. Where can I reasonably expect to live for that sort of budget, or is it not happening? My parents live in Hastings & I want to be able to visit them fairly easily, but not live there because of cr@p schools.
Ideas please?

We live in Deal, its lovely, good schools, has a train station (you may have to change to get to Hastings!)

Honestly Deal is great, on the sea, we have 3 castles close to hand, lots of great scenery, absolutely lovely!

What are the schools like in St Leonards?

I will look into Deal pinkbubble, thanks. Only worry about Kent is that if the dc`s fail 11+ are the comps really dire?
St Leonards & Hastings are one & the same Bauble. My parents actually live in St Leonards & I used to live there myself before I escaped.

I do hope they are not as my DD is at 1! honestly my DD is 13 now, she was not ready to go to Grammar at 11, but now she is at a mixed secondary school and is doing really well. In fact she has really improved since primary!

Just looked on Up My Street. It seems the Comps still have perfectly acceptable results despite being in a Grammar area. Looks like I can buy a pretty decent place there for my 170K too. Deal may well be the place for us. Many thanks pinkbubble. Is the public transport ok there? Are there good busses & a local rail station?
Deal sounds fab, but im still open to other suggestions if anyone has any.

depends what you want form your 170K. I can recommend Maidstone though lovely. We bought a 3bed end terrace in July 06 for your budget. Had to look around a lot and not too much choice but it was do-able

It does have a good bus/train route. I guess it depends where you want to go!!!!!

I have lived here for 20 yrs and so far have never wished for anywhere else to live!

Without trying to sound snobbish Deal is alot nicer than Dover! honest(I guess it personal preferences but I feel you get a lot more for your money!)

It's very shhhhhh - quiet - in Deal, ideal if you are looking for a slower pace of life.

Watch the catchment, some primaries have a high turn-over because immigrant children are temporarily placed there before families are relocated.

Maidstone is great, but not exactly round the corner from Hastings & still quite pricey because it's London commutable but has fantastic shopping.

Lewes?

Biddenden?

nr Ashford - checking catchment e.g. Shadoxhurst

villages will be way out of that price range. well depending what sort of house you want.

Folkestone schools are good if you have bright children - they still have grammar schools - and property in Folkestone and surrounding areas is really cheap. They have a really thriving arty scene - the creative foundation with lots of live work units for painters, writers etc.

Interesting ideas, thanks.
I live on the outskirts of Heathfield at the moment so im used to the slower pace. Could only afford a flat here though & public transport is non existent. You need to have a good reliable car to live around here & it looks like dh & I are splitting up so I wont be rolling in the cash. A car is a luxury I will probably need to do without. Cars always seem to need something doing to them, & I seem to have a problem that needs fixing every couple of months. Not a problem at the moment because dh fixes it for me, but if I were responsible for paying to get it fixed I simply couldnt afford it. Good regular busses are a must wherever we go.
We are used to a reasonable sized house with a decent garden. Im realistic that we wont get a palace for that money, but in preference I want a house & not a flat, & in a private area would be first choice. As I said though, I am realistic that I may not get all I want. Schools are top priority. I really dont want to be forced back to Hastings just because its easy & I know where I could get a dent house for the money.

I've always wanted to live in Rye - schools are brilliant and train to Hastings takes 10 minutes. My friend's kids have just moved from Luton to Rye and go to the Schools there and speak highly of them (primary and secondary).

You can definitely get something for 170k in Rye.

this is lovely

I discounted Rye because the comp is consistently below average & has only recently come out of special measures. Pity though.

Id love to know more about Deal pinkbubble. Is the bus service good enough to get away with having no car?

It does have bus services running round town fairly frequently. Also you can catch a bus to Canterbury, Folkestone, and Dover.

Deal also has 2 train stations.

It has got Sainsburys Somerfield and Iceland supermarkets. Tesco is a 10min car journey away. There is also a WHSmiths and M&S.

Deal also has a good library, swimming pool(that does good swimming lessons).

On the sea front there is an outside paddling pool which is lovely in the summer.

There is numerous Primary schools, some of them are CofE, there is also a Catholic school and just ordinary County Primary schools too. There is also 2 Secondary Schools, There sre Grammar schools in Sandwich and Dover, normally these are travelled to by bus or train!

Sounds fantastic. Im starting to get quite excited about the possibility of moving to Deal.
How hard would it be to find some term time only work in the area? Im not qualified for anything, but I did Nannying many years ago. Id also happily work in a shop or care home. Id try my hand to anything really. One thing about this place is there is no possibility of term time only work. (Other than school kitchens) & by the time youve driven for 40 minutes to & from the nearest big town its hardly worth your while bothering.

I work term time in a Primary School, started off as a volunteer. I guess it is probably by luck, some employers are more accessible than others. There are plenty of nurseries/schools around. There maybe seasonal work too, fruit picking and Geest (thats in Northbourne, make salads for M&S) Also Pfizers is only a short train ride away, they are good employers.

I would ideally like to get a job in a school, but if all else fails I could always find a few cleaning jobs in private houses I suppose. Is there much need for cleaners in the area?

There are some very nice houses in the area! Walmer (which is just to the side of Deal is lovely!!!) - Thats where I live!!!!!! Also Sholden on the other side of Deal is very nice too. Oh and Kingsdown.

Im just looking at some fab houses on rightmove. So Walmer is the place to look is it? Are there any particular areas or roads to avoid?

I personally would avoid Mill Hill and Hamilton Road/Mill Road.

Let me know of any places and I will let you know!

Ok, thanks. Im quite keen to avoid any dodgy council estates. Id better stop looking now I suppose because weve got to get over christmas first, finish this place off & sell it on before we can seriously look. Pleased to see that there are a fair few chain free properties out there.
Hopefully I will bring the girls out for the day at some point over the holidays & we can check out Deal for ourselves.