First time buyers pushed out from Brighton. FRUSTRATION!

[neffertyty]

Hello there,

My partner and I are trying to buy a flat since 2020. The share ownership schemes are ridiculously unaffordable, the market price is always over 400K for a 2bed FLAT!

Partner just submitted the new tax return and we have been given 175K to borrow. I work 30h a week in a Museum in Brighton and although I do LOVE my job, the salary is crap and is not going to get better anytime soon. I spent the last 6 years getting a degree and then a postgraduate masters in the field so a career change is not an option right now. We are renting 1bedroom flat with garden in Kemptown for £1100/month and I am struggling to save. We want to have a baby soon and I get super anxious about the living arrangement. I really don't want to be renting when welcoming our first kid... In the past 6 years we had to move out of two properties because landlady wanted to sell, I found it very stressful and bidding for properties we even didn't like.

I know that there are not many properties available right now but I just feel we should get onto the property ladder rather than wait and wait. Our savings cannot match the average yearly rising prices, we are so stuck. We have visited almost every place commutable BY TRAIN & car to Brighton and these are our options right now under 200K:

-A VERY SMALL one bedroom flat in Worthing/Lancing or Shoreham
-Two beds in Eastbourne

At this point we came into terms with no having outside space, no share of freehold or freehold. I would love to buy in Worthing for the commuting to Brighton but the flats we saw are very very small and just one bed. We have visited Eastbourne and I have a friend from there who says is lovely. I really liked when I visited but it was a lovely sunny day in the summer. I don't know what living there is like. Is the commuting to Brighton (by train) a pain in the ass? My partner will drive but he is a tiler and I presume he will eventually have a customer base in Eastbourne and around rather than sorely Brighton. It seems that in Eastbourne we can get far more from our money than in Worthing...

We are a very relaxed couple who love the countryside, in Brighton we are paying a Premium for being in a "cool" place we do not have money or motivation to enjoy... we find the town quite dirty, run down and most of our friends have left!

I appreciate any insight, tips and recommendations
THANK YOU SO MUCH and Merry Christmas

(Apologies if the post feels too long!)

I think that Worthing is a good bet at the moment. There are many many ex Brighton people moving there for the same reason as you, and it is improving all the time (it’s also much less right wing than it used to be!) Along the coast to the west of Brighton property prices are rising rapidly (the South Downs mean that we can’t build to the north). Lancing is also expanding with a massive new development at Brooklands.

We bought in haywards heath to commute to Brighton and London. We got a lot more for our money, have you looked around there?

Thank you both for your replies, @TheAverageUser I found Haywards Heath quite expensive too, couldn't find any two beds under 200K last time I looked... I quite like the area and has lots of nature around too and close to Gatwick, since we visit family abroad that will be a plus! Also the share ownership around HH & Burgess Hill won't consider non locals or if you don't work over there...

@Thingsthatgo, I know! Worthing is our ideal place to buy and definitely easier to commute than from Eastbourne but there are very few properties right now.. The few two beds under 200K are in the town centre which I have been told to avoid? I would appreciate if you can recommend any areas (and areas to avoid!)

Thank you!

Eastbourne is lovely, beautiful walks up on the South Downs. I don't know about the commute though I'm afraid

Have you looked at Littlehampton? We go on holiday near there and really like it - and we've got the train from there into Brighton and it didn't take long.

Right, so…you love your job, it’s an area in which you have a lot of expertise BUT it’s not even full time hours and the pay is poor. You have a long life ahead of you and you’re going to need money more than a job you absolutely love.

I don’t know the area at all but seems like pp’s do so hopefully that can help you location wise. I also thought that improving your work situation would be the biggest benefit to you, both in the short & long term! Could you take on a second job or find a way to earn more? It could be possible to find a job that pays you more and you love! I think this is the better solution. Realistically that will improve all your prospects, both housing, affordability of children and financial security Xo

Depends how central in worthing you mean? In amongst the shops I’d say probably no, but around the town centre is fine. It’s a bit rough looking in some bits, but feels safer thanBrighton.
Traditionally East Worthing (east of the hospital) has been the bit to avoid, but for buyers I would say it’s ‘up and coming’ because it’s cheaper but getting more expensive by the day. Personally I would avoid the newer estates out of town, but they’d be no good for you anyway because you will need to be near a station (Worthing is blessed with many stations!)

Also, worth looking at the cost of travel. Will you have to get into Brighton before 9am? It’s going to get expensive on a low wage.

Perhaps work more than 30 hours a week for a low salary? You are young and child free and should be working more like 40 hours p/w.

Why the heck would anyone want to live in Brighton, its absolutely toxic, I lived near there for years.
I much prefer Hastings, it can be "interesting" but so much more fun, less stuck up and full of itself and lots to do.

Move to the North.

Museums
Countryside
Seaside

Cheaper housing.

Could you do some tutoring in your area of expertise on top of your job? 30 hours per week isn't very much when you're trying to buy a home.

I do sympathize, it’s been that way a very long time but has got worse and worse. We left a 1 bed flat in Brighton to buy a semi detached 3 bed near worthing nearly 20 years ago! Couldn’t afford to stay in Brighton when we had a child.

Eastbourne is lovely but the train to Brighton will take a while!

Lancing isn’t bad although it has a negative reputation, it’s improved massively in the last few years though. Worthing is lovely, Littlehampton is also lovely in parts but train links probably not great to Brighton.

Why are you only working 30 hours? You need to be working full time hours really to buy your first property. £175k mortgage won’t get you far in the south of England, you need to work on upping your joint income.

People have been moving out of Brighton for the last 20 years as it's so expensive so that's nothing new. Peacehaven is your best bet

I get that you love your job but you've chosen a low paying job with very short hours. Why don't you get another job so you can build up your savings? You don't have children, you could easily do another 20 hours of evening work a week and save several thousand a year.

You'd make nearly £10k a year gross even on minimum wage.

As others have said, if you want to get on the housing ladder, then really you need to maximize income. A low paid, part time job isn't really enough. If you really want to keep that job then you need to take a second job as well to up your hours and income.

I'd also think you'd get more for your money going inland. Seaside properties are generally more expensive.

It's all about priorities.

Agree with PP. Find another, higher paying job to up your joint income if you’re feeling so disheartened about the sorts of houses you can afford.

my friend sold a flat in brighton and moved to hailsham....got a lovely house, no train tho....eastbourne quite close, bus is expensive tho, she drives....eastbourne has changed a lot....i know several lesbian couples who moved there after making money on their brighton houses....i used to like brighton years ago but find it seedy and run down these days...no desire to visit ever again...dont like hastings...very seedy undercurrent...huge amount of sex offenders housed there and can be very druggy in parts.

Brighton is insanely expensive and has some dodgy areas plus I do not like being out at night, even in company, because of street drinkers, beggars etc. Eastbourne is WAY nicer. Lewes to tho I think also expensive. I worked in St Leonards some years ago, much cheaper than Brighton.

Options
Higher paid job to stay in Brighton
Same job, live outside Brighton but you have travel costs to consider

You’ve had some great alternative location recommendations here OP but none of these will change the fact that you aren’t maximising your earning potential before you have children. What is your plan for childcare costs plus a mortgage based upon two people having to work? Because to many, childcare cost is the near equivalent of another mortgage payment. I get you’ve trained in something specialist/niche and want to use it, but MN is full of people with jobs unrelated to their degrees. Unless there are other issues you are not disclosing here (such as a disability which prevents you being able to secure FT work) you don’t have a Brighton issue, you have a real world view issue I’m afraid. Like many on here I worked insane hours post University in a job unrelated to my degree up to my mid thirties. Precisely because I had no kids so I could. Plus securing a home was a major drive for me. In that time I lived in do-er uppers, shitty parts of towns I didn’t particularly want to live in, did DIY in my spare time, took very little holiday etc. Brighton is effectively London by the sea and on the basis you can’t buy anything in London for £175k and expect to continue to work 30pw it can’t really be a surprise that you won’t be able to there either? I think you’ve got to sit down with your partner and draw up a 5 year plan to focus on achieving the things you desire - a home, baby etc and how you are going to afford them all. The money matters threads have lots of advice so maybe post there also for ideas as to how to maximise your income. Please do not underestimate how much having children will impact on your finances.

Until recently we were in Worthing for many years - it was a great place to bring up our children - good schools etc. East Worthing is one of the more affordable areas and has lots of older houses there.

We moved to Lancing a year ago which has improved a lot over the last decade or so and the demographic is getting younger now that more people are priced out of Brighton and Worthing. We find it a bit friendlier than Worthing as it's a smaller community and where we live in South Lancing housing's slightly cheaper than where we were in Worthing. Parts of North Lancing can be pricier though. The South Downs are nearby and the Widewater Lagoon is also lovely.

It may be worth looking at the New Monks Park development in Lancing as they're doing some shared ownership. They're also building a new primary school and country park as part of the development.

Hope you find something soon.

My brother is currently buying in this area. Just to warn you properties are going for significantly over the asking price. They have missed out on several properties because of this.
The place they are buying was 30k over the asking price of £220 .

Sorry - I meant to say 'priced out of Brighton and Shoreham' in my post.