Where to live in Brighton

[sunsearose]

Hi!

My partner and I are looking to relocate to Brighton/Hove and would appreciate some advice on areas.

Our top budget is 450k and we’re first time buyers with no children. Likely to have children in the future.

We narrowly missed out on a great house in Preston Park which had room to grow earlier this year. We love the area but don’t want to buy leasehold so it’s nearly impossible to find anything in budget.

We’ve also looked at properties in Hanover but are less keen despite it being closer to the sea.

We’re looking at a property in Bolsover road, Hove which would normally be out of budget. I don’t think this part of Hove looks as nice as the area of the house we bid on in Preston Park but will reserve judgement until our actual viewing.

Has anyone got any advice on areas and where is nice to live or to avoid? We’re in our early 30s, like nice dinners, drinks out, green space and want to limit potential shitty neighbours/vicinity to crackheads. Outside space preferable but could deal with a small patio etc.

TIA

Bolsover you can go into the loft later, making a third bedroom plus walkable to hove seafront and stations.
scotland street you can’t add another bedroom and it’s a long walk to the station.
and Kingsley rd is walkable to pp station but you’re not near cafes - there is a nice pub near pp station though.

Have you looked at Westdene/Withdean part of Brighton?
Not too far from town but lots of leafy areas, great school nearby.

Westdene & withdean out of budget and boring imo! No cafes / bars!

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/136563746

Just to test the space / location dilemma as a comparison to Bolsover road.

Westdene is my old neck of the woods and isn’t what you are looking for atm although I loved it. We were done with living in the centre of things and wanted suburbia (had kids etc) and it really worked for that stage of our lives. I loved being so nearly out of Brighton, not having to sit on the London road for 25mins just to get to the a27/23. Great bus routes and a nice mix of ages. Lots of green space- look it up when you have young kids!

Btw another house in Kingsley road came up today and is on for 500k (fully done up and into the loft.) I’d personally go for Bolsover and sell in 5 years, the area is popular so probably wouldn’t loose value even if you don’t make much.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140854859#/?channel=RES_BUY

Why not put your 30k cash into your budget and then you’re almost here:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139317863

they might be after a quick sale you never know… you’re in a good position, chain free etc!

I'd also look at poets corner in hove op.
Close to seafront, great amenities and you can just about walk into central town from here. You'd easily get at least a maisonette for that price.
Church road area of huge had loads of new restaurants within easy walking distance.
Easy access to the beach and parking is a bit easier than kemp town so for example if you have paddle boards you can nip down to the sea front and park in your zone with them.
Hangleton is indeed becoming more popular with young families who are priced out of poets corner/ central hove in the way that other ex council estate areas are but the same level of amenities aren't on your doorstep there.

That meant church road area *is close with loads of restaurants etc

If you can stretch to the one on Coleridge that would make most sense - that’s a good price for that street - and you could go into the roof/side return in the future. Otherwise I’d go Bolsover - near the sea, close to Aldrington station, possibility to extend, catchment for a good school at primary and secondary (which you might not be interested in but which will impact resale), cafes, nice pubs and a Flourpot!

Lol at whoever said Hove is cut off from bars and restaurants…its full of them, obviously never been.

Woodingdean is not an artist enclave. Sorry.

Hangleton is in budget, not the cool vibe you are after but not a huge trek to things.

Hanover still worth a look, just knock on neighbours doors. If students- run.
Been there done that.

Queens Park is lovely.

Withdene- too expensive and Westdene families, suburbia, lovely but nothing to do but dog walk.

Echo what others have Poets Corner would be ideal, hopefully something in budget comes up OP.

That Coleridge street one great value, sold prices round there have been £550k+ for years for anything liveable. You'd be £150k+ in on a renovation before you've blinked so worth stretching for something that doesn't need work.

Nice area for mat leave then you can pick your suburb when you need more space.

We lived in Brighton quite a long time ago, just looked on Rightmove, houses are really expensive there now!

Love Brighton. Green with envy ❤️x

I should specify, we have £35k is LISAs and £20k in cash because we can’t physically put anymore in LISAs atm. We always intended to use that for the deposit but I think to stretch to £500k will make our monthly payments too high sadly :(

a mortgage for £425k is already around £2,200 a month!!

otherwise Coleridge would be ideal

also interesting re. Kingsley but probably leaning more to hove now.

Cycling across the seafront vs up to PP is a point I hadn’t considered

We could maybe stretch to £450k (being our most probably) just seen that the poets corner has been on since august so maybe there’s a deal to be had! And chain free!

You may as well call them and see! Good luck!

Hello! I thought I’d give some feedback as all of your advice has been so helpful so far.

Off the back of the viewings this weekend we’ve ruled out Hanover (houses too generally too small and we don’t love the area/hills/vibe as much)

We saw the house on Coleridge Lane and Bolsover. Coleridge didn’t look the same as the photos so they must have been old rental photos. There was a lot of stuff in the house so it was kind of hard to get a good feel for the property. Area great, upstairs great, downstairs less so and not the best flow. Small garden with limited sun. Still too expensive but one to watch.

Bolsover had great potential but a 10 minute walk further away. The street was a bit more scruffy but I got a good feel from the house! Lots of potential, nice sunny flat garden but bf didn’t like it as much (struggles with vision) but still one to watch.

We looked at the project in Kingsley road and the “done” home recently listed. The project is a fucking nightmare and the done house is absolutely beautiful. Completed to an amazing standard but maybe a bit small for us long term and the garden wasn’t ideal.

In hindsight what some of you picked up on is really relevant. PP is really nice and quiet so it’s still a consideration but the fact it’s not really walkable to the beach/so hilly makes Hove the front runner at the moment.

We visited the Hove properties in the sunshine and walked (from Bolsover) to rockwater in 20 minutes. Much cleaner and less antisocial behaviour/homelessness. People were still swimming and it was beautiful to see! Feel like we’ve narrowed it down a lot more so thank you for all your input.

My mum wants us to look at Shoreham but not sure if it’s a bit too old for us at this point

Good luck on your search! I lived in west Hove for a while and it’s lovely. Being so close to the sea never fails to lift my mood and the beach around there is lovely. They are doing up the esplanade in that area and it looks as if it’s going to be great.

i literally had no idea they were doing up the esplanade and was very offended when my bf called it “scruffy” yesterday lol! Imagine my glee at sending him the councils plans..