Moving to Horsham area and

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Thinking of moving to Horsham general area, within an hours drive for family reasons. We are looking for somewhere with good community feel , clubs and activities to join, good transport links. Somewhere that has a country rather than urban feel. Detached three bed house with reasonable garden for under £800,00. I know Surrey to some extent but not this area. All advice welcome. We are moving from a city and I’m sick and tired of urban life . Traffic, pollution, noise, lack of any community. So looking for the opposite. We are moving to be closer to family otherwise we wouldn’t be thinking of Surrey at all.

We are retired so schools and work are not an issue.

You will love it, great countryside, market town feel, and a great John Lewis/Waitrose combo.

Horsham is W Sussex (people will get annoyed if you say it is Surrey). You will easily get what you want for £800k.

Personally, I would avoid Roffey and the Needles (and I dislike the new build estates).

God yes sorry. It is Sussex not Surrey.

Horsham itself? That’s good to know.

Henfield just to the south of Horsham has good links to Brighton, Hassocks (train station) and Horsham. Nice community, has a Sainsburys, coffee shops etc

Billingshurst or Pullborough might actually fit the bill, or some of the villages outside of Horsham. Henfield is a good bet too. Horsham itself is a good bet, but a there are areas that don't have the semi-rural feel you are looking for- depends what you are looking for in terms of facilities (W Horsham is an easy walk into town/Waitrose/JL/Sainsburys/ the new Aldi, for example)

Avoid Crawley. Also avoid the non-village stretch between Horsham and Crawley- new builds with zero infrastructure or soul.

Arundel might also be worth looking at- nitbsure on property prices! Shoreham is also popular to retire to the seaside.

Where exactly are your family based? Personally I wouldn't choose Horsham for the country life feel - it's a rather dull dormer town and the proximity to Crawley/S London does it no favours. Billingshurst isn't particularly nice either.

Henfield is good, Storrington better still. Steyning would be perfect for you, if it's not too far south.

They are currently trying to buy in Horsham.

Thanks I will look into those towns.

Steyning is 30 mins to Horsham and has a really thriving community, large village feel, beautiful surroundings and excellent access to Brighton, the coast and the Downs. It's not cheap but easily within your budget.

Arundel as mentioned above is 40 mins and gorgeous, but much bigger. Shoreham is a good shout if you want to be by the sea but again is definitely town size rather than rural/village. Both Shoreham & Arundel have traffic problems.

@Flubadubba Hi I live in Horsham myself in the Kingslea part of town and it’s very nice, I’ve only lived here around 4 years so I’m fairly new. We are in an apartment but have found a nice house in needles but I saw your post suggesting it’s not a great area, could I ask why? I have viewed the property and asked lots of the locals and they all say there is no problems at all around there and everything looks very nice I must say. Just interested to know why you say to avoid it. Many thanks.

@SunnyMember Historically it has a bad reputation- but isn't anything like it was c15 years ago and has improved in recent years. Is the house actually in the Needles itself, or one of the nearby new-ish build estates (Tanbridge Park, Hills Farm lane etc - both of which are fine, or desirable in the case of the former)?

I would also say that it's all relative- it's a little rougher than most of town, but that isn't hard tbh! It is historically a more deprived arra of the town (again, things have changed a bit since house prices became insane). It's something of a local trope, along with avoiding parts of Roffey! I have friends who live in both areas and are perfectly happy, and relatives who live close and barely give it a second thought these days.

Arunside (on Blackbridge Lane) is a fantastic school these days with a fantastic head (thogh oversubscribed- Arunside, Kingslea, Heron Way and Leechpool seem to be the most oversubscribed atm) and you have a few very good nurseries like Catkins over towards there. For secondaries, you would fall into the Tanbridge House catchment, which has a fantastic reputation and is ofsted outstanding (for what that matters).

Try West Chiltington. Much nicer

I was looking at that area with great interest. Can you tell me more because it looks ideal.