Coast Living East Kent

[Yogagarden]

Looking for honest recommendations and advice please. We currently stay in the West Coast of Scotland and will be moving down within the next few months. We have 2 primary aged children and love the coast so want to stay by the Coast. Which towns/villages are the best for the kids, schools and of course the beach. I've already been doing some research and Broadstairs, Deal and I think Birchington looked good but this or course from an editors and tourism point of view which wont give the honesty I'm looking for. We don't need to have great transport links into London as not required, just keen for an insiders honesty and perspective. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

It's not a well off area so plenty of deprivation here. There is grammar school system and secondary moderns ( the alternative to grammar) have very poor results. Deal has Sandwich technology college though which has a good reputation. I would check the last distance offered for that school. You will need to do a freedom of information request as kent don't publish this information. Crime is pretty low, people support each other and I am happy for my teenager to be out and about.

schools have a terrible rep in that area. Broadstairs has a lovely beach but would be a nightmare to live in. Family live in Brighton and they don’t go near the beach on a hot day.

there is a lot of deprivation. Margate which apparently going through gentrification is an absolute shithole.

does it have to be the south coast?

If your kids are bright check out the catchment for Cranbrook School. Your daughters will weep when the see the uniform though……

Some rather snobbish comments on this thread...

I moved to Deal three years ago from London and I love it. Friendly people, nice little high street and does not get crazily busy in the summer so you can enjoy the beach. A lot of creative people live here and you have plenty of sport/leisure opportunities. You can access Canterbury easily as well if you want more shopping opportunities, museums and so on. The fast trains to London King's Cross take about 1.15 hr. There is a market every Saturday.

Nearby Sandwich is also nice.

Margate and Ramsgate are grittier but also worth looking at and are certainly not 'shitholes' these days. There has been a lot done to improve the towns and again they have good art and music scene. Broadstairs is the nicest one of the three towns that are close together.

Folkestone and Sandgate are also options. Folkestone has seen a lot of regeneration on the seafront (with more planned) and has some good architecture. Easy to visit London for cultural activities as well from there (50 minutes direct trains).

You could look at Whistable on the other side, but it is more expensive and get really crowded in the summer.

I initially rented for a year in Deal while I looked for a property to buy and spent time visiting Folkestone/Margate/Ramsgate to be really sure as to where I wanted to settle permanently. So you could always rent for a bit in one of these towns and then decide which one you like best.

Good luck with your move!

@boulevardofbrokendreamss yes around 25 minutes maximum from Sandwich ideally. Doesn't need to be right on the coast can be more inland but not too far. I think as we're on the coast just now (although the town we currently live in isn't exactly great) we would still want to be 15-20 minutes max from the beach. Thanks for your insight, much appreciated 👍🏽

@Summerartwitch really appreciate your reply, nice to hear you recently moved also. We are coming down for a week in August to visit so I suppose ideal time to see the reality of the summer hols. We will likely have accomodation sorted for the first couple of months then yes can get a feel for where we want to be. Thank you again 👍🏽

Thank you to everyone's comments. We are booked to visit in August for 1 week so hopefully will get a better idea and feel for the area. We have a cottage booked in sholden to use as a base for exploring, looking forward to it!

Deal is lovely. We moved abroad but I still miss it.

@MissAmbrosia any recommendations for Deal? Areas to live etc. Deal is definitely somewhere we have been looking at houses, as well as walmer, Eastry, Outskirts of Ramsgate and Sandwich .... any recommendations or advice appreciated. We are down on the 4th so going to take the time to explore and get to know more of the area for the week with the family.

A lot of area around Sandwich and in Deal are subject to flooding so make sure you do your research carefully.

Walmer, Sholden, St Margaret's Bay. Depends on your budget and how big a house you want. The conservation area is lovely with some beautiful old houses, but parking can be tricky and they tend to be expensive. Middle Deal has some nice wide, tree lined streets with large victorian terraces / detached houses. Walking distance to station / beach.

Thank you for helping heads up @XVGN I hadn't thought about any flooding risks etc

Thank you @MissAmbrosia we have a budget of around £500k and need 3 bed minimum ideally 4 or additional PR for home office. We have seen some lovely terraced houses online but I think as we are so used to the large garden and driveway (which is what we have now in Scotland) I don't think I could do without that plus we need to put in a charge point at the house for the cars. I have to except though we are going to get a lot less for our money but will have a lovely area, community, good schools when we move 😊

PPs are right. Lots of deprivation in the area. Some parts are really not nice. Have lived here for years.

I'd say the nicest parts are Sandwich, and Kingsdown.

Would avoid Ramsgate/Margate. A PP mentioned Folkestone. Yes, it's had lots of regeneration but it's still awful imo.

Happy to answer any questions about the area :)

@Amiunemployable thanks for your honesty. Oh yes Kingsdown I forgot to write that as had seen a lovely house in that area and think there was a really good school nearby too? My kids are 7 and 4 so ideally good for the kids with access to clubs/activities, they are outdoorsy kids and also into gymnastics/cycling/athletics and swimming. We currently live a short drive from things where we are at the moment so would be happy to live where I still needed to drive.
Not keen on Margate from what I've read ...

NP. I use the Area360 extension for RM as this includes flood risk and allows me to immediately bypass the property in the RM list.

For example, in this case I can see that the property is at Medium risk - not that the EA (who is supposed to disclose material information) has shown that. It saves me getting excited about a property only to have my hopes subsequently dashed. I leave flood risk properties to the foolish, the brave or the well informed locals.

Deal is lovely but the schools are atrocious - Goodwin “requires improvement”, the next closest (Sandwich) is in special measures.

Part of this is the grammar school system - reading the Ofsted reports even for “good” secondary modern schools (eg Whitstable) there are mentions of poor student attendance, consistent lateness/discipline problems, poor attainment and poor student motivation to learn despite the teachers’ best efforts. The primary school ofsted reports I read also didn’t sound like they offered as much enrichment as DS’s current state primary school in Lambeth does (music, sport, languages). I accept we are probably quite spoilt with a fantastic local school!

My impression is that the schools are a bit better inland (Canterbury etc). And of course if your child passes the 11 plus or you can afford private, it isn’t a problem. But DH wanted to move out of London to north Kent, and the schools were a major factor in me saying nope.