Scoping out areas in Kent and Sussex for a big house move next year

[Lesleyhill22]

I hope I have the right group.
My partner and I will be searching for a property to buy in the Weald of Kent or possibly just over the Sussex border in about year’s time. We will be moving from Devon and have a healthy budget of £500-£750K, we’ll be looking for a detached 3-4 bed house so we can host family members.
We are in our late 60s, physically active, grown up children and other family living in the south east. I’m originally from Sevenoaks (crazy prices there now!) and partner from London so quite happy with coming back to a semi rural area but not too much out in the wilds. We don’t need to be in any commuter belt but it would be good to get to a high street with amenities, shops etc. by foot, bike or car. I’m probably out of touch with towns and villages as it’s 35 years since I left Kent, but we are looking to cast our net to include, Cranbrook, Tenterden, small towns a villages in the vicinity of Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells. In fact anywhere in the Weald area.
Does anyone have experience of nice places that might be worth searching in please, or even places to avoid?
thank you! 🙂

Have a look at Plaxtol? Don’t know if it has any shops left now but it was always a decently sized village.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151216661#/?channel=RES_BUY

Tbh why not look at Sevenoaks? If you’re willing to look at Bradbourne Lakes/ Riverhead there are a few things in budget, and amenities would be more accessible?

Nice and big and a lot of space to extend https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/168205649#/?channel=RES_BUY

Many thanks, good point. Ironically I used to live very near the lakes as well as in the neighbouring villages of Kemsing and Otford.

I grew up in the area too but am aware it’s a long time since I lived there.

Thank you. It’s good to know there are properties in that location, although by the time we are able to move anything in the market will be gone. (Currently both my parents are in full time care, so will need to stay in Plymouth for the moment).

When you start looking at properties you could use nestee to see what the local area has to offer. I'm not sure about walking distances, but they have the local bus routes and destinations. We used it to check the local schools and crime in the area we are buying. It had some really helpful tips

Oh thank you so much 😉

Check out Rye (rail station and setting for Mapp and Lucia (well worth a watch to get the taste buds going)) and Winchelsea

But that budget isn't what I would call overly healthy for that area,

You might like Headcorn (twixt Tenterden and Maidstone), although there is increasing development which is enlarging the town. I love Tenterden but public transport isn’t great from there anymore. Headcorn has a train link.
Wadhurst is quite charming but very £££.

You’d be surprised! Quite a lot for this time of year, some grade II listed, some so quirky you’d want to rip them apart and start again, some already renovated. It gives me ideas.😉

Goudhurst and Sissinghurst are lovely too but - traffic. Caused by parking in Sissinghurst, and the most awkward 90 degree corner in Goudhurst. Both are quite £££.

Thank you. I went to Headcorn as a kid, my aunt lived there, my sister and I rode in the annual donkey derby! Yes Wadhurst looks nice. I looked at Hawkhurst, also read about the notorious Hawkhurst Smuggling Gang. Google it, horrendous crimes. 😣

Thank you🙂

Found this on Wikipedia…
Before railways, the George Inn on Borough High Street was the hub of coach services to Kent, Surrey and Sussex. At 7:00 am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the Tenterden Coach set out on a 10-hour journey of 55 ¼ miles, passing through Headcorn. By 1838, the Tally Ho Coach had shortened the journey time, leaving London at 1:00 pm and reaching Headcorn at 8:15 pm and Tenterdenat 9:30 pm. For 130 years (until 1915) Messrs. R. and J. Bennett ran a horse bus service between Tenterden, Headcorn and Maidstone. An advertisement of 1750, illustrates R. Hammond's Tenterden, Staplehurst, Biddenden, Headcorn and Town Sutton stage wagon, with a team of eight horses. It went to London and back once a week, taking two days each way. The current train service from Headcorn to London, takes about one hour.

Edenbridge and the surrounding areas - Cowden, Markbeech - are where I would be looking (altho' I hear Edenbridge has gone down a bit since I was in the area some 15 years back).

Wadhurst is v. odd layout. Frant much nicer. For my money I would look at Rusthall/ Langton Green or Tonbridge.

@Neurodiversitydoctor can I ask what's odd about it?

@Lesleyhill22 it depends very much what you're looking for. Style of property and surroundings, facilities, where do you want to be close to, shopping, restaurants, local theatre or cinema, National Trust properties, rail station, access to the coast? Would you like to be in a street with close neighbours or on a more rural lane? Any preference to type of dwelling. house, bungalow, terraced, semi or detached etc?

Do some thorough checks regarding intense new developments as the south east is subject to a lot both ongoing and in the pipelines.

Hi Lesley we are probably similar age . I was brought up in Kemsing in Noah’s Ark .There are lots of choices in West Kent We live in a lovely village close to TW ,properties for a decent house are between 450-900k ,great community with a busy high street.

Wadhurst is kind of long and thin without a focal point. The station is no where near the centre and inaccessible by foot. That's what I mean by odd.

Hi, which village are you living in now? We’re scoping lots of places around T Wells. I went to Kemsing Primary School from 1963-68, I had a school friend called Timothy Harland from Noah’s Ark. He had a semi wild, pet jackdaw that always sat on his shoulder! Strange how you suddenly remember these things.