What's the best place to live in East Sussex?

[lowrib]

We're moving to the South Coast. While Brighton is very cool of course, it's pretty pricey too! So we're open to ideas and have been exploring the south coast between Brighton and Hastings.

We'll be renting, and wherever we are, I'll need to get to Brighton by public transport in the mornings, and DP will be driving to Hastings.

I'd really appreciate any inside info on where might be good to look?

We liked the look of Seaford - but have only spent about an hour there.

Hastings is really cheap - but Brighton friends have warned us off - it can't be that bad surely?!

DS is really young. I have a nursery sorted in Brighton for him (we'll be commuting together ) but we'll probably move again in a few years so schools aren't a great consideration right now.

While I'd love to just go for Brighton, money is a consideration, and it would seem we can get much more for our money down the coast - or inland - a bit.

So, oh wise mnetters, what do you think?

TIA

[Gingermilo]

Thanks Sparkle - so useful, have just looked and it looks great around West St Leonards property wise. Thanks also Jacqueline - I know Battle a bit, but we really are hankering after somewhere within walking distance to seafront (and with hope - a seaview!!)and have kind of fallen in love with the charm (albeit rough round the edges maybe) of St Leonards. All school info is really interesting. My DD1 is about to go into Y2 so am considering private as assuming all good/outstanding state will be full.

[SparklePrincess]

There are no good or outstanding state schools in Hastings. Some do have better reps than others, & the primaries are better than the secondaries, but none I was prepared to send mine to hence our move. If I were you id look into small state primaries just outside the area which may well have places in an established year group (you dont know until you ask) & save my money for going private at secondary level. Battle & Langton, (as previously mentioned) is excellent, & quite a large school, so could well have places. During school run time from West St Leonards it would probably take around 15 minutes to get there, traffic dependent. Westfield, Crowhurst, Ninfield & Catsfield all have small village schools worth checking recent Ofsteds on. I dont know personally about recent performance of these schools so please do your research. Good luck. :)

[rockinhippy]

Shoreham - just along from Brighton - so easy access for you & very up & coming- odd really as apparently it was the British "Hollywood" back in the 30s - it has a lovely feel to it & quite picturesque in places with all the amenities you'll need - we have several friends who have moved there & love it

We also have friends who have moved to Hasting & hate it - we once passed through, got stuck in traffic & in the space of 15 minutes on 1 road saw 2 big fights - 1 involving about 15 people & 3 very young kids break into & steal a car - took me until they drove off to realise what they were actually doing - they looked lucky to be 10 - made me think perhaps its cheap for a reason

Worthing is another place thats cheaper & up and coming apparently - I've friends trying to move there as they prefer it to Brighton - personally love Brighton though

agree with Lewes being lovely, but again its expensive & also prone to serious flooding

[rockinhippy]

We also have friends with a place in Rottingdean - again close & they love it there too - it is very nice

[rockinhippy]

I don't know Chichester as such, but see it comes up favourably a few times,

I do have friends that commute from Brighton to there for work though & say its an easy commute, so I expect it will be the other way around too

[Gingermilo]

Thanks Rockinhippy - that's all useful as well. I actually really like Shoreham but dad lives in Bexhill so do want to be near as poss to him. I'm looking a bit at St Leonards with rose tinted specs at mo (big house! Sea view!) so we are going to do a week down there next week :) tbh I'm used to a certain level of anti-social behaviour (currently reside in riot central in London and have lived in Brixton previously) just depends on what scale the anti-social behaviour is really ;) Sparkleprincess - I saw that Robsack Wood sch is currently outstanding but I guess that may be too far? Anyway, thanks for all the info so far - keep it coming!

[SparklePrincess]

Im surprised at rockinhippy's comments. I lived in St Leonards & Hastings for over 33 years & I never saw anything like that. I was never attacked in the street, never broken into etc etc, & ive lived in some well dodgy places. However, the town isnt perfect. There are areas I certainly wouldnt want to live in, but crime happens everywhere. Bexhill Road is a b*h at peak times for traffic. Hopefully they'll put in the link road at some point.

Robsack is not a great area. The school is probably outstanding because the teachers are getting great "value added" despite all the obstacles of having kids with s**t starts in life. Its not somewhere I would send my kids. My dd went to Silverdale, which is one of the better local schools, but we still got parents shouting, swearing & fighting at the gates, smoking & having big ("im so hard I have a rotty") dogs scaring the kids as they came out. Some of my dd's classmates were my old classmates. I know that they were involved in drugs or long term unemployed.

Hastings/St Leonards is lovely, but not for educating your kids. Look at the outside villages as I suggested..

[Tortington]

chichester is a nice cathedral town, but the commute is not easy it is surrounded by fucking ROUNDABOUTS

and if it rains one lane gets shut down on the 27 becuase some stupid twat planner didn't figure drainage when it was built

[Tortington]

oh and dont even get me started on getting through arundel at peak time

fucking tourists

[rockinhippy]

I'm pleased to hear its not that bad for the people that live there sparkle as no one was as surprised as me, especially at the ages involved I was very - we were on our way back from Camber Sands to Brighton & were on the road that ran parallel with the coast but about 1/2 mile back, so I can only presume that is a rough bit - mind you, I'm sure if I'd driven down Brightons West street later at night it would have put me right off moving here too - Our friends that live in Hastings & hate it & want to move back are a couple of old Punks & their kids, nothing that unusual in them to look at these days, but they still get a lot of hassel from locals for being different

[Mamathulu]

lowrib, we're about to put our 3 bed maisonette on the market - with 4 dc's and M.E., it's time to move - there's a field at the back of the garden, views of the town hall and Eastbourne College, it's about 8 minutes walk from the station, and we've loved it here! We're now considering Hastings as DH commutes to London, but will be sorry to leave!

[LeonardNimoy]

Never live anywhere where your commute will take you through Worthing or Arundel on the A27. It is the 7th circle of hell.

[stuckcanuck]

I'm also looking at the move down from London. Single mom w 2 kids. arty farty types. The trick for me is one of my daughters will need a place at a special school - for that reason brighton and hove are out (a friend did the research on that and ended up in Lewes w her disabled child going to Chailey - v happy). My other is starting secondary Sept 2013 - likely we will miss the whole placement malarky due to legal issues selling in london (ex husb. ) but my understanding is that it is nothing like the over-subscription in London. Or should I be stressing? If we move down after sept 2012 will we be screwed for sec school?

special schools in bexhill and eastbrn look great. Not sure about Bexhill...might be too quiet for me and the secondary there not brill.

I do love St Leonards and Hastings. I live near Peckham so hey, not worried about 'rough' bits really. I do boxing and running. lol. I need the sea to be close. Have a sight hound that needs to run free. prefer to maintain a relatively carfree life.

Never been to Eastbourne but it sort of looks like it may have more services or is that my imagination? Like the idea of being closer to Brighton and I imagine lots of students in Ebrn. Schools look better in Ebrn...on paper it appears great...but I love the feel of St L/Hastings and 'bang for your buck' element. What does Eastbourne feel like?? someone mentioned 'darkness'...

I guess I also wonder about likelyhood of like EVER finding a partner in small town. lol

will make a trip down soon. have any of the peeps from the beginning of this thread looking to move down done it now?

[PfftTheMagicDraco]

The Hastings/brighton route is a nightmare, and bexhill is where people go to die.

[ElizabethDarcy]

Hi, I am another looking to move back to the seaside (currently in SW London)... and have been looking at St Leonard's on Sea and Bexhill on Sea... I see from the comments that Bexhill has a higher average of older folk... not that that worries me, but I am a childminder.. and so need to think of clientele! Would St Leonards be a good bet ivo of me relocating my childcare business there?

[PaWithABra]

will you all just fuck off back to london and stop forcing up house prices for those of us who live here.

Thanks

[JudiOnion]

Am about to return to Brighton after 20 years in a Spanish wilderness, now with two teenagers in tow. Don't care how expensive it is: just want them to experience the great vibes that exist in Brighton that I enjoyed so much when I was young - living in cupboards may be cool.

[lizike]

I have just read this thread with interest; in the process of deciding where to move but with little real knowledge of the area. Lowrib, it would be great to hear how you're getting on, and Interstella71, I am intrigued by your mention of the darkness of Eastbourne - in fact, I'm not sure it hasn't entirely overshadowed by prior enthusiasm for the place (based solely on internet research, I must add...). Perhaps a difficult thing to quantify but I would be interested if anyone has more to say about Eastbourne. Also, Lewes - someone mentioned it was twee; is it? Thank you in advance!

[BronaghT]

Ringmer is a nice town. Not far from Brighton. Lewes is also nice.

[Mumzy]

Worthing or Hove if cant afford Brighton. The only up and coming thing about so e of the places mentio ed are theprices

[sittingonfence]

I know this was written a long time ago but have just come across this very useful page while researching info on where to live in Hastings. I've just recently been visiting Hastings and looking at property, as someone who doesn't know the town well i'm finding it confusing to get to grips with. I've viewed a terraced house that i like in Alma Villas in the Silverdale area, seems like there are mixed but mainly negative views on the area on this page. Any thoughts/advice?

[bellasuewow]

Lewes, Eastbourne both have amazing views and nice feel. Saltdean is lovely but popular. Agree that peacehaven is nice and cheap. Seaford is very nice but boring compared with the others. All nice really it is a nice area. People down here think Hastings is rough only if they have not lived in London Hastings does not have a patch on London in the rough and dodgy stakes.

[evjanderson67]

I moved to Hastings 6 months ago from London (where I had lived most of my life) and I love it. I can safely say it IS 'up and coming'. More people are moving here from London, more galleries and cafes and shops are opening (especially in St Leonards which feels a little more like an area of London due to its social mix) and we are even getting a new pier soon which I think will raise the profile of the town even more. Also, Alexandra Park is really lovely.
I lived in Brighton for 4 and a half years and I can categorically say I prefer it here. I have met some really interesting people (incl. lots of arty/musical ones) and everyone seems really keen to get to know you. As for there being areas of social deprivation, well doesn't London have those too...lots of them?! Brighton also does but they are hidden from view. There is a mixture of people here but that's what I like about it. The housing stock is great - lots of Victorian terraces and big detached properties which are so cheap you wouldn't believe....BUT things are changing and the property prices are reflecting that so get down here soon, if you're interested.

[Nancy66]

The thing that worries me about Hastings is that it's been 'up and coming' for over a decade and it never seems to get there. Even this thread is 4 years old and people are still saying it's 'up and coming.'

[magimedi]

Nancy People have being saying to me that Hastings is 'up & coming' for the last 8 years.

Yes, it's got some cafes & galleries, but I notice that Old Town now has lots of cake shops/cafes where a greengrocer & butcher used to be. It all looks good on a sunny weekend with lots of people buzzing around but I suspect many of them are day trippers.

I'm not putting it down, I love going over there for a walk & mosey round but I don't see the great surge that's been talked about for so long.

(I live near Eastbourne).