Affordable housing near to Brighton

[CHIEF]

Does it exist, After deciding to take the plunge and move down from oop North to be with the GF i'm looking for a decent affodable area within 20-30 minutes of Brighton. Now with me being a Northern monkey my house is probably worth about 10 bob at the most so my budget is probably 200k at the absolute max.

Having looked your lucky to get a 1 bed flat in Brighton so have been looking at alternative areas.

i've looked at Peacehaven (looks a bit drab tbh) Steyning (nice but quite expensive and not a lot of properties) Lancing (seemed full of prefab housing) and Shoreham. Can anyone give me a low down on some of these places. are they nice or are any a bit rough? banging night life doesn't bother me, just want a nice peaceful decent area.

I know i'm asking a lot for 200k but heres hoping.

Thanks in advance chaps.

Cheers

[Strangely Brown]

Take a look at North Portslade (i.e. Portslade Old Village) and Mile Oak. The latter offers particularly good value for money and you should be able to find something better than a flat for your budget.

Peacehaven is, well, a bit st and, IMO, so is most of Shoreham unless you have the money for some parts of Shoreham Beach. The biggest problem with Peacehaven is that there is only one road in and one road out; the A259 through Rottingdean or Newhaven, and it's a bd.

[ChrisDT]

Yeah, have to agree with those comments on the whole - Maybe North Lancing as it has direct links to A27 or steyning maybe?

[CHIEF]

Like Steying like i said but fairly expensive and not a lot of property in my price range, What is Lancing like? i've not really had a good drive around Lancing but it didn't float my boat from what i saw but like i said not really spent time driving round it.

Thanks for the comments so far chaps

Edited by CHIEF on Monday 2nd November 16:58

[Merlot]

I'm from the area and used to work in property... what are you expecting for your budget of £200k? Beds/Flat/House/Garden and are you commuting anywhere (ie need rail or road links?)

[FastLaneGirl]

CHIEF said:

Like Steying like i said but fairly expensive and not a lot of property in my price range, What is Lancing like? i've not really had a good drive around Lancing but it didn't float my boat from what i saw but like i said not really spent time driving round it.

Thanks for the comments so far chaps

Lancing is not that nice, it one of the more deprived areas in the district. Have a look round Southwick. It is small (not on any road signs!) but has a nice villagey feel & is a reasonable area. It is as close as Lancing is to Brighton (Google for Southwick Library or Lesiure Centre to get a postcode for Google maps).

Given a choice I would go for west of Brighton rather than east, as others have suggested. West is Southwick, Portslade etc, or Shoreham if you can go further out, east is Peacehaven, Saltdean & IMO west is nicer

If you need a guided tour give me a shout. I live in Brighton but work in Shoreham (for Adur District Council which covers Lancing, Fishersgate & Southwick) so know the areas pretty well. Work is very flexible so I could get some time to go round when you're next in the area.

[CHIEF]

Merlot said:

I'm from the area and used to work in property... what are you expecting for your budget of £200k? Beds/Flat/House/Garden and are you commuting anywhere (ie need rail or road links?)

I know that to live in Brighton you need a minimum of 300k prefrebly more that became evident as i started looking, Someone i know down there works for Maslan estate agents and he has spoke to me about plus i've probably spent over 100 hours looking on t'interweb and know that a nice 2 bed house in Brighton is probably impossible for 200k.

With regards to commuting, no probs for me as i can work from home but the gf needs to commute by car to Hove so realistically no more than 20-30 minutes.

Crikey 200k up here would net you a nice 3-4 bed detached on a nice estate, although we have to put up with crap weather and people who have an unhealthy obsession with sheep.

[CHIEF]

FastLaneGirl said:

CHIEF said:

Like Steying like i said but fairly expensive and not a lot of property in my price range, What is Lancing like? i've not really had a good drive around Lancing but it didn't float my boat from what i saw but like i said not really spent time driving round it.

Thanks for the comments so far chaps

Lancing is not that nice, it one of the more deprived areas in the district. Have a look round Southwick. It is small (not on any road signs!) but has a nice villagey feel & is a reasonable area. It is as close as Lancing is to Brighton (Google for Southwick Library or Lesiure Centre to get a postcode for Google maps).

Given a choice I would go for west of Brighton rather than east, as others have suggested. West is Southwick, Portslade etc, or Shoreham if you can go further out, east is Peacehaven, Saltdean & IMO west is nicer

If you need a guided tour give me a shout. I live in Brighton but work in Shoreham (for Adur District Council which covers Lancing, Fishersgate & Southwick) so know the areas pretty well. Work is very flexible so I could get some time to go round when you're next in the area.

Thanks for the advice and offer, i will have a butchers at Southwick. Cheers.

[knight]

And a bonus with Southwick is the tunnel on the A27

[dcb]

CHIEF said:

With regards to commuting, no probs for me as i can work from home but the gf needs to commute by car to Hove so realistically no more than 20-30 minutes.

North of the South Downs not a runner ?

Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Cuckfield and nearby points
all possible to Hove in half an hour.

[Merlot]

To the east of Brighton you have

Rottingdean - Not a bad area, you can link with the A27 but to get to Hove would be easier with the A259.
Saltdean - Not as nice as Rottingdean, and full of old people! If your missus cycles you could cycle along the cliff underpass to Hove in about 15 minutes though.
Peacehaven - Awful place, weird population roughly 50% chavs and 50% old people.

Not much point going much further east than that.

To the west, you have

Hove - £200k will get you a 2 bed flat, just about!
Portslade - As below
Southwick - Not too bad, mainly families and older people.
Shoreham - Awful
Worthing - Old people and chavs.
Lancing - Awful

I'd personally look to the north - Hassoks, Hurstpierpoint, villages around Burgess Hill etc, although £200k will still only get you a 2 bed apartment, possibly a small house.

I tend to go for a smaller house but nicer area, than large house in a place as rough as a badgers arse. Your choice!

[CHIEF]

Some great pointers here cheers, yeah would rather have a smaller 2 bed home in a nice area than a larger home in a dump. Its gonna be hard enough leaving everything behind so the last thing i want is to be living in some toilet which makes me fed up.

[Strangely Brown]

You will be really hard pressed to find a 2 bed house anywhere north of the downs. Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and the surrounding villages are commuter dormitories and command a premium as such. Believe me, if 2 bed houses for 200K existed in the nicer (i.e. rural) areas within commuting distance of (east) Brighton then I would be moving there myself.

With your budget, and requirements, your choices are going to be pretty much limited to those I listed earlier.

[Merlot]

Strangely Brown said:

You will be really hard pressed to find a 2 bed house anywhere north of the downs. Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and the surrounding villages are commuter dormitories and command a premium as such. Believe me, if 2 bed houses for 200K existed in the nicer (i.e. rural) areas within commuting distance of (east) Brighton then I would be moving there myself.

There are a limited supply of houses around the £200-225k mark in villages north of Brighton. Admittedly, they are not exactly plentiful but they're there if you look. They usually need you to compromise on space/parking/garden to get it, but they're there.

http://www.teamprop.co.uk/properties/GCH0620/2-Bed...

Looks nice, although would need some decorating if the interior is not to taste (I don't like it!).

[Strangely Brown]

That's not a house, it's a rabbit hutch... and it's over 200K. I think I'll stand by what I said.

[CHIEF]

Having looked there is a few in Burgess Hill - although for all i know it might be round the corner from the local ghetto!

Henfield i dismissed in the past looks quite nice, some hovering just over 200k but like another poster has said maybe better to have a smaller house but in a nice area. I realise anywhere commutable to 'The Smoke' is gonna command a premium if its in a nice area.

Its certainly an eye opener looking at these house prices, my house is a spacious 3 bed semi, garage and a driveway that will hold 4 cars in a nice part of town.
Manchester 20 minutes away, airport 30 minutes.

Max value - probably 140k tops!!!

The joys of being a Northern monkey - Doh!

[dcb]

CHIEF said:

I realise anywhere commutable to 'The Smoke' is gonna command a premium if its in a nice area.

Showing your age, there, I suspect.
It hasn't been known as the Smoke for over thirty years.

Clean Air Acts in the 1950s, etc.

CHIEF said:

Its certainly an eye opener looking at these house prices, my house is a spacious 3 bed semi, garage and a driveway that will hold 4 cars in a nice part of town.
Manchester 20 minutes away, airport 30 minutes.

Max value - probably 140k tops!!!

The joys of being a Northern monkey - Doh!

Having one of the biggest cities in Europe within an hour's
train ride does affect things a bit.

Next biggest cities are Moscow and Istanbul - you've got to travel
over a *lot* of Europe to get bigger than London.

If you *really* want cheap, try Crawley - cheapest house prices
in West Sussex, and you will know why after a visit.

I'd guess at somewhere like Hastings or Bexhill as cheapest
in East Sussex.

[ironictwist]

Christ, is Worthing really that bad?

I personally would have it down as ideal, then again, I only ever pop into town on the weekends...When I buy my own place in a few years time, it'll be in Worthing or Pevensey to be honest...Can't stray too far north from the beach, would miss it far too much!

[CHIEF]

I thought about Worthing but have not had positive feedback although Durrington looks a nice part of Worthing and Angmering which is further across is lovely.

Unfortunately this is maybe going a bit too far across for me and i would imagine the traffic on the 27 would be horrible in the mornings.

[ironictwist]

CHIEF said:

I thought about Worthing but have not had positive feedback although Durrington looks a nice part of Worthing and Angmering which is further across is lovely.

Unfortunately this is maybe going a bit too far across for me and i would imagine the traffic on the 27 would be horrible in the mornings.

I leave at 8ish every morning for work & you have a point...It can sometimes be a bit slow (Like this morning) from Worthing to Shoreham.

Normally though, if I leave at 8:10, I pass the turn off for Hove come 8:20ish, so it's not all bad!

I'd avoid Durrington personally, it doesn't have the greatest reputation...Angmering's Bramley Green estate is quite pleasant, good folk round that way!

Ideally, a place in Findon Valley (Bunglaw/OAP central) would best suit I think...Really lovely area (I grew up there, loved it!) - The only downside is the tailbacks when you join the A27 to the Grove Lodge roundabout & Lyons Farm traffic lights. It's worth seeing how that is during the time your Mrs would leave, see whether it's bearable for you guys.

Edited by ironictwist on Tuesday 3rd November 10:43