MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Just trying to get a feel for the place, and an idea if it might get any better.
We can buy a house there at a good price as it's in the family. But do I want to live there?
The move isn't imminent, minimum year and a half. Maximum five years.
We'll both be retired in 2020
I love Brighton, we have family there and my missus was born there. A weekend will often be a morning cycle ride, then out on the paddleboards and a night jiving in one of the very many R&R clubs.
The house is run down and we can't decide if to put our cash into an extension and full modernisation. Or just stay put in Buckinghamshire.
OK...
so the south coast seems to be 'developing'.. the gentry spread from London has dropped down to Brighton, and is now over-spilling along the coast..
Shoreham has been spruced up a bit. Worthing and Littlehampton have also seen improvements.. (I'm in Worthing).
I get the impression it's skipped over Portslade from what I see when I ride/drive through... I could be wrong though...!
DrP
It's considered a bit Hove fringes, I guess, so Boundary Road is mostly 'not quite KFC' takeaways and charity shops (but has a reasonable Tesco) but depends where in Portslade too - some nice victorian stuff. Brighton, Hove all the way to Shoreham all merges into one so travel time to centre of Brighton is 10 minutes longer from Portslade but not significant. If you go to Portslade Old Village there's some proper medieval houses.
Good access to the Downs for walking/riding and access to the beach over the Shoreham Locks but as I say, 20 -30 minutes into Brighton depending on traffic/buses/trains. Access to A27 is good for gettign further afield
I'm in Hove but would consider Portslade for the right house - but suspect my wife wouldn't - as DrP says it's fallen into a bit of a gentrification gap.
Near the old Portslade village bit? Top of Locks Hill.
I get the impression it's full of very very long standing residents and just hasn't changed or moved on. You have to wonder if it ever will.
I have many friends in the area, Shoreham included. The outlaws live in Grand Avenue in Hove so a trip to Portslade always feels like a downer. But I had that when I left North London for Leighton Buzzard, now I actually really like the place.
It's like do I just forget it. Or start to seriously consider it as a good plan for the future.
If you like the area and have freinds here why not look into it further?
Brighton has a lovely feeling to it - it's one of the biggest reasons we've stayed here 25 years despite stupid house prices.
Yes, top of Locks Hill is the start of the old village area - Emmaus used to own a lot of the land so there was only the village for a long time then it gradually got sold off from the 70's onwards.
I don't and haven't lived in Brighton for a decade. Still got a lot of friends there though. My guess is that i will become gentrified.
Look at google maps - it's trapped by the sea and the national park. New houses can't be built. So old ones will be developed. Dr P is right, It has been skipped but everything else between Saltdean and Worthing is either established or being gentrified.
Do you want to retire close to Brighton/ the sea. That's the decision to make; not whether house prices are likely to improve...
I live in Shoreham by Sea (lived in Brighton for 3 years). I loved the vibe of Brighton ...
But great , spontaneous people and loads to do etc.
We moved to SbS because I want space, garage, off road parking etc. Nearly bought a place in Worthing but kind of glad that fell through.
Portslade - parts are council estate Hove, away from Boundry road is better, but the village is lovely. Mile Oak behind that is no great shakes.
Southwick has some nice bits ( around the green etc).
But thewhole area has great access to the front, South Downs and Brighton. The closer you get to worthing , the worse the commuter traffic onte a27 is ...
I love it Shoreham , even though restaurants are rubbish ....
Brighton is stupidly expensive as London commuters move down and think that terraced houses for 800K are a bargain.
We looked a at terrace house in Hove ... asking price was 1.5 mio ...
Not so much the prices, we've considered renting.
Yes Brighton is our goal.
At the moment we live in a rented house in Waddesdon. We have to stay a little longer as my missus has a young daughter here.
Then we either sell my own house, that I currently rent out and buy the Portslade house from my missus dad.
Or we keep mine and continue to rent it out, and rent in a nicer spot down there.
My missus gets a decent commutation next year, it's that we are considering throwing at the Portslade property. And it's something we've considered doing before we are ready to move down.
I'd spend more time down here, visit different parts of the city, decide which you like and if you'd liek to live here permanently and go from there? If you'd like a local guide for a ride then PM me 🙂
You're right of course. We're in the area a lot, we just need to spend some more time in Portslade itself.
Just realised one of my favourite little places for a nights jiving is dead opposite Portslade station. We're seriously down there a lot.
I do keep a road bike down there. Quite often take a pootle with the future FIL to the undercliffs and back to Carrats before heading home. Been on a downs a fair bit to.
I'd go for it. I have a couple of friends who live there and it seems fine. It's by the sea, it's a quick bike ride from Brighton, the South Downs are right near by.
Brighton these days is a bit of a theme park. It's packed with shoppers each weekend, tourists all summer, and hen parties every Friday. I reckon Portslade is just out of the 'pretension zone', but close enough that you can take advantage of all the good things Brighton has to offer.
can only echo what everyone else has said
Portslade is definitely feeling the gentrification bow-wave out from Brighton, so there are some quite nice bits now, alongside some well iffy bits (Boundary Road can often have the feel of the Star Wars cantina), but the change to being nicer seems to happening randomly street by street as people can't afford to live in Brighton any more
i live in Southwick and am perfectly happy here (20 odd years now), you get to aim for the nicer bits and scurry past the less pleasant areas, although the upside of it still being a bit low rent is that you don't have to pay £10 for a coffee and a sandwich like you might in Brighton
i very seldom choose to go into the city now, and 5 minutes ago i was on top of the Downs, which is mainly why i'm still here
Forgot you lived that way.
I think I might come down midweek to see what lifes like without the bikes, boards and dancing.
For an active near retirement age couple it just seems ideal. I love the Downs, cycled them and ran them. Love the sea, be it just walking, swimming or boarding we love it. And the 50's R&R scene is huge down there. Been visiting on my own since 76.