Life by the seaside is a fantasy move for many, and there is far more to East Sussex than the pebbly beaches and nightlife of Brighton.
There is also the glorious countryside of the High Weald, a choice of historic market towns, lower profile coastal resorts, and gorgeous villages within its 666 square miles.
Little wonder that so many Londoners fled south in the worst days of the pandemic.
Since then price growth has started to fall away — prices across the county have dropped 2.6 per cent in the past year, to an average of just over £380,000. In what has become a buyers’ market those who are planning an East Sussex exodus no longer face frenzied competition for the best homes.
To help you choose the perfect spot, Homes & Property has curated a guide to the highlights of the county with up to the minute price data from estate agent Hamptons.
Value for money: Eastbourne
This Victorian holiday resort has struggled to shake off its kiss me quick reputation, but change is afoot.
In Little Chelsea, just south of the town centre, you will find a great collection of galleries, record shops, cafes, delis, boutiques, and antiques shops – think Crouch End, plus seagulls.
And while Margate has the Turner Contemporary Eastbourne has the Towner, a free gallery with a fantastic collection of contemporary art, a cinema, and a year-round programme of exhibitions and workshops.
Eastbourne’s three-plus miles of beaches are mostly shingly, and its main beach is flooded with tourists over the summer. A more peaceful summer option is Holywell Beach. You can also learn to windsurf or kite surf at Royal Parade or walk the cliffs at Birling Gap.
The compromise here is twofold. Trains to London take about an hour and a half (compared to an hour from Brighton), and parts of the town centre do look pretty grotty. But there are some lovely residential suburbs like The Meads, with its Edwardian houses close to the station and town centre, or Redoubt, an up and coming option with some good quality traditional brick and flint houses.
Average prices in Eastbourne stand at £313,000, some £70,000 less than the county average. And while those prices have dropped five per cent in the past year, the town has seen price growth of 53 per cent over the past decade.
Most like London: St Leonards
Until recently St Leonards was a bedraggled and unloved former Regency resort, but its fortunes have been transformed largely thanks to the injection of inspiration and entrepreneurial spirit brought by ex-Londoners migrating down the A21.
They have helped reinvent St Leonards as a creative, thriving coastal hotspot, more authentic than Brighton, more relaxed than Margate. The town’s once barren shopping streets – dominated by charity shops and empty stores – have been taken over by galleries and boutiques, bars, restaurants, and coffee shops.
Its quirky, urban villagey vibe helps make up for some of St Leonards’ geographical downsides – the steep, stony beach, the hour and a half train journey to London. On the plus side you are three miles from the edge of the High Weald, with its promise of long weekend walks topped up with a pub lunch.
Locals rave about how friendly and inclusive it is and St Leonards (and neighbouring Hastings) also has the advantage of affordability.
Despite price growth of a massive 89 per cent in the past ten years prices are an affordable £307,000, with a typical house costing £379,000 and flats clocking in at an average £195,000. Prices have fallen by 1.7 per cent in the past year, but that is considerably below the county average fall of 2.6 per cent.
Least like London: Lewes
Lovely Lewes is the perfect genteel country market town, all cobbled streets full of interesting boutiques, cafes, and cozy pubs with views of its castle to settle down in.
Its calm and peaceful vibe is a world away from the capital but unlike your average parochial market town Lewes has a thriving cultural life, home to the Glyndebourne Opera House, and with an art gallery, film club and annual arts festival. It is also rightfully famous for its Bonfire Night festivities,
Restaurants and cafes include the stylish Dill, which specialises in globally inspired small plates, and the delicious Flint Owl Bakery, which has its own market garden.
And it is great for those who like to be outdoors, since it is located within South Downs National Park and only ten miles from the coast.
Train services to London take an acceptable one hour ten minutes to Victoria, and Brighton is 15 minutes away for when you want a bit of nightlife.
Lewes is one of the most expensive parts of East Sussex, with average prices standing at £553,000. Prices have – again – dipped in the past year but are 19 per cent higher than they were at the start of the pandemic, and up 46 per cent since 2013.
If you are interested in a new life in Lewes, neighbourhoods to know include The Wallands, just north west of the town centre, where you can find streets of lovely, spacious Edwardian houses with seven figure price tags. Or check out Southover, to the south of town, where you could pick up a Victorian or Georgian terrace for a fraction of London prices.
Best connected: Wadhurst
This pretty small town has a proper country feel thanks to its location within the High Weald, but its mainline station has services to London (Charing Cross or Cannon Street) which take just over an hour – speedy by Sussex standards.
It is also ten minutes by train to Tunbridge Wells, with its great range of shops and restaurants, or you could take a day trip to the seaside. Trains to St Leonards take around half an hour.
A great advantage of Wadhurst is its proximity to Bewl Water, one of the largest reservoirs in southern England with a fantastic range of sporting opportunities from sailing and windsurfing, to rowing, sculling, canoeing, and kayaking. A 12.5 mile walking trail around the water is perfect for walkers and cyclists.
Prices do have a habit of going up the closer you get to London and Wadhurst is no exception, with average prices standing at £595,000, down just over five per cent in the past year. Despite this, prices remain a resounding 34 per cent higher than they were before the pandemic, and the race for space, and 55 per cent higher than 2013 levels.
Family friendly: Rye
It would be a hard heart which would not fall for this hilltop mediaeval town with its cobbled streets and historic buildings.
Younger members of the family will appreciate outings to nearby Camber Sands, three miles away, with its miles and miles of golden beach backed by sand dunes to explore, or bike rides on High Weald.
Back in town there is a full range of independent pubs and restaurants — Rye really doesn’t do chains. And ever since one of its historic coaching inns, The George, reopened as a smart boutique hotel and restaurant and raised the bar the general standard of cafes and restaurants has improved greatly.
On a practical note all of the town’s schools are rated “good” by Ofsted, the Government’s schools’ watchdog, and trains from Rye to St. Pancras take an hour and a half.
The most beautiful part of town is the Citadel, where you will find timber framed houses on cobbled streets. While definitely photogenic the Citadel is not a particularly family friendly spot, however, because most homes don’t have much more than small courtyard gardens. Off street parking is unlikely.
If you want a trampoline in the back garden and a sensible estate car in the drive then the streets of 1930s homes within a ten minute walk of the centre are probably a better option.
The average property price across Rye is £450,000, with houses costing an average £481,000. Prices have dropped by a modest 1.6 per cent since 2022 but are 20 per cent higher than they were in 2019, and have increased by 49 per cent since 2023.
