Lewes Forum thread

Hi, still househunting. Running out of streets though! So far the non-starters are:
Dorset Rd-flood risk, Grange Rd-noise from bypass, Southover High st-too dear and south side bypass noise even worse, Neville-good value but just too far from the action,
Bradford rd-subsiding, Cliffe-flood. Just out of interest is there a street available with
all the above issues because in a sadistic way i would quite like to consider it!
Anyhow, just looked at St Annes Crescent. Any good? Expensive obviously but
any comments from you guys would be welcome. Thanks.

Some would wish they could be so picky.

Same noise problem as Grange Rd etc.
Try St John's Terrace, Abinger Place (busier traffic tho), top 3/4 of St John's Hill, high parts of Toronto Terrace, Wallands Crescent, Prince Edward's Road, Castle Banks, etc for prime territory...

Nevill - too far from the action?
Where is this action of which you speak? And serioulsy you are not capable of walking from Nevill into town?

Hi 'not so fussy', are you familiar with the middle of nowhere? well i currently live about an hours drive from there. So as far as action is concerned, Lewes is like NYC to me.
Of course i could walk from the Neville but i've had my fill of walking for one lifetime.

lol Ben But I think you need to give NEVILL another look. So many great houses and just the right distance to have sobered up enough for when you get home. I have a 4 bed semi if you are interested ;-)

Lol I like the bit about Nevill being good value. It was 17 years ago when I bought mine for 60k, but now ???
You sound like a typical dfl

Oh what fun! Vicarious house hunting!

I wouldn't discount Grange Road entirely. The noise from the bypass varies enormously depending on the wind direction and whether it's wet - the road's much noisier in the rain. It really makes an enormous difference.

Lewes has a shortage of medium sized family houses, at least in the main town, so I wouldn't be too prescriptive if you can avoid it! In Southover there's Cleve Terrace, Grange Road and Manor Terrace in Potters Lane - Rotten Row is going to be too big and expensive (and pretty noisy from the bypass). If you're really keen, how about sticking notes through people's doors in streets you like? You never know, you might get lucky. I know, for instance, that there's a house in Cleve Terrace which (for various reasons unrelated to its desirability) didn't sell last year but would probably be open to offers!
There's also St Swithuns terrace - I'd have anything I was interested there very carefully surveyed as it's on a steep hill and I'd worry about subsidence.
St Anne's Crescent: lovely but the houses on the north side don't have much in the way of gardens and I'd worry about parking!

Ignore Eastbourne - Lewes is where you want to be!
I speak from first-hand experience - the thing about Nevill is that it's essentially just a housing estate. Yes it has the Downs right outside two sides of it, but there's road after road of semi-Ds with little in the way of charm. And if you want to pop down to a decent-sized food shop for something for dinner, it takes ages compared to the 5 mins each way if you live in the town like I used to.
And I think you'll find that there's little subsidence around the town - whether Keere St or St Swithun's Terrace - as sloping chalk is a far better foundation for houses than flat clay in London, which many new arrivals to Lewes have been used to.
It largely depends on what size house you want - New Road is one of my favourite streets, and Paddock Road...

Nothing wrong with the Nevill, just 15-20 mins walk into town, and the benefit of the Downs on the back door more than makes up for that ! As for action, you'd be better off moving to Blightown ! Seriously though, do you want a quiet life ? or busy one, that will determine where you want to live surely ?

I'd consider the area on the other side of Nevill Road, that I always think of as Not-Quite-Wallands - Mildmay Road, Valence Road, Leicester Road, and the one that runs from the church in Prince Edwards Road up to the school.
It's a shorter walk into town by about 10 minutes but still not punitively expensive.
There are also a couple of cul-de-sacs off Prince Edwards and King Henry's roads that are quite nie and not too dear.

Not-quite-wallands is great. Seems to be the only area in lewes that doesn't have a name.

I would try the Pells (the bits that don't flood) and around - Abinger Place has some good sized houses, a few on St John Street that are not tiny (and is v quiet), Sun Street (though the traffic can roar up there sometimes).

Not quite wallends was I believe known as West End, there used to be a west end laundry on de Montfort rd

Hi Ben
If you're still reading this column, drop me a line at christinacameron46@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with someone who is selling a house which might suit you very well. It's not on the market yet so there would be a deal to be done (no agency fees!)

Having lived most of my formative years in Bradford Road, I can tell you the problem of subsidence (Fixed in most houses in the street now) is trifling compared to the noice from the Ousedale estate out the back and bored kids spending all summer throwing stones over the fence into your back garden. De Montfort road suffers less noise but there's nowhere to park and the older Ousdale kids like to kick bits off cars on their way home down there.

Prince Edwards Road is very nice although hilariously over-priced and again, there are parking issues. Pells area suffers flooding and chavs attacking cars down the bottom but St John's Terrace is ok but the houses are a bit pokey and I know some residents (Unfairly in my opinion) complain about the noise from the Elly.

Have you considered Malling? Closer to town than Neville and with better bus connections, there aer a few flood risk homes near the bottom but that is reflected in their price (How I managed to afford one!). Spences Field is out of the water and really quiet, although north facing gardens let it down a bit.

Maybe you should try Cuilfail? I don't knwo how much noise the traffic through the tunnel makes though, it's been a loooong time since I spent the night in a house up there.

That made me laugh, Ed! A friend lives in St John's Terrace - hardly pokey houses! Four full floors of townhouse loveliness with wonderful views to the back, big private gardens, and the best-run community pub in town at the end of the road. I wish...

Cliffe. Beautiful, historic, central, atmospheric, urban and rural.
So it floods once every 30 years... what, you don't redecorate once every 30 years?

How about Landport? Houses are well built, it's close to the action, no road noise, no subsidence and best of all NO DFL'S!! Oh, sorry, you are one. Suggest you stay in Islington.

But Chuck, he says he currently lives an hour's drive from the middle of nowhere! Unlikely to be London, don't ya fink?

Chuck could be right Local Adult. If Ben lives an hour's drive from the middle of nowhere, it is clear that he doesn't actually live in the middle of nowhere. It is therefore quite feasible that he could live in London and still be able to drive to somewhere fitting the description of 'the middle of nowhere' in an hour!

Just to end the speculation chaps, my house is in deepest Wiltshire and not in
Islington.
Thanks for all the advice here everyone.
Particular thanks to Southover Queen. (I have actually viewed the house in question
on Cleve about 5 months ago, its just one room too small to cater for kids, stuff, and
working from home)

Wallands Borders Darling! Seriously, I thought Valence, Leicester etc were part of Wallands?

Really? I thought Wallands didn't really go beyond the Avenue/Ferrers Road.
I think of Wallands as having big houses, so I suppose the ones at the bottom of De Montfort could count.

My deeds do say that Valence is part of Wallands Park.

I think this thread says a great deal about the people who use this forum.

Blimey the Lewes DFL effect is spreading to the home counties - geordies and scousers next I presume ?

Way aye man !

Since when was Wiltshire in the home counties?
A lot of people want to live in Lewes, and the housing stock is not that diverse. Unless you have seven figures to spend, you're going to be compromising on something.
Nevill is good for families, and it is possible to walk out directly onto the Downs, but the architecture is deeply uninspiring (unlike the views) and it is quite a walk from town. It's not bad if you're going out for the day, or for a whole evening, but you can forget the idea of a quick pint at 10 o'clock or walking to a supermarket for a couple of things.
The idea that it is 'good value' is baffling - there are very few places outside the M25 where you can pay £350k-£400k for a pretty mediocre 3-bed semi. Let's keep it in perspective - based on the traditional measure to afford a £400k house you need to be earning £100k, and there aren't many people in that bracket in Lewes, DFL or no.