3 reasons Brighton residents never want to leave

Brighton has always been a very popular city but the last 3 years it’s really boomed – thanks to our very instagrammable locations and lifestyles, everyone’s desperate to get down here and take their own winning social media shots. Sure, we attract millions of visitors each year (last check about 11.2million to be precise) and the city is becoming busier, but it doesn’t scare off the locals. Despite rising property prices making it a little harder to get on the ladder and making renting a little bit tight, it’s not very often that you meet someone who already lives in Brighton that’s making big plans to move. So, what is it that keeps us here? And why are the prices creeping up?

It’s a city by the sea

Brighton isn’t the only city by the sea in the South East of England. Portsmouth and Bournemouth have their own beaches too, in fact Bournemouth’s award-winning sandy beaches are thought to be some of the best in the world. Sure, they have their own beach side restaurants and bars, but there is nothing like Brighton seafront on a sunny Sunday afternoon for relaxing, people watching and enjoying live music. Our bands are very talented thanks to some very high-quality local music colleges and a raft of venues that support new acts. Our booze is better too, we are more experimental in our bars with stocking craft beers and gins, we’ve even got our own Brighton Gin and Tuaca. We have one of the most emotion-stirring monuments out at sea – our beloved West Pier that has so many stories to tell, so many memories for so many people and frames our sunset at low tide every evening in the summer.

We’re a big city with the heart of a little village

Every city has its own districts, like Manchester with its quarters. But for a small city we have a myriad of communities all inter-twining with each other. There’s St James’ Street with its mix of party life, classy bars, not so classy bars, and arts venues, leading into little St Georges street with its antiques and independent shops, over to Queens Park where the families live in quirky terraces, down to Hanover where you’ll never be short of good home cooked food and a welcoming pint, round to London Road where the new park has brought the community back together, over to North Laine for a network of independent business owners bringing us a fantastic shopping experience, down to the seafront with its bright lights and weekend events with a row of brilliant boutique nightclubs. So much culture in just a few square miles and each area as welcoming and accepting as the next. Everyone knows someone you know, and we have our own pet disco bunny and a line up of other bright and wonderful characters hanging out across the town seemingly with one mission only – to make people smile.

The properties are outstanding

We’ve seen a lot of residential properties in our 25 years of trading. Brighton tops most cities for wonderful places to live. Penthouses with sea views aren’t hard to find here, and luxury apartments from converted Georgian properties are our stock. There are also plenty of quirky little cottages right in the city centre, some amazing loft buildings and converted hotels with ceilings so high you need go-go gadget arms to get the cobwebs. There are regency townhouses with the most amazing floor to ceiling bow windows and balconies, and there are million-pound mansions hiding in tree lined residential areas set back from the main roads.

There is so much green space just up the hill

Brighton really does have it all when you think about its location. City by the sea, village lifestyle and even better, its surrounded by the stunning South Downs National Park – the perfect backdrop for strolling, cycling and camping not too far from home. Residents love to catch up around the campfire.

Moving up and down the property ladder isn’t so hard

Another reason residents stay in Brighton is the choice of property styles to suit all budgets and lifestyles. Downsizing and upsizing is easy – there are studio flats, one beds flats, 2 bed houses, 2 bed apartments, professional pads with 2 double beds and baths, and massive houses for big budgets and smaller 3 bedroom homes for the average family. If you’re currently in one of theses types of homes looking to change to another, speak to our team about how we can help you sell your home and look for another. Email brighton@oakleyproperty.com to get started.