On this page you will find links to
details of property for sale, rental accommodation, shared housing in Crawley.
Crawley is in the County of West Sussex, south of Gatwick airport, and between
London and Brighton. From being a small village in the 1950's it has continued
to grow and be developed, and in fact was once classed as a new town. Travelling
to and from Crawley is extremely easy as it is set just off the M23 motorway
which links directly to the M25. From the north therefore it is reached via the
M25, from the East it is reached from the County of Kent by the M20 that picks
up the M25, and from the South West via the M3, the M25 and then the M23. From
Brighton it is simply reached by the A23 that links with the M23 north of
Haywards Heath.
Train
links to Crawley are straightforward also, as there is the station Three Bridges
that is on the Brighton to London line, that takes trains into either London
Victoria or London Bridge. Crawley itself has its own train station that is
directly linked with Horsham for example and trains can be caught from Crawley
to Three Bridges. The journey from Three Bridges to London is only around 45
minutes on one of the fast trains, and the journey by train to Gatwick airport
is only around 10 minutes, so flying in to the Crawley area is simple and easy
also. These transport links have essentially led Crawley to be developed and
developed further with house and apartment blocks being built to cater for the
demand from commuters and buy to let investors. There is a large development
just off the M23 called Maidenbower that was first built on around 15 years ago
in the early 1990's. It brought with it, 2 new primary schools, a doctor's a
dentist's, shops, a secondary school and a sports field and pavillion. Living in
Maidenbower is convenient for all these amenities, for Three Bridges train
station, and just 10 minutes drive takes you out into the Sussex countryside.
What
also makes Crawley an attractive place to live is the fact that because there is
a demand for housing there by young professionals working in London or Brighton,
people working at the Airport, or families who want to be close to London but be
only a few minutes from the countryside or even the sea along the south coast.
This demand has led to lots of amenities being developed, and due to the
proximity of the airport, there are alot of hotels most of which with leisure
facilities, gyms, saunas and swimming pools. This means that the cost of gym
memberships is competitive in and around Crawley and national chains such as
Cannons and Esporta have to compete along these lines and offer excellent value
for money. Additionally, Crawley has recently had its own public leisure centre
developed that offers brilliant facilities for people who do not want to be tied
to monthly membership fees. The shopping in County Mall is convenient as it is
not too large a shopping centre as for the shopper to be bewildered, but parking
is easy and the layout of the shops memorable, with the main retailers being
present. The square has recently been developed also, so now even more high
street fashion outlets compete for business making shopping in Crawley a
relatively enjoyable experience. There of course are the out of town leisure
parks, that offer, hotels, restaurants, a cinema and bowling alley, appealing to
the young population of the town. The college in Crawley is well subscribed and
it offers courses that are focused more on vocational training such as
hairdressing, beauty therapy and culinary related subjects such as restaurant
management. Each week the public can book into the restaurant at the college and
enjoy a 3 course meal for reasonable prices, or even have a hair cut by one of
the students in the hairdressing college of course under the supervision of
tutors.
The
attractiveness of the town and the college, the transport links and countryside
nearby has meant that property prices in and around Crawley are amongst some of
the highest in the South East of England. Apartment blocks have been developed
on sites that one could not have imagined would have been possible, for example
just 2 minutes walk from Three Bridges train station a site that was one a car
dealership now has 50 or so apartments standing on it. Although these are
extremely convenient for the station, there is the noise of the train line and
the busy road that passes by, but this has not put purchasers off, especially
buy to let investors. However the return on these properties for investors is
not good and as such many investors have sought to leave this market in this
part of West Sussex because of the low yield and the over building of the town
have led to many flats and apartments all competing with one another to be let
out.
The
other factor that is disappointing with Crawley is lack of hospital facilities
with no Accident and Emergency department and no maternity ward, the hospital in
Crawley does not cater really for the ever increasing population of the town,
that is swelling too because of immigrants that come into the town due to its
proximity from Gatwick airport, who then make the town their home. However, if
you were to have a baby or need hospital care in an emergency, you would need to
travel to Redhill which is around 30 to 40 minutes away beyond Gatwick airport.
