Crawley area guide

Crawley is a lively and vibrant town, with an interesting history dating back to the Bronze Age.

It has an extremely buoyant rental market and attracts a lot of buy-to-let investment purchasers. The investors experience good yields and the properties generally let within 2-3 weeks. The rental market is driven largely by Gatwick Airport - the major provider of employment in the local area.

The industrial estate at Manor Royal also houses large companies with mobile workforces. Large companies such as Thales, Virgin Atlantic/Holidays, British Airways, Veritas and many more are based there.

Properties in any neighbourhood of Crawley generally receive a strong demand from tenants. If you are considering buying to let, we would advise to try and buy centrally near to the town centre or within 15 minutes walking distance of Three Bridges mainline station.

Crawley also has a busy sales market, and property prices in the area are generally slightly more affordable than the smaller surrounding towns of Horsham and East Grinstead.

Local property prices increased around 3-4% through 2016 with Brexit impacting the market in the middle of the year. The market finished strongly with increased demand from first time properties and a lack of supply.

A buoyant end to the year indicates upwards price pressure going into next year, though tempered by ongoing uncertainty and increasingly stretched buyer affordability and we expect small prices increases of around 3%.

Typical average prices you can expect to pay when buying property in Crawley (based on our experience in 2016) are as follows:

One bedroom apartment - £190,000
Two-bedroom apartment - £225,000
Two-bedroom house – £270,000
Three-bedroom house - £300,000
Four-bedroom house - £400,000
Five-bedroom house - £500,000

The town offers extensive shopping facilities and restaurants, with a vibrant nightlife for the younger generation. But the real beauty of living in Crawley is the outstanding countryside which surrounds the area. Copthorne, Rusper, Balcombe, Pease Pottage, Faygate and Handcross are a few of the surrounding villages, with properties in these areas coming at a premium. When people want a quieter lifestyle they tend to head for these villages or further south towards the coastal towns.

Crawley's location between London and Brighton makes it an excellent commuter base. London is approximately 30 minutes away, and Brighton perhaps 20 minutes (both via Three Bridges mainline link). There are two further railway stations in Crawley - in the town centre and in Ifield.

The road network is good, with the M23 linking Crawley to the M25 ring road within around 10 minutes by car. Gatwick Airport is only a 5-10 minute car journey, depending on which roads you travel and time of day.

Crawley benefits from an excellent bus service linking it to Gatwick and then onto Horley - the Fastway bus route. Buses have priority over cars at traffic lights and you will often see them whizzing down the side while you are sitting in your car at a red light. Find more information about Metrobus here.

Crawley is split into 13 neighborhoods which vary in their housing stock, make up and reputation. The prices of properties vary dramatically depending on the neighbourhood, so it is vital to do your homework or speak to us, to get a good feel for the area.

Neighbourhood Summary

It is generally regarded that the east side of town is more affluent. Areas such as Worth (although not officially regarded as a neighbourhood by the council), Pound Hill and Maidenbower are very sought after.