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Moving to Littlehampton: House Prices, Neighbourhoods, Trains, Schools and Council Tax

Moving to Littlehampton puts you at the mouth of the River Arun, between Worthing and Bognor Regis, in one of the cheaper stretches of the West Sussex coast. HM Land Registry put the average home in Arun district at £320,505 in August 2026, 1.2% lower than a year earlier and about £53,000 below the West Sussex average of £373,470. This page covers what homes cost by type, the main areas and the villages next door, trains to London and along the coast, schools, and council tax for 2026/27, where the town council's precept puts Littlehampton at the top of the Arun table.

• Average home: £320,505 in Arun district, August 2026 (HM Land Registry), against £373,470 across West Sussex.
• Price trend: down 1.2% on a year earlier; the county fell 1.4%.
• Trains: direct Southern trains to London Victoria via Horsham; Southern lists the fastest journey at 1 hour 46 minutes.
• Council tax: Band D in the Littlehampton parish is £2,556.03 for 2026/27, the highest in Arun because of the town council precept.

Littlehampton house prices by property type

These are HM Land Registry UK House Price Index averages for August 2026, the latest month published. They cover the whole of Arun district, which also takes in Bognor Regis, Arundel and the villages up to the South Downs, so use them as a guide to the market rather than a valuation of a particular street.

Houses have held their value almost exactly, while flats have slipped furthest, which gives flat buyers the most room to negotiate. Littlehampton town has a lot of Victorian and Edwardian terraces and conversion flats near the centre and river, so typical prices in the town itself tend to sit nearer the terrace and flat figures than the district average, while Rustington and East Preston pull towards the semi and detached numbers. For buying costs, see our stamp duty guide or use the stamp duty calculator.

Where to live in and around Littlehampton

Town centre and the riverside

The pedestrianised High Street and the streets around it hold the town's older terraces, with the station a few minutes' walk away. Along the east bank of the Arun, newer apartment blocks look over the river and the harbour, and the walk down to the seafront takes you past the marina and the fishing boats. Parking is tight in the older streets, which matters on moving day.

The seafront and Beach Town

The area between the town and the sea has larger Victorian and Edwardian houses around the long seafront green, a short walk from East Beach. This is where the town's two landmarks are: the Thomas Heatherwick-designed East Beach Cafe, opened in 2007, and the Longest Bench, a 324-metre timber seat along the promenade by Studio Weave, which opened in 2010.

Wick and the north of the town

North of the railway, Wick is mostly 20th-century housing and estates, with its own shops and easy access to the A259 and A284. It is usually the cheapest part of town for a family house.

West of the river

Across the footbridge, the west bank has the golf course, the sand dunes at West Beach and a much quieter feel. There are fewer homes here, and the road route round to the town centre is longer than the walk across the bridge.

Rustington, East Preston and Angmering

Many buyers who start in Littlehampton end up looking just east. Rustington has a busy village centre and lots of bungalows; East Preston and the private Kingston Gorse and Angmering-on-Sea estates by the beach are among the most expensive addresses in Arun. Angmering has its own station on the coast line. All three have lower council tax than the town (see below).

Trains and getting around

Littlehampton station sits at the end of a short branch, with trains running north up the Arun Valley line through Arundel and Horsham. Southern runs direct trains to London Victoria; its journey planner lists the fastest at 1 hour 46 minutes, with the first departure at 05:11 and the last at 21:42. Southern also runs direct coastal trains east through Angmering and Worthing towards Brighton. Gatwick Airport is on the Arun Valley line, so many trains to London stop there. Check times on the Southern website before relying on a commute.

By road, the A259 runs east to Worthing and west to Bognor Regis, and the A284 heads north through Lyminster to the A27 near Arundel. The A27 is the main east-west route and is slow at Arundel at peak times. Arundel itself, with its castle and cathedral, is about four miles up the river.

Schools

The Littlehampton Academy is the town's main state secondary school. Families in the eastern villages look at The Angmering School, which serves Rustington, East Preston and Angmering. There is a good spread of primary schools in the town, Wick and the villages. Places are allocated by West Sussex County Council using catchment and distance: the on-time deadline for secondary applications for September 2027 was 31 October 2026, so a family moving now will be making a late application, and primary applications close on 15 January 2027. Read the latest Ofsted report for any school rather than relying on an estate agent's summary, and see our moving house with children guide for timing.

Council tax 2026/27: why the parish matters

Every bill in Arun is the same county, district and police charge plus a precept set by the local parish or town council. Littlehampton Town Council's precept for 2026/27 is £1,729,069, a Band D local charge of £162.72, the highest of any parish in the district. Band D totals for 2026/27, worked out from Arun District Council's published charges:

Lower bands pay a fixed fraction of Band D: Band B is seven-ninths and Band C eight-ninths, so a Band C home in Littlehampton pays about £2,272 a year. The gap between Littlehampton and Climping is about £123 a year at Band D, worth knowing if you are choosing between similar houses either side of a parish boundary. Check the band for a specific property on the Valuation Office Agency's council tax checker, and read our page on council tax when moving house in Sussex for how the move-in date is treated.

Is Littlehampton a good place to live?

It suits buyers who want to be by the sea for less than Worthing or Brighton, with a direct line to London, the South Downs and Arundel close by, and a beach that is busy in summer and quiet the rest of the year. The trade-offs are a long rail journey to London, a High Street that has lost some of its bigger shops, and traffic on the A259 and A27 in summer. As always, spend a weekday and a weekend in the streets you are considering before you commit.

Practical moving-day notes

Parking is the local variable. Many of the older streets near the centre have no off-street parking, and Arun asks for at least 10 working days' notice for a parking bay suspension. Our removals in Littlehampton page covers local access and costs. For general prices, see removal costs in Sussex; if you are comparing coastal towns, read moving to Bognor Regis and moving to Worthing, or go back to the Move Sussex homepage.

Sources: HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index: Arun; Arun District Council, our budget 2026 to 2027 (parish precepts); Southern, Littlehampton to London Victoria.