What’s it like to live in Kent?

Avoid Medway, avoid Gravesend, avoid Maidstone and definitely avoid Isle of Sheppey.

Just driving/walking around these areas will give you a feel for the area - trust me!

Medway was voted the stab capital of Kent. Also where the term "chav" originated and very much still sums up the area.

The isle of sheppey - well this article sums it up www.ilivehere.co.uk/isle-of-sheppey-guide.html

Ashford - super cheap because there is nothing here except high speed train and shops.

You will have a massive culture shock if you moved to any of these places. I cringe every time I go here and hear the racist and outdated terminology and views. There's no diversity.

Nice areas of Kent but also quite expensive - Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks etc.

Just wanted to add that although I have agreed and recommended some beautiful villages in Kent, I have never found the people friendly or welcoming. Definitely a sense of being an outsider and people simply just don't bother to get to know you or respond to conversation. This was my view having lived all over the country,
And members of family that are from Kent would agree that it is quite unfriendly.

We're near Ashford. Ashford itself is very built up and there is lots of traffic, but the surrounding areas are lovely and there are plenty of nice villages, for example around Wye near the Kent Downs. You could conceivably drive to the station from there in about 20 minutes, then take the high speed train that takes 38 minutes to St Pancras, but it will cost you about 7k per year for a season ticket. It's not rural Wales but you'd be in some nice countryside and have a reasonable commute.

[quote MaryBoBary]@Floralnomad a friend of mine works for Kent police and a high proportion of 999 calls are from Medway/Rochester area. I wouldn't want to live there.[/quote]
My friend is from Medway and he says "if Kent is the garden of England then Medway is the compost heap"
I haven't been so not sure how true it is!

I think you could rule out a lot of places by looking at train lines and times. For example line which services Maidstone is crap and slow compared to line to and beyond Tonbridge. There are twice as many trains to Tonbridge as T Wells because the line splits at Tonbridge. The Weald villages are lovely (the den's and Hursts) but there is often a considerable amount of traffic. There is building going on everywhere and i'm not sure anywhere is immune but somewhere within an AONB will probably have more protection in place than other areas. High speed link from Ashford could rule in some lovely villages with a drive to the station but look at parking options too. Consider what amenities you would like on your door stop as some villages are well served with GP, pharmacy, bakers, newsagent, general store, post office and others barely have a village shop so it's a drive to get anything.

@Floralnomad a friend of mine works for Kent police and a high proportion of 999 calls are from Medway/Rochester area. I wouldn't want to live there.

You seem pretty closed-minded / uninformed about what you’re trying to achieve… suggest going and actually seeing some places and doing proper research to have a better chance of success.

Ooh, just seen your budget. That would be quite a small place in the areas many of us have mentioned, possibly on the outskirts of a village. Very rural generally means bigger houses.

Lots of lovely villages around Tunbridge Wells and into The Weald. We are near Kent / East Sussex borders and only half an hour from the sea but in a gorgeous area. I have 3 teens and we live 2 miles away from the nearest village and we all love it here. Obviously I do a lot of driving around for them but I share this with their friends' parents. We are only 25 mins from a really nice country town with good rail links.
Prices aren't cheap but if you're coming from London you won't feel that as keenly as the locals do. (Grim but a fact of life).
I echo trying out country life first though, we love the very rural environment where we live but we spend most of winter trudging through mud - there are no pavements here.

As indeed would QEQM.

If you have DC, make sure you’re fully clued up about grammar schools and the 11+. Friends moved there fully expecting their DC to go to grammars but one of them isn’t academic enough to do well in the test. The local schools aren’t great, because of all the creaming off for grammars, so they’re going to be paying independent school fees.

We live in Deal, originally moved from London and it is the best move we ever made. Deal is a beautiful coastal town, very friendly people and a reasonable drive/train journey to London. If you weren't particularly keen on living in the town there are so many smaller villages/towns in East Kent that definitely deserve to be shortlisted. Sandwich is a beautiful town and Wingham is a beautiful village although, you would probably need to stretch the budget a little for Wingham

I live in a rural village in Kent, I love it, my house anywhere else would cost nearly £1 million. Here it was half that. I can be in a field or by the river in minutes as well as a shop and in London in less than an hours. Best of both worlds.

We lived in Canterbury for 8 years- that’s pretty nice as are chartham, chilham and Wye - good for coast, good for train. Medway is horrible in my opinion— my own choice would be Kent/East Sussex borders

I know nothing about Kent but Oxford and Oxfordshire are very different...there are loads of very quiet rural places in Oxfordshire.

Do you travel elsewhere in the UK very often? I always think Kent would be such a pain in the arse place to live if you want to travel pretty much anywhere else, you are on the 'wrong side' of London for going anywhere!

I live in the Weald of Kent, about 25 mins to the coast, 20 mins to the high speed rail service in Ashford. It’s glorious here, really beautiful, Kent has a really incredibly varied landscape, it’s green, rural and bucolic around here, but for example Romney Marsh is bleak, beautiful and other worldly with huge skies. People talk about it being overdeveloped but that’s really only the large towns. I can find a road with grass running down the middle very readily round here!

The villages around Canterbury and Canterbury itself are lovely and very good for getting to the high speed rail link to London. I love parts of Thanet, the coastline is stunning there, but it’s a place of two halves with a lot of deprivation amongst the up and coming parts. Folkestone is similar but also naturally beautiful, with the Harbour Arm being a real focal point.

It sounds like you want to be less urban so I’d avoid Medway as it’s a conurbation where several towns merge. Sittingbourne ditto although some of the surrounding villages are stunning.

Tunbridge Wells is nice but guessing you don’t get much for your money, ditto with Sevenoaks which is real commuting land. Whitstable is also pricey, with a London second home property boom. Herne Bay just along the coast has some amazing features but can be a bit rough I’m told.

We drove through one side of Kent to the other over the weekend, personally I love it’s variety, it’s a big county with lots of coastline and there’s lots to find.

More than happy for you to message me about various places.

Oh and we’re about 15 mins from East Sussex here, it seems more rural to me with less easy comms to London unless you’re further up on the line to the capital. Rye is stunning, we’re very near, it’s the only place I really yearn to live in besides here!

Timeforatincture, I live in Deal! Have lived here all my life and love it.

Not trying to be rude, but I’m not sure £450k would be enough for one of the nicer villages in Kent.

Not fair on Medway hospital though. Fantastic care in my recent experience.

@almostautumn does your DH absolutely HAVE to be in London? His job can’t be done from anywhere else?
What you’re asking for can be found in many other places in the UK that would be waaay nicer than parts of Kent, especially for your budget.