What’s it like to live in Kent?

[almostautumn]

Sorry, big generalization I know, but…

DH and I are planning to leave London to reduce our large mortgage. We’ve agreed on Kent as a compromise, as he wants to be within 1-1.5 hours of London and I want to live rurally and nearer the coast.

What worries me though is that Kent maybe isn’t rural enough and is overcrowded compared to somewhere like Wales or Yorkshire for example.

I want to live somewhere very peaceful and quiet with beautiful countryside, where I’m not surrounded by hoards of people everywhere I go. A place where I can go for walks and not see another soul (well, maybe a few other people would be okay!) A place where I can drive to places and park and the roads aren’t jam packed.

A small rural town would be fine, as long as it’s quiet and not too busy. DH is on board with all this as long as like I say, he can get to London fairly easily.

Does Kent sound like it would suit us or is it not that rural?

I live on the Kent coast, we fantasuse about moving north because of the amount of development without more infrastructure.

Saying that, i do like were i live and its rural compared to London. There are villages but nothing ever really feels remote.

Like anywhere, there are nice bits of Kent and less nice bits. There are some quite rural bits and some quite urban/suburban. It really depends on the areas you’re focusing on?

But normally the pay off for being further out/more rural is a longer train journey and higher fares.

You'd need a village in Kent rather than a town. Plenty of those in Kent, some very very nice ones too, especially around the downs which would meet your criteria. I'd recommend staying in an Airbnb and having a good tour.

Traffic is crap once you get to the towns, so simply steer clear

Parts of it are nice and still rural. You will be a drive from a good mainline though. Chartham, Chilham, Wingham, Street, Smarden, etc.

Kent is a really large county there are built up places and external rural places.

The ‘nicer’ costal places are going to be built up and busier… come in land a bit and it’s less busy. You also want good links to London so you’ll need to compromise somewhere.

Personally l wouldn’t live in East Kent. But it seems to be up and coming.

The beauty of living in Kent is that you have lovely countryside and the coast whilst still being close enough to London for concerts / theatre and , in normal times, easy access to mainland Europe .

Kent is a very big county and there is a vast difference between eg the villages in the High Weald and the Isle of Sheppey! There are some beautiful villages (eg Sissinghurst, Benenden, Cranbrook, Goudhurst etc) and lots of it is very rural, but it is still 60-90 mins from London and a commuter county so there is a limit to how off the beaten track you can get.

Another thing to consider if you have children is that it's a fully selective grammar county, so no comprehensives to speak of as 20-25% of children are creamed off to the grammars at 11+

Thanks for the replies - lots of food for thought!

The other thing is, I don’t want to live in an area that is earmarked for lots of new building. I’d hate to move to a quiet rural town only for 500 houses to be thrown up without the infrastructure to support it. Is this something that’s likely to happen in Kent?

I was born and grew up on the Kent Coast. Then moved to outskirts of Tunbridge Wells when I was 13.
Mum still lives there and loves it
But yes, new houses are being built in more rural areas all the time. There is a new estate being built near my mum as we speak.
You mentioned Yorkshire. I live there now and there are new builds being built all over. It happens.

OP, most towns in Kent have lots of new buildings planned/threatened, with an extra 10,000 houses in the pipeline www.kentonline.co.uk/kent-business/county-news/thousands-of-new-homes-coming-your-way-244679/

There is a certain amount of disquiet about people moving from London, but it's been going on for decades so shouldn't put you off.

As others have stated Kent is quite large and varies from basically London, through villages & small towns to the coast. Most places are near a train station, but coming from London be prepared to have to drive to get around, buses are woeful - expensive and rare (compared to London).
I strongly advise you start spending some time in any targetted areas, not just when it looks nice in the summer, but on a typical grey and damp November.
The other big difference is in demographics, London is 60% white with people from all over the world. Kent is 94% white. In my experience, the level of casual racism, sexism and homophobia is also higher, in some areas its like going back to the 70s.

@almostautumn

The other thing is, I don’t want to live in an area that is earmarked for lots of new building. I’d hate to move to a quiet rural town only for 500 houses to be thrown up without the infrastructure to support it. Is this something that’s likely to happen in Kent?

Yes, particularly around Ashford and Maidstone. However, you need to research where you're looking to buy, and these schemes are always floated in the local press first (eg Chilmington Green, Otterpool).

You're essentially looking for somewhere in the Weald I think - around Tenterden/Cranbrook/Goudhurst. It's a bit of a drive to the coast but not far.

The commute is a pain, because your husband will have to drive to Headcorn, Marden or Staplehurst and then have about an hour to London Bridge/Charing Cross.

I love living here, but it is the South East, and if you go into a town there are people and cars. You do sound a bit unrealistic on that point.

However, I have no issues finding quiet places to walk and the countryside is beautiful, you just have to get to know where to go as a local. Or look at an OS map for footpaths.

I grew up in a quiet Kent country town. As a teenager it wasn't great. If you have children, you may want to bear this in mind, I've purposely chosen to live in a Kent coastal up and coming town so that my children can walk to places under their own steam, and not be so isolated.

Completely agree with beautiful villages listed in post above, would add lamberhurst to the list too. About an hour to the coast and a 50 min train into London from Paddock wood (roughly 15 mins drive). I would love to live there but property is too expensive for me to justify.

I moved away from Kent as it got more and more busy. The 9 mile journey into the nearest town took up to 1.5 hours - just nose to tail traffic. And the "village" where I lived has recently had a further 1000 houses built in it. The population is fast heading towards 10,000 - that's not a village! And it floods regularly.

Having said that, I commuted into London on the train and that was convenient, although if the trains weren't running for any reason, there was no viable alternative.

Do I miss it? No.

Whereabouts does he need to get to in London?

Come to Essex! Leigh on sea is lovely. 40 minutes on the train to fenchurch street.

@Callmecordelia would you mind sharing which town you live in now and do you like it there?

Whereabouts does he need to get to in London?

Just central, so any station is fine really.

@almostautumn

The other thing is, I don’t want to live in an area that is earmarked for lots of new building. I’d hate to move to a quiet rural town only for 500 houses to be thrown up without the infrastructure to support it. Is this something that’s likely to happen in Kent?

I’m not from the South so I don’t know about the area, but I’m imagining that new developments are likely to be a future possibility anywhere that’s within easy reach of London?

i dont think youre going to find anywhere that close to london where you can walk for hours without seeing another soul, but I think there are parts of north essex and suffolk that would fit your other requirements

I live in a Kent village, and love it. We have the countryside on our doorstep, plus it’s 45 minutes to the coast. There’s larger shopping centres nearby plus Lakeside and Bluewater. London is easy to get to, plus the continent in normal times. Over lockdown, we’ve been to a different part of the Kent coast every few weeks to go for a walk.

To add to the list , Gouldhurst, Tenterden, , Biddenden, East Farleigh, Bearsted, Loose, kings Hill, Cranbrook, Staplehurst, Horsemondon, ,

I'm on the coast too there are loads of lovely places to walk. You discover them when you start exploring the area.
I love it here, sandy and pebble beaches,countryside and canal paths all on your doorstep

Honestly anywhere in Kent that's easily commutable to London is going to get built up because its in high demand. Surprisingly lots of londonders want to move out of London to reduce their mortgage and still be within 1/1 and a half hours.

Lots of Kent is earmarked for development, I grew up in a smallish rural town that has pretty much doubled in size in the last 5 years, with no new roads or amenities. Kent is taking a massive amount of the new builds right now, and has some of the highest rates in the country. Lots of Kents roads are very very busy, the traffic is a bloody nightmare. Yes there are the odd lovely rural villages but I'm not sure the house prices are really going to be a great improvement on London because again surprisingly a lot of londoners want what you want

Weekends get very busy by the coast with people travelling in from London, PIL cannot drive out of their house because its so busy at weekends. Whilst you maybe able to find a rural village you will still need to drive to towns etc to get your shopping and for amenities and a lot of the villages have small roads that get very blocked up

I think it's a bit unrealistic to expect to move to a quiet rural location, an hour from London with much cheaper house prices.

Thanks @CarrotTops.

Where can I find a beautiful rural location that is near the ses, which isn’t overcrowded, rammed with cars and tourists or earmarked for lots of new building, with good schools and a pleasant local town that isn’t too busy with good amenities?

Perhaps such a place doesn’t exist!