honest opinion of Rochester and Maidstone

[larlotte]

I know this has probably been discussed but we are relocating as we need to be closer to London for my fiancee (Victoria) and we are on a budget (approx £140k) but still want to live in an alright place, good primary schools etc, I've read scary reviews on Rochester and Maidstone but they seem the best of the bunch, please help!!

Hiya. What area are you moving from? I originally come from south east london, but moved to Gillingham a year ago from Hertfordshire due to low house prices in the medway area. We had our heart set on Rochester as it's a lovely town but we fell in love with a house in Gillingham. The area has its low points. Lots of drunks, drug addicts and half of the community that I wouldn't want to socialise with but no different than living in south london, but we can't afford the extortionate london prices, nor would I ever want to move back to where I grew up. I can't comment on Maidstone as I don't know it very well but a friend of mine lives is loose and really loves it. Rochester is a lovely place and if you could get yourself a nice place there go for it. I would recommend spending a weekend in the areas so you get to know them. That's what we did. Although we may not live in as nice as location as we would like, I don't regret the move. I have a wonderful affordable home. I can now take a year off work for maternity without worrying about high mortgage costs and we are in a position where we can also save a little bit of money for our next move hopefully in about 4 years. We are looking at Rochester or Faversham as our next stop. Good luck. Xx

Ps, forgot to add that strangely, I feel a lot safer in medway than I did in south london

Maidstone is nice, I've lived here about 8 years now and love it here, although personally I would avoid Parkwood and Tovil. It is well worth looking at the schools before choosing which part of Maidstone as some of the primary schools are good but some are truly terrible and to get into the better ones you do need to live pretty close to them.