Moving to Sittingbourne

[Ama007]

Hi everyone
I'm a mum of two, a 3yr old son and a 5yr old daughter. My daughter just starter year R. we currently live in east London and are thinking of moving to Kent. Our entire life is here in london and we don't have much knowledge about Kent except for what I've read on the net so far. The reason for the move - safer neighbourhood, good schools and good value for your money in terms of property. we're not restricted to Sittingbourne although its the area we've been viewing the most. We will prefer an area that offers all of the above and a good commute to london. Has anyone made a similar move recently? which areas should i consider and which should I avoid? My daughter does gymnastics here in London and I would for her to be able to continue there. Will also be opened to any interesting activities out there. Are there any areas where racism is an issue? we are a black family. will be helpful to hear your thoughts :)

Hi Ama007, we moved to Sittingbourne a few years ago. It is not a multicultural or diverse town but things are changing slowly. Popular local primary schools are in the southern side of the town (Oaks, Tunstall, St. Peter's Catholic school and few others). Try to avoid living in or around Murston area.
Good luck with your house hunting!

Have you considered Maidstone? Pegasus is a good gym club in Maidstone. Good train links to London also. People of all nationalities live here also.

We moved from South East London to Folkestone and commute with a young family. We totally love it and there is a huge community of DFLs (Down from London-ers)! We commute daily and whilst it isn’t cheap it is a quick and pleasant commute on HS1. Area is amazing and there is so much to do. Especially in the summer months when loads of free events are organised for tourists and locals alike. No idea about gymnastics specifically but we are spoilt for sports facilities and our kids have been able to choose from an astonishing number of extra curricular activities offered in the local area, again many of which are either free (!) or very cheap compared to London...

Which station in London do you need to commute to as the terminus station will be important?

What is your budget? As there are better areas in Kent we can recommend but that would depend on budget. What attracted you to Sittingbourne?

I too moved from East London to Kent to live closer to my DHs family but also for all the reasons you want to move - cleaner air, safer neighbourhood, good schools. Property here is still quite expensive (£450k-500k for a decent 3 bed semi) but I guess not as much as in London.

thank you @BluePineAndApple. i have read lot about the Southside being more pleasant. St. Peter has been rated highly from talking to some of the mums during our viewings. I've also head good words about bobbing village school. thank you for taking the time to share!

@Loveislandaddict ,thank you. Maidstone was actually our initial thought when we started looking. the first viwing we had was in harrietsham, which seemed like a rather small village. with little to no knowledge of the area it became rather difficult to look. Do you have any ideas of areas in maidstone you'd recommend? thanks

@Letsgowalking thank you for sharing. We haven't really considered folkestone to be honest but i will have a look. thanks!

Places I like are Bearsted, East Farleigh, Coxheath, West Farleigh, loose, larkfield.

There’s a lot of new houses being built on Hermitage Lane (near the hospital) and also in Langley (Sutton road) which may be worth considering.

Places I’d avoid are Shepway and Parkway (sorry).

There’s probably other good and less desirable areas.

We have three train stations - Maidstone east, west and Barracks which are good for going to different parts of London.

Also, Headcorn is nice, a large village.
Lowest Malling and Kings hill are also nice. Kings a Hill is a newish settlement.

West malling.

@Notyetthere thanks for sharing. We'll need to commute to Kingscross st.Pancra . in terms of budget, anything £350K to £400K will be ideal. And the attraction to Sittingbourne, there isnt really any per se exceptthat there seem to be decent priced houses and good school. we visited a few places gravesend, gillingham, Chatham, maidstone and then Sittingbourne. We liked maidstone but found its harder to drive through the area to have a proper feel of it. We also liked Sittingbourne and we were able drive around to earmark areas we'd like to avoid. but i guess you'd know until you actually live there. thanks

@Loveislandaddict. thank you. Its useful to have some references to focus on. I'll definitely be looking into these. thanks

You can get to St Pancras quite easily from Maidstone. I believe there are some direct trains. Or change at Strood to go to St Pancras - avoids the tube.

Lots of houses in that price bracket.

house 1

house 2

house 3

house 4

Random houses for sale

@Ama007 just to add - we spent around 18 months planning our move with a search area of the whole of Kent and Sussex and looked in every area that has been mentioned so far (actually had an offer in on a house in Maidstone but pulled out). We have family all over Kent and everyone who has visited us has said they had no idea how much of a hidden gem Folkestone is...

No idea what sort of style you are after, but I walk past these daily and have been impressed with how well they have been constructed and they in a fantastic catchment for schools and a lovely short walk through park to train. And they are about 30 seconds from a fantastic sports centre so guessing gymnastics might be available.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83514560.html

If periods properties are more your thing, you are spoiled for choice too. This is the sort of thing you could get, close to an outstanding grammar and still walking distance to station 😁

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83272679.html

Hello everyone. We would like to move to Teynham, does anyone know anything about the area?

Hi,

Sorry to wake up the old thread. Did you end up moving to Sittingbourne?

I am also planning to move from East London to Kent and found Sittingbourne has some decent priced houses.

Would like to know your thoughts on this place after moving. I have 2 girls, 2 and 8 years old ones.

kiran

Slowly? Sittingbourne has completely changed demographically with lots of black families moved there? Over the last ten years extremely noticeable not that I really care but just being factual