Dunton Green / Sevenoaks

[leonarch]

Hi all,

We have been looking with my wife at the option of moving outside London but still being able to commute to it, so we recently came across Sevenoaks in Kent. We visited the area already few times and also had some viewings for houses in the Ryewood development from Berkeley in Dunton Green and we really liked it. After looking at properties in London for the past few months, the properties there felt like great value for money as what would buy us an average 2 bed flat in London, here it can get us a newly built 3 bed house with garden.

However, I saw that quite a few properties around the area are on the market at the moment, and not any sales completed recently. I also saw in another post on this forum people advising to avoid the Dunton Green area, so I was wondering if anyone could offer more insight on the area and the development.

I’m not from that neck of the woods but it’s right by the M26 and the M25? Did you not find it noisy when you went?

The area where the Ryewood development is was not noisy at all to be honest. It is south of the train station, so it's not really close to M25 and M26. Our main concerns have to do with safety in the area and the quality of primary schools as we are expecting our first baby and we want to make sure we move to a safe area that also offers a good environment for our kid. We have visited the area only during on weekend mornings, so we do not really know how it is during night time and if for example the walk from the station at night is as safe.

police.co.uk has all the official stats so you can compare the area to others. Motorway noise can travel for a couple of miles depending or it could be quiet depending on weather conditions. So I doubt it’ll be quiet at all times.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/118272/dunton-green-primary-school/primary

This is the local primary. Excellent progress scores but low attainment and a pretty deprived intake.

In terms of state schooling, also bear in mind that it’s a fully grammar area and the non-selective secondaries tend to be v poor. Having said that, Trinity seems to be doing v well but you’d need to check admissions criteria as it’s a Christian school. Secondaries might seem a long time away but it’s a massive upheaval to move to a different area with school going children so worth sparing yourself a headache in a few years.