Moving to Kent - can’t decide where!

[Canadatoengland]

Hi we are a family of 4 with a 4 and 6 year old and currently living in Vancouver. We are originally from the Channel Islands and now debating a moved back to the UK but to Kent as opposed to back to the Channel Islands!
My mum lives near Greenhithe in Kent and I would likely look for work commuting to London and my husband would be working all over Kent and London. I am finding it so hard to decide on an area! We want:

• good schools
• under an hour commute to london
• within a 30 min drive of my mum
• outdoorsy, lots of nice walks, picturesque
• good sense of community and amenities for kids to do sports etc

we will be renting initially and ideally would like to be under 2k a month for a 3/4 bed house

not sure if I’m asking for something that doesn’t exist!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice x

We always called it the maths school!

In name, but in reality they take kids from the richest households who have been tutored, often leaving sink schools as the only other option in some areas. Plus add that some families will be leaving private and applying for grammar places, which means their catchment's rental amounts will possibly be changing as the wealthier parents move into the areas.

I think it would be better to know if they have interest in private or grammar if they want "good" schools as well as ensuring the OP knows what to expect longer term.

Tunbridge Wells is lovely

You need to be quick. Often see sm posts from people that need to leave their current rental and starting to panic they won't find anywhere.

This is any town anywhere. It would be a shame if it went the same way as Sittingbourne though, it's just a big traffic jam with a Nandos

Oh I know @LadyTiredWinterBottom2 Sittingbourne is a nightmare ! We’ve just come back from Lidl there.
However, the new housing proposed for Faversham is not just like anywhere. The council are looking to double the population for example.
All on farmland

Well thanks I’m glad I’m not the only one calling it the Maths 😀

Or look in Greenhithe 😂😂 good links to the city and major roads

One of my sisters lives in Sittingbourne and it is indeed a nightmare for traffic but again some nice villages Bredgar , Tunstall , Milstead and Rodmersham are all lovely .

@Canadatoengland if you want to use state education, you really must investigate the utter horror that is the 11+ system before you consider Kent.

Faversham is great.it has a real community feels with lots going on all year round. It's about half an hour by train to Margate and fifteen. Minutes to Canterbury. Those saying Canterbury isn't as nice as it was are right. There are lots of independent shops and some good cafes and restaurants in Fav.

There's a lot of new build housing, but that's the case all over the South East.

Location may depend on where you need to get to in London. You don't want a quick train ride and then a complicated tube journey across London.

Yes my feelings from doing research off the back of this thread is that faversham (as lovely as it looks) might be too far out - i dont know as of yet where i will be working but my husband works in constuction so will be all over kent and london so would be a pretty hellish drive back down. I think im more confused than before i posted this thread tbh 😂

Have a look at the shops on the high street near Star Hill. In just a few hundred metres, 3 charity shops, a betting shop and a Wetherspoons!

Was going to suggest Bexley. Easy to get to Greenhithe down the A2 but also a 30 min train trip into central London. Plus grammar schools if you want them.

@Canadatoengland I do a lot of driving round Kent for work and the motorways round here can be really difficult. Your husband will get used to it but it isn't fun.

I don't know what you do, obviously, but there a lot of hybrid working/working from home since Covid which makes everything much more manageable, so it really is worth exploring.

Would it be worth booking a b&b in a few places and getting a feel for the places and the commutes?

There's a lot of new housing development at Ebbsfleet which might tick some of your boxes for location, but not for character and community.

LOVE Vancouver, btw

That’s near the old Capons
Its not the general hub, that’s heading towards Chatham
Walk to the far end, turn around and walk back. Why go up that end, there’s no real reason tbh. Once you’re a little passed Charles Dickens house and that posh artisans food and veg shop you’ve gone too far imo.

Everything is in the other direction walking towards the Bridge, it’s pushing it to say that’s a reflection on Rochester.

My cousins live in Bearstead and it seems very nice

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155709950

This is the one I linked to too! Bearsted is lovely. As is Ightam near Sevenoaks.

Tonbridge has the schools and fabulous train line. T Wells more expensive, great schools, half the trains of Tonbridge. Surrounding villages, lovely but add to the commute. Villages will probably get you more for your money rental wise. What are the longer term plans property wise? If looking to buy what sort of price are you talking - it could have a massive effect on areas you can consider longterm. Rental and buyer markets may not be the same in terms of affordability. The further West you go Kent wise the more expensive. Sevenoaks will be more expensive than the same distance to London but further East. How old are the children/is the pressure cooker grammar schooling a plus or minus in schooling consideration?

I live in the Weald, it’s beautiful and very rural. I don’t recognise the version of Kent you’re talking about. We have so much beautiful scenery and nice towns and villages.

OP, you’ve mentioned Faversham, definitely look there, it’s a brilliant town.

PS my job is driving based, the further North and near London you are obviously the busier it gets. But compared to elsewhere in the country it’s pretty good, I lived in the West Mids before and that was far busier,

How long did it take you to get use to Deal after moving from London and do you miss London?

I lived in the Medway towns as a child and still occasionally go back now.
I would agree with your assessments. I don’t think Rochester is nice though. It has a very very short bit of nice shops and Cathedral, but the other half the High Street is full of betting shops, charity shops etc. The Medway towns always seem to be full of rubbish. I think this is because of bin collections being black plastic sacks and being opened up by foxes etc.
Grammar Schools are good for you if you know your children are academic but if they are not then the other schools will not be good as they have had the bright children and best teachers taken away.

OP - Firstly I've spent a lot of time in Vancouver while out in Canada on extended snowboard trips/seasons. Its my favourite country on earth and I have fond memories of Kitslano beach.

I grew up in Kent (very early years), in a quintessential English country village, called Knockholt which is between Sevenoaks and Orpington. Its lovely and has hardly changed since the 70s. There's a mainline station into London. It's pricey, but this area and the surrounding villages would be my choice, £s allowing. My inlaws live in Medway Towns and I'd avoid. Also check the flood maps around there.

Totally agree about the rubbish. I live in the Medway towns, and the council insist on black rubbish sacks. So inevitably they are ripped open by foxes and cats and no one bothers to clean up…. One of the things I hate about living here. The roads are always congested and the house building is off the scale….
Rochester is quaint in parts, but caters for tourists rather than locals. Rainham is nicer but again, there is so much house building going on.