Thoughts on Maidstone please!

[Vw01]

Hey! Me and my family are considering Maidstone as a potential area to move into. What are everyone's thoughts? We had some viewings around the boughton monchelsea area and the neighbourhood where we viewed the houses seem really nice however when we did drive a bit out did come across some run down looking areas.. anyone familiar with the area??

It’s a lovely part of Maidstone, like most big shopping centres the town centre can be a bit crappy but Boughton is very nice xx

Thanks for this! Also school wise how is it? X

Maidstone is frequently gridlocked. The town centre is best avoided at night and the schools are heavily oversubscribed. Some of the surrounding villages are nice though. Personally I would avoid but it's better than some places in Kent e.g. Thanet, Sittingbourne, Gillingham or Chatham.

Boughton is nice, but Maidstone is run down and utterly uninspiring as a place to live. I would not want to live there.

Not sure about schools xx

Cheaper but definitely chavvier. Sorry!

I do like it for shopping, but the locals are questionable. Every time I visit I overhear racist remarks and bigotry and the sights of people in Wetherspoons at 11am or kids on benches in the middle of the school day isn’t really the environment I want for my kids growing up. But if that doesn’t bother you then the town itself is practical, even some nice buildings and walk along the river.

I've noticed that mainly in town area..not so much in the outskirts or village areas tbh x

Traffic is a nightmare. Especially around the one way in town, just fyi.

Boughton is nice but personally I don’t shop in Maidstone anymore as it’s grotty and awful at night.

I live in Maidstone - given the option I would be gone in a nano second. It used to be a lovely place - sadly it is now run down and down right dangerous.

Whilst in theory it is well connected it is constantly grid locked from Boughton/park wood/loose in all directions towards the M20. A 4 mile journey can regularly take over an hour.

There are some good schools however the good ones are over subscribed or have other issues (Bearsted primary academy for example, good school but getting there and parking is a nightmare). Secondary school wise, there are good ones but these normally have a very small catchment.

I'm guessing you are looking at the newer houses in "Boughton" that are attached to the back of the park wood estate from what you said about the area being run down? I would avoid that area. Also, be aware that if there is a problem on the loose road (frequent) that area becomes a dangerous rat run and will grind to an absolute halt.

Depending on where you need to get to for work and what sort of property you're looking for I'd look the other side of town so you don't have to drive through it to get everywhere (Bearsted, allington, grove green, etc)

Town centre is like the wild West often and I do not feel safe there after 2pm - I avoid it as much as possible.

Boughton Monchehsea is a nice area to live.

Which part of Boughton Monchehsea did you look at? Part of it is next to Parkway and Shepway which is less pretty (and perhaps should actually be called Parkway).

All the junior schools are pretty good around - Boughton Monchehsea, Loose and East Farleigh schools.

It’s a grammar school area and has four grammars, two boys and two girls. Six forms are mixed. Other senior schools are okay.

Maidstone town centre has suffered like many high streets but is okay. I don’t mind shopping there though (never felt unsafe there ).Has a nice little theatre. There’s also a large Next and M and S on the other side of town plus Bluewater and Lakeside an hours drive away.

Lots of lovely countryside around, plus Whistable and other coastal towns an hours drive away.

I totally get you. So we are not considering boughton anymore. Have seen a few houses in allington and we seem to be getting a good vibe from there. We wfh mainly but do have to commute into London on odd occasions so prefer somewhere close to good train links. @Iguesswelljustthrowthisawaythen

So I believe we viewed couple houses near firmin avenue and harling close. And found the area around those roads quite run down.. @Silverbirchleaf

Just looked where Firmin avenue is. That’s definitely the Parkwood part of BM. Boughton Monchelsea proper is the other end of Brishing Lane, and is more rural in nature.

Which part of London do you need to get to? As well as the three Maidstone stations, Paddock Wood (south of Maidstone) is useful for London Bridge and Charing Cross.

@Silverbirchleaf so we go into London bridge

@Vw01if you're going in to London bridge then the Maidstone east line has hourly trains - but you'd need to get them from either Maidstone East or West Malling.

Depending on what you're looking for in terms of location, grove green and vinters park can be quite quite nice although fairly busy. Penenden Heath is also nice but quite spendy!

What’s your budget and what type of area and house do you need?

If you need to get to London Bridge you could look at Headcorn. I used to travel up to London Bridge from there and the trains are every 30 mins. Headcorn is nice although I don’t live there myself but know it well.

Headcorn and Staplehurst have excellent direct rail links to London Bridge. Although both of these lovely villages sit within the wider Maidstone borough area, they are actually closer to the considerably nicer towns of Tenterden and Cranbrook.

@Silverbirchleaf so we are looking at detached 4bed houses

I’ll have a look later. Doing housework now (or should be, instead of looking at mn!)

Second this. Avoid actual Maidstone.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158606822#/?channel=RES_BUY

In Coxheath. Nice village. Easy to Paddock wood train station which is 45 minutes to London Bridge.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161408219#/?channel=RES_BUY

In Yalding, another nice village near Maidstone.