Commuting from Kent: market towns Marden and Faversham fly under the radar, but have some of the strongest price growth in the county

These picturesque Kentish towns and villages are within an hour's commute of London, offering good-value homes and top grammar schools...

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Ruth Bloomfield24 May 2017

Kent has some well-known commuter towns. But the slightly smug delights of Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells have been upstaged in recent years by lower-key options as commuters travel a little further in search of value as well as good schools.

With prices among Kent’s commuter hotspots now equalling the London suburbs, it is the village of Marden, which few outsiders have ever heard of, that has seen the county’s strongest price growth over the last five years — despite a commute to the capital that takes just over the magic hour.

It can, of course, take that long to get across London.

£275,000: a two-bedroom Kentish cottage, full of beams and character in Marden centre. Call Radfords (01508 471 044)

MARDEN

A new study by Savills, comparing price rises in 29 key Kent commuter locations, found that despite its 63-minute commute to Charing Cross or Cannon Street, Marden has seen prices rise 51 per cent in five years to an average £381,841.

An annual season ticket costs £4,464. Prices in Sevenoaks — the most expensive location in Kent with average prices of £616,974 and a prized commute of 34 minutes — rose just 13 per cent in the same period.

When parents hear “Kent” they think “grammar schools” and education is one of Marden’s plus points. It has two primary schools that are both rated “good” by Ofsted, while older pupils can try for the renowned Cranbrook School or the grammar schools in Maidstone or Tonbridge.

Marden is big and busy enough to support a pair of village pubs, a couple of restaurants and a post office, and though the nearest supermarket is eight miles away in Paddock Wood, there are plenty of quality farm shops in the villages around.

Marden has a popular cricket and hockey club and as the village sits between the Kent Downs and the High Weald, country walks abound, while the coast at Whitstable is an hour’s drive away.

There’s a mixture of charming little weatherboard cottages at the centre, encircled by some dreary 20th-century and new-build houses, with more planned. But the overall effect is lovely, with long country views and picket fences.

Sarah Simmonds, director of Savills, says: “The landscape has changed quite considerably but it probably needed a bit of investment.”

Many of Simmonds’s clients are escaping from London. She says one of those gorgeous two-bedroom village centre cottages would cost about £350,000.

A modern four-bedroom house would be about £650,000, and a historic converted oast house, barn or farmhouse on the village fringe would start at £1 million.

£520,000: this four-bedroom listed detached period corner house in Court Street, Faversham, has a charming walled rear garden. Call Miles & Barr (01227 917 096)

FAVERSHAM

This very good-looking market town has also seen strong price rises, up 43 per cent to an average £256,849. Like Marden, though, a key downside is the train journey, of an hour and three minutes to St Pancras International.

An annual season ticket costs £4,776 so it’s expensive, too. But Faversham has charm and offers great value for money when it comes to homes. Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School is rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, although for children who don’t ace the 11-plus, Towers School and Sixth Form Centre “requires improvement”, while The Abbey School gets a “good” report.

Faversham is handy for outings to Whitstable, Canterbury, and the Kent Downs. Preston Street, its high street, is stuffed with pubs and restaurants, not very exciting shops and a thrice-weekly market.

There is a cinema, a lido and football, tennis, cricket, swimming and running clubs.

You could keep a boat at Faversham Creek to meander through the North Kent Marshes and along the Thames Estuary.

There has been an influx of buyers from out of town in recent years, particularly from south-east London, says Duncan MacKinnon, director of WH Breading & Son estate agents.

“We’ve just sold to a couple who were renting in Greenwich who tell me they can get to work quicker from here than when they were in London, and obviously the prices are a lot lower, and schools much better.” A two- to three-bedroom bay-fronted terrace house in Faversham town centre would cost about £350,000, while a three- to four-bedroom townhouse would be about £550,000.