More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Maidstone is the most popular town to move to in Kent and one of the most popular places to buy a house in the UK, new figures show.
A total of 1,205 people moved to the county town last year, and a total of 10,459 house transactions were made in the area.
The figures come from a study by conveyancing solicitors, Bird and Co which analysed data from the Office of National Statistics, HM Land Registry and Rightmove.
It also found Kent was the fourth most popular county to move to in the UK after Devon, Norfolk, and Hampshire.
Some 6,269 people moved here over the past year with Maidstone, Swale, Dartford and Dover proving the most popular destinations locally.
Maidstone had the second largest number of properties changing hands out of the top 10 counties, beaten only by Basildon in Essex.
It found Kent is the only county to have remained in the top four for the fourth year running and between 2019 and 2020 it was top on the list, with a net migration figure of a staggering 8,104.
Following closely behind Maidstone in second place is Swale which saw 988 people arrive while Dartford, in third place, had 787 people.
In the middle was Dover with 691, Canterbury with 636, Sevenoaks with 632, and Tunbridge Wells with 611.
Ashford took eighth place with 602 newbies, Folkestone and Hythe was ninth with 516, and Tonbridge and Malling was 10th with 114.
But on the opposite end of the scale, Gravesham and Thanet were the only two authorities to have more people move out than arrive.
For this reason, Thanet saw a net migration of -140 while Gravesham had -373.
'As restrictions eased, there would have been a considerable number of people searching for a new home...'
The county which saw the most people move in was Devon with 8,521 arrivals.
Just below Kent was neighbouring Essex with a net migration of 5,661.
In 10th place was West Sussex with 4,822.
Out of everyone who moved to Kent, the age range was fairly mixed.
Tunbridge Wells and Canterbury had the youngest migrants aged between 10 and 19.
Dover and Folkestone mainly attracted 30 to 39 year olds, and Thanet appealed to the eldest, aged between 60 and 65.
In all other areas, the age range was an average of 20 to 24 year olds.
The survey also found that Kent's housing market is one of the most active in the UK as more than 14% of properties changed hands last year.
This isn't just because of migration, it is also because of Kent's loyal homeowners who tend to move within the county, as opposed to leaving.
An impressive 93.72% of homeowners were loyal last year.
Daniel Chard, Partner at Bird and Co, said the stamp duty exemption also played a significant factor in the high levels of demand in Kent.
He added: “Though the first stamp duty holiday ended in June of this year, buyers were still able to get a full tax break on purchases worth up to £250,000 up until September.
“Summer is traditionally the most popular time of the year to move house and as Covid-19 restrictions eased, there would have been a considerable number of people searching for a new home.
"Now that the stamp duty is over, it’s expected that house prices will continue to rise alongside increasing demand."
Currently, the average house price in Kent is £414,420 which is much higher than other counties, and with such high demand, experts at the solicitors say house prices are not predicted to steady any time soon.
On the other end of the spectrum, the average house price in Lancashire stands at £194,318, the lowest of the top 10.
Mr Chard added: “Our research has been based on several reputable data sources, but is just a micro-study into some of the UK’s most sought-after locations.
"The research demonstrates some clear trends as well as throwing up a few surprises.
“With the housing market continuing to flourish after an unstable 2020, homeowners could really benefit from doing their own research to figure out if they’re happy to continue living in their region, despite a potentially huge influx of people."
