What it's like to live in Dartford

Social housing is a smaller slice of the market here than nationally: 13.8% of homes are social rented across the borough, against 17.1% for England, split between council at 9.4% and housing association at 4.5%. Two thirds of homes are owned outright or with a mortgage, and 18.1% are privately rented.

Dartford Borough Council is easily the biggest social landlord with 4,202 homes, followed by Moat Homes with 941, Hyde with 746, Clarion with 606 and the Co-operative Development Society with 220.

Average weekly social rents in the borough for 2024/25 were £88 for a one-bed, £106 for a two-bed and £118 for a three-bed. The age profile skews young and working, with 13.7% aged 65 and over compared with 18.4% nationally.

Dartford is a young area. Across the borough, 22.1% of residents are under 16, well above the England figure of 18.6%, and 31% are aged 25 to 44. You will not be short of other families.

For primary, Temple Hill Primary Academy is closest at 0.7 miles, with The Gateway Primary Academy, Dartford Bridge Community Primary School and The Brent Primary School all under a mile, and River Mill Primary School at 1.1 miles. Secondary options include Stone Lodge School at 0.8 miles, Harris Academy Riverside at 1.6 miles and Dartford Science and Technology College at 1.9 miles, with Haberdashers' Crayford and Harris Academy Chafford Hundred a little further.

For free days out there are several small parks nearby, including Abel Fishing Reserve and Park, Farnol Green, Cameron Drive Park, Joyce Green Playground and Vimy Drive Park. Libraries at Temple Hill, Fleetdown and Dartford round things out.

Trains are Dartford's strong point. Stone Crossing station is about 0.8 miles away, Dartford station 1.3 miles and Greenhithe for Bluewater 1.5 miles. Purfleet, across the water, is 1.8 miles and Slade Green 2.6 miles. That gives you a real choice of routes and a decent fallback if one line is playing up.

Buses run from Home Gardens in the town centre, where several stops sit together, plus Steele Avenue and stops by the Orchards Shopping Centre car park.

If you drive, you are close to the Thames crossing and the roads that feed it, which is handy but does mean traffic at peak times. On foot, the shops, schools and parks nearest you are mostly within a mile, so short trips are walkable for many households.

Bluewater dominates the leisure offer here. The Showcase Cinema de Lux at Bluewater is 1.7 miles away, with shops and places to eat around it, and the Orchards Shopping Centre and Prospect Place are closer still at about 1.4 to 1.5 miles. Vue Cinema Thurrock is 2.6 miles if you fancy a change.

For a drink or a bite, The Wharf is the nearest pub at 0.4 miles, with The Fulwich, The Bull and Lizzie's Cafe & Lounge Bar all around a mile. Nights out are covered by ATIK Dartford and Red Bar, and the Circus Tavern is a couple of miles off.

Gyms range from Living Well practically on the doorstep to Muay Thai training, a weightlifting club and a 24-hour gym. Dartford Valley Community Rugby Club doubles as a community hub, alongside Temple Hill Community Centre and the TLC Hub.

Dartford is a working town and the figures back that up. Across the borough, 64.9% of adults are in work, comfortably above the England average of 57.4%, and unemployment sits at 3.3% against 3.5% nationally.

Benefit claims tell a similar story: in August 2026, 3.3% of 16 to 64-year-olds were claiming unemployment-related benefits, below the England figure of 4%.

A lot of that is down to location. With several stations within a couple of miles and fast links into London, plenty of people here commute. Locally, the big retail and leisure destinations nearby, the health sites and the town centre itself all provide jobs. If you need to be able to reach work across a wide area, Dartford gives you options.