What it's like to live in Kendal

Across Westmorland and Furness, 71.6% of homes are owned outright or with a mortgage, 17.1% are privately rented and just 10.7% are socially rented, well below the England figure of 17.1%. Social housing is a small slice of the market here, which is why exchanges matter so much.

Social rents in the council area averaged £86 a week for a one bed, £108 for a two bed and £118 for a three bed in 2024/25. The largest social landlords are South Lakes Housing with 3,318 homes, Westmorland and Furness Council with 2,559, Eden Housing Association with 1,711, The Riverside Group with 931 and Castles & Coasts with 884.

The age profile tilts older than England's: a quarter of residents are 65 or over and only 21.3% are aged 25 to 44. In 2024-25 the council let 171 social homes and recorded four mutual exchanges, so turnover is modest. Expect a mix of older stone properties and later estates rather than large amounts of new build.

Families are well served for schools close in. Stramongate Primary School is almost on the doorstep of the centre, with St Thomas's C of E Primary, Ghyllside Primary, Sandgate at QKS and Castle Park School all within a mile. That short-distance choice is unusual and useful, especially if you have children at different stages.

For older children there is South Lakes Academy a third of a mile out, The Queen Katherine School and Kirkbie Kendal School both around a mile away, plus Sandgate School and Cambian Whinfell School nearby. Always check current admissions and catchment with the council before you plan a move, as places change year to year.

Outside school hours, Kendal Lads and Girls Club, Castle Street Community Centre and The Shakespeare Centre give somewhere to go, and the parks do the rest. Goose Holme, Nobles Rest and Miller Field are all walkable with a pushchair. Across the council area, under-16s make up 15.1% of the population, below the England figure of 18.6%, so it is a slightly older area overall.

The town centre is compact and flat in parts, so walking covers a lot of ground. The library, the Westmorland Centre, Booths, Lidl and several parks all sit within half a mile of the middle, which helps if you do not drive.

Kendal Bus Station is right in the centre, making it the natural hub for local and longer journeys. Kendal railway station is a third of a mile from the centre, with Burneside about two miles off and Oxenholme Lake District two miles away. Oxenholme is the main interchange, since it is the mainline station for the area, so many longer train journeys start with a short hop or bus ride out there.

By car, Kendal is well placed for the M6 and for reaching Lancaster and the wider North West, and for getting into the Lakes. Parking in the older central streets can be tight, as it tends to be in market towns, so check what a particular property offers before you swap. Westmorland General Hospital is under two miles from the centre.

Green space is the easiest thing to enjoy here. Nobles Rest, Goose Holme, Bowling Fell, Miller Field and Kendal Green are all within half a mile of the town centre, and the fells around the town make longer walks straightforward once you are out of the built-up streets.

The town has a good run of traditional pubs within a few minutes' walk of each other, including The Principal, The New Union, the George & Dragon, the Olde Fleece Inn and the White Hart. Kendal Library is in the centre, and the Westmorland Centre covers the bulk of the shopping.

If you train or exercise, there is more choice than the size of the town suggests: Fell Crossfit, Westmorland Crossfit, Calm & Control, First Place Fitness and Anytime Fitness are all within a mile. Community venues such as St Thomas's Church Hall and Outside-In host local groups, which is often the quickest way to get to know people after a move.

Employment figures cover the wider Westmorland and Furness council area rather than Kendal alone. There, 56.5% of adults are in work, close to the England average of 57.4%, while unemployment sits at 2% against 3.5% nationally. Claimants of unemployment-related benefits were 1.8% of 16 to 64 year olds in September 2026, well under the England figure of 4%.

That is a tight labour market by national standards, which is good news if you are job-hunting, though it also reflects an older population: 25.7% of residents across the council area are 65 or over, compared with 18.4% in England, and 29.4% are aged 45 to 64.

In practical terms, Kendal itself is a service and retail centre for a wide rural area, with Westmorland General Hospital, the town-centre shops, supermarkets and schools among the visible local employers. Train links from Oxenholme and the road connections south also make commuting towards Lancaster and beyond possible if your work is further afield.