What it's like to live in Strood

Medway has fewer social homes than the national average: 13.6 per cent of households rent socially, against 17.1 per cent across England. Of that, 4.1 per cent is council housing and 9.5 per cent housing association. Owner occupation is high at 64.7 per cent, with 20.2 per cent renting privately.

The main social landlords across the council area are Medway Council with around 3,037 homes, Moat Homes with 1,174, London and Quadrant with 816, Orbit with 724 and Southern Housing with 670. Average weekly social rents in 2024/25 were £95 for a one bed, £111 for two beds and £129 for three beds.

Medway skews slightly younger than England as a whole: 20.3 per cent are under 16 against 18.6 per cent nationally, and 16.5 per cent are 65 or over compared with 18.4 per cent. It is a family-heavy area. Medway's housing register held 3,252 households at the end of March 2025, which is a reminder that a mutual exchange is often the quicker route into the area.

Families are well served for schools. All Faiths Children's Academy is about two hundred metres away, with St Nicholas Church of England Primary, Gordons Children's Academy infant and junior sites, and English Martyrs' Catholic Primary School all within half a mile. That is five primaries inside a short walk, which gives you real choice when applying.

For older children, Maritime Academy is under a mile away and Abbey Court Foundation Special School is a similar distance. King's School Rochester, Rochester Independent College and Trinity School and College are all within just over a mile, though some are independent. Check admissions and catchment carefully before you commit to a swap.

Outside school hours there is plenty to fill a weekend. Watermill Gardens and Eventide Park are the closest green spaces, with Broomhill Park and the historic grounds of Rochester Castle Gardens a short trip away. Strood Library and Community Hub is useful for younger children, and the 38th/40th Strood Sea Scout Group is right in the area. Medway Maritime Hospital is just over two miles away.

Strood station is about two hundred metres from the centre, which is a real advantage if you do not drive. Rochester station is under a mile away and Chatham around a mile and a half, giving you a choice of departure points. Cuxton and Higham stations are both within three miles if you want a quieter option.

Buses run locally, and Chatham Waterfront Bus Station, a mile and a half away, is the main hub for the Medway towns and longer routes. If you rely on buses, it is worth checking the specific routes from the street you are considering, as services vary across Strood.

By car, Strood connects to the wider Medway road network and across the bridge to Rochester. Traffic through the centre and over the river can be slow at peak times, so leave extra time.

On foot, the central part of Strood is genuinely walkable: supermarkets, pharmacies, the library and the station are all within half a mile of each other. Hillier streets further out are harder work with a pushchair.

For a suburb, Strood is well stocked. The Gym Group and Beefs Fitness Centre are both within a third of a mile, with Virgin Active, PureGym and truGym a little further out. Cineworld Rochester is under a mile and a half away and there is an Odeon nearby too.

Shopping beyond the supermarkets means The Pentagon Shopping Centre in Chatham or the Dockside Outlet Centre, both under two miles. Both are easy enough to reach by bus or train.

Pubs are plentiful close to the centre: the 10:50 From Victoria, Bas Bar, The Steam Packet, The Sportsman and the Weston Arms are all within a short walk. For a later night, Casino Rooms is under a mile and Tap 'n' Tin is in Chatham.

Green space is the quiet strength here. Esplanade Gardens and the riverside, Watermill Gardens, Eventide Park and Broomhill Park give you somewhere to walk, and Rochester Castle Gardens is a proper day out just across the bridge.

Figures here cover the whole Medway council area rather than Strood alone. Just under 60 per cent of adults are in work, a touch above the England figure of 57.4 per cent, and unemployment sits at 3.6 per cent, broadly in line with the national 3.5 per cent. More recent benefit claimant data for August 2026 puts the rate at 4.2 per cent of working-age people, slightly above the England figure of 4 per cent.

In practice that means Medway has a reasonably active jobs market, but not an easy one. Many residents commute, using the train links at Strood, Rochester and Chatham to reach work further afield, including London.

Locally, the big employers you can see from the facts are the public and retail sectors: Medway Maritime Hospital just over two miles away, the supermarkets and shopping centres, and the schools and community hubs across the area. If you are moving for work, it is worth lining up a job or checking your commute before you agree a swap.