Is Swanley, Kent a nice place to live?

Is Swanley a nice place to live or is Swanley a bit rough? For us there are a number of factors that make any town a nice place to live, like a low crime rate, low levels of deprivation, the good health of the residents, rent affordability and excellent wages. In this article we will see if Swanley meets our criteria.

How likely are you to a victim of crime in Swanley?

The English Indices of Deprivation has a crime element for Swanley. They are a measure of how likely you are to be a victim of personal or material crime in an area, such as muggings or burglary. Naturally rural areas have less crime than urban areas, but for this part of our town assessment we've looked at the 10 wards nearest to the centre of Swanley. To pass this section, 8 out of 10 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5

#WardCrime Rank
1Joyden's Wood18507
2Eynsford17924
3St Mary's & St James16199
4Swanley Christchurch and Swanley Village16142
5Hextable13345
6Wilmington, Sutton-at-Hone & Hawley11292
7Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth10526
8Maypole & Leyton Cross9623
9Swanley White Oak6215
10Swanley St Mary's2602
Crime
FAILED

Reader Opinion:

Sidcup's notorious Blackfen Road

Is Swanley a healthy place to live?

If you are thinking of moving to Swanley, you want to know if the place is likely to put you on a downward spiral of ill health. For this section of the town assessment, we've examined government health statistics from the 2021 Census General Health question and the Indices of Multiple Deprivation's health element.The table below shows what percentage of Swanley residents answered saying their health was either bad or very bad. To pass this section, the local authority has to have a percentage score less than or equal to 7%.

Local Authority%
Dartford3.76
Sevenoaks (Swanley)3.96
Bexley4.33
Greenwich4.6

The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Swanley. They measures the risk of premature death and the impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health, lovely! We've collated an average LSOA rank for 10 wards nearest to the centre of Swanley. To pass this section, 8 out of 10 of these wards need to be above the English national average rank of 16422.5.

#WardHealth Rank
1Eynsford (Best)31745
2Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth27748
3Hextable27624
4Swanley Christchurch and Swanley Village27350
5Joyden's Wood26708
6St Mary's & St James23898
7Maypole & Leyton Cross19880
8Wilmington, Sutton-at-Hone & Hawley18504
9Swanley St Mary's18468
10Swanley White Oak (Worst)16759
health
PASSED
Reader Opinion:

Swanley is the Manchester United of Holes

Is Swanley rough?

Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average rank for 10 wards in and around Swanley. In layman's terms, this is how rough the ward is based on mutiple measures of deprivation including; employment, income, health, crime, housing and outside space. To pass this section as the town assessment, 8 out of 10 wards must have a ranking higher than the English average of 16422.5

#WardDeprivation Rank
1Joyden's Wood27328
2Eynsford26447
3Hextable23668
4Swanley Christchurch and Swanley Village23467
5St Mary's & St James21762
6Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth21054
7Maypole & Leyton Cross18468
8Wilmington, Sutton-at-Hone & Hawley17097
9Swanley White Oak11862
10Swanley St Mary's9009
Deprivation
PASSED



How affordable are the rents in Swanley?

Every six months the Office for National statitics publishes a snapshot of rental costs. These market rental statistics are dated September 2023. We have used the median rental figure for this assessment as we believe this is a more realistic figure than the average (mean) that can be skewed by artificially low and high rents. To pass this section, Swanley rents for each size property have to be less than 5% more than the median rent for Kent.

BedsSevenoaksKent
1£900£685
2£1200£860
3£1400£1050
4£2750£1498
Affordable Rents
FAILED



How much can I earn in Swanley per week?

If you are thinking of moving to Swanley, you'll want to know how much you can earn in a job in the town. Every year the government publishes statistics on gross weekly pay, these figures are for September 2023. To pass this section Swanley's local authority needs to be in first or second place compared to the three nearest local authorities.

#Local AuthorityMedian Pw
1Greenwich£805.20
2Bexley£789.80
3Sevenoaks (Swanley)£774.50
4Dartford£753.00
Wages
FAILED



So, is Swanley a nice place to live?

Is Swanley a nice place to live?
NO*
* Probably.