Kent commuter towns: where to buy family houses with nearby grammar schools and direct links to London Victoria
Maidstone, the administrative capital of Kent, is all buoyed up by improving commuter links to the capital.
More people are waking up to the area, which includes four grammar schools and pretty satellite villages where homes are half the price of those in rural Surrey and Berkshire.
The River Medway runs through the town, creating waterfront areas, while much of the centre is well preserved.
Yet there's a manufacturing legacy, too.
The river brought industry including the Whatman Paper Mill, once the UK's largest paper producer, whose listed chimney and rag room are being incorporated into a new address, The Mill at Springfield.
A heritage trail has been created, linking to 10 historic sites in this new neighbourhood, where developer Redrow is building 295 homes — a mixture of river-facing flats and four-bedroom houses.
The family houses are the first to be launched, priced from £409,995.
Trains from nearby Maidstone East station to Victoria take just under an hour. Call 01353 383244 for full information.
