Dartford's profile
The borough of Dartford is situated in north west Kent. It borders Greater London, with Essex located north of the county across the River Thames. There are around 120,700 residents in the borough as of mid-2023. In the 2021 Census, Dartford had the largest population increase in the South East and saw the second largest percentage growth population in England. Of the total population, 22.3% are aged under 15, 63.9% are aged 16-64, and 13.7% are aged 65 and over.
Dartford has excellent transport links via both the road and rail networks within the borough, where residents are able to benefit from the high speed rail service at Ebbsfleet International rail station, as well as being able to easily access both the M25 and A2. The borough has also been long identified as part of the Thames Estuary growth area.
The Dartford borough incorporates part of the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC) which was set up by the Government in 2015 to deliver up to 15,000 homes and oversee the creation of a 21st Century Garden City in north Kent. The EDC covers land in both Dartford and neighbouring Gravesham.
The borough is divided into 20 wards, with the number of dwellings being approximately 49,199 as of March 31, 2023.
House prices in Dartford
The average house price in Dartford is £349,662 as of February 2025. The average price of a detached house is £692,449, a semi-detached house is £421,447, a terraced house is £339,312 and a flat or maisonette is £218,352. Chart 1 demonstrates a visual representation of average house price changes since 2015.
In March 2025 private rents rose to an average of £1,497 a month, which was an annual increase of 9.0% from the previous year. The average price paid by first-time buyers was £306,000 in February 2025, and for homes bought with a mortgage the average house price was £352,000 in February 2025.
| Year | Cost |
|---|---|
|
2015 |
£253,229 |
| 2016 | £285,850 |
| 2017 | £304,641 |
| 2018 | £304,710 |
| 2019 | £305,951 |
| 2020 | £313,972 |
| 2021 | £324,441 |
| 2022 | £345,322 |
| 2023 | £350,228 |
| 2024 | £345,836 |
Housing Tenure in Dartford
According to the 2021 Census, 65.6% of households in Dartford own their house outright or with a mortgage or loan. 18.1% of households were privately renting and 13.8% were social/affordable rented households.
Dartford Borough Council currently owns and manages 3,766 general needs properties and 441 housing scheme properties for older people as at January 2025. Our housing register shows that there were 1,462 applicants on the register as at January 2025. This figure is expected to increase year on year due to demand being higher than supply (See Table 1).
| Priority band | One bed | Two bed | Three bed | Four bed | Five bed | Grand total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 49 | 31 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 105 |
| B | 111 | 201 | 332 | 65 | 5 | 714 |
| C | 91 | 54 | 37 | 8 | 0 | 190 |
| D | 146 | 183 | 100 | 22 | 2 | 453 |
| Grand total | 397 | 469 | 485 | 102 | 9 | 1462 |
The Council operates a housing banding system to determine who will be prioritised for housing in the borough and who will not be eligible. Full details on the housing bands can be found in our Housing Allocations Policy.