Every year, thousands of people make the move ‘Down from London’ to Kent
From commuter-belt border towns to creative coastal hotspots, Kent is firmly in Londoners’ sights.
Every year, thousands of people make the move ‘Down from London’ – the much-talked-about DFLs – in search of space, affordability and a different pace of life.
Now, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has analysed Office for National Statistics data to reveal exactly where they are going, and which parts of the county are attracting the biggest influx from the capital.
Unsurprisingly, Dartford – which borders the London borough of Bexley – tops the list. Of the almost 109,000 people who have moved there since 2011, nearly six in 10 (59.8%) came from London.
But proximity alone does not explain all the trends.
At the opposite corner of the county, Folkestone and Hythe has emerged as a major draw, despite being an hour’s drive further from the capital.
Of the 75,000 people who have relocated to the district since 2011, more than a third (37.7%) were Londoners – a higher proportion than Thanet, home to trendy Margate, and the Canterbury district, which includes long-established DFL magnet Whitstable.
Folkestone was named The Sunday Times’ best place to live in the south east last year, but the influx from London was well underway long before.
So what is pulling people from the capital to the coast?
Rosie Percy, who relocated from London to Folkestone in 2021, puts it down to affordability, fast rail connections and the town’s sense of community.
“I always wanted to move to the coast, and Folkestone ticked all the boxes: it had some of the edgy, creative buzz of Brighton and Margate but with fewer amusement arcades and more green spaces, plus an incredible community spirit,” she told the LDRS.
“Most importantly, it was more affordable, and still accessible for commuting – so it’s not surprising that it’s appealing to lots of other priced-out Londoners, too.”
Miss Percy, who runs the popular @coolasfolke Instagram account, says while she has never faced any issues living in Folkestone, she thinks the DFL label is sometimes used to “drive a wedge between locals and relocators”.
She added: “We’re not looking to replace your community, we want to be a part of it, and help make it the best it can be. I certainly love being here, and I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.”
Just a few miles down the coast, however, the picture looks very different.
The Dover district recorded both the lowest number of people moving in and the smallest proportion arriving from London – just 15.6% of newcomers since 2011.
We asked Facebook followers of our sister titles, the East Kent Mercury and Folkestone and Hythe Express, why they thought this might be.
Tammy Stewart wrote: “I’m from Folkestone but live in Dover and you definitely get more for your money, more countryside, less crime and more areas out of town than Folkestone has.”
However, she added that Dover is “dire for shops” and people “generally have low aspirations”.
Garry Loram also criticised its retail offering and said “it’s not as vibrant as Folkestone”.
Residents did, however, identify Deal – dubbed “Hackney-on-Sea” – as another DFL hotspot, with some warning the influx is making the town increasingly unaffordable for locals.
Overall, the ONS figures show that almost a third of the 1.4 million people who have moved into Kent since 2011 came from London. Though, of course, because of deaths and emigration – either out of the county or the UK – this does not mean Kent’s population has risen by 1.4 million over the same period.
Year after year, Dartford has welcomed a higher proportion of Londoners than any other district.
Cllr Jeremy Kite (Con), who has led Dartford Borough Council for almost two decades, says many of the arrivals will come from Bromley or Bexley.
“It’s basically because we’re close to London and a significant proportion of those will be a relatively short hop,” he said.
“We’ve been forced by consecutive governments, including the current one, to build lots of homes in Dartford as per their housing targets and we know those are outpacing the growth of our own town and thus likely to attract people from elsewhere.
“I would choose to build homes for your local need only, but obviously that’s not the policy of successive governments.”
The Maidstone borough has welcomed the second-highest proportion of DFLs, at 45%.
The area has also seen extensive housebuilding, with more than 5,000 new homes constructed between 2017 and 2022.
There are some who believe that building more houses is not the problem, but actually part of the solution.
Freddie Poser, director of the pro-housebuilding campaign PricedOut, said: “It’s clear that high housing prices in London price out buyers and renters, pushing them into surrounding counties.
“This results in not only longer commutes and a smaller labour market but it also raises prices in areas with good links to London.
“The solution is to build more homes, in Kent, London and across the country, to ensure people can choose where they want to live at an affordable price.”
