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High Street, FarninghamPhoto: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0
C−Cost of living Grade
Cost of living in Farningham · Land Registry, ONS

A year’s average rent takes 31% of local income in Farningham, more than in 97% of UK towns

A typical home in Farningham sold for £530,000. That is the middle of 49 standard sales from September 2023 to August 2026, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. Farningham grades C− for cost of living: prices, rent and council tax against what households in the area earn.

Median home
£530K
49 sales in 3 years
Middle half: £405K to £720K
Private rent
£1,809
a month, Sevenoaks council area
Up 5% in a year
Council tax, Band D
£2,505
2026–27, before discounts
Household income
£64K
mean, before tax
Council area £69K
What stands out · In brief

What Farningham’s housing numbers say

Renting is where Farningham is dear

The ONS puts the average private rent in the Sevenoaks council area at £1,809 a month. Set against what households here earn (£68,988 a year, mean), a year’s rent is 31% of income. Renting ↓

Prices have risen more slowly than the typical town

Over ten years the median sale in Farningham went up 19%; in the typical UK town it went up 42%. Since 1995–96 prices have gone up 6 times, from £85,500. Price trend ↓

Written from the data on this page: HM Land Registry sales since 1995, ONS private rents and household income, and council tax from MHCLG and the Welsh Government.

Cost of living Grade

Farningham grades C− for cost of living

Each cost against what households in the Sevenoaks council area earn (£68,988 a year, mean), ranked against UK towns.

Median home price ÷ area income (7.7×)Cheaper than 13% of UK towns
A year’s rent ÷ area income (31%)Cheaper than 3% of UK towns
Band D council tax ÷ area income (3.6%)Cheaper than 85% of UK towns

Rent pulls the grade down: against local incomes it costs more than in 97% of UK towns. Council tax helps it: cheaper for local incomes than in 85% of UK towns.

Price trend · since 1995–96

Up 19% in ten years

The median of every standard sale in Farningham each year (September to August), against the typical UK town of 2,500+ (the middle of all their medians). Ten years: Farningham +19%, typical town +42%. Five years: +4.1% against +11%. Years with fewer than 10 sales have no median, so the line breaks there.

FarninghamTypical UK town
£0£250K£500K£750K200020052010201520202025
Show as a table
Year to AugustFarninghamTypical townSales
2025–26£510,000£277,00017
2024–25£517,500£280,00012
2023–24£555,000£275,00020
2022–23£672,500£280,00016
2021–22£572,000£265,00010
2020–21£490,000£250,00035
2019–20£400,000£230,00019
2018–19£382,500£225,00017
2017–18£500,000£219,95019
2016–17£422,500£210,00026
2015–16£430,000£195,00019
2014–15£417,000£183,50027
2013–14£335,000£173,50024
2012–13£342,150£165,00018
2011–12£410,000£162,50013
2010–11£232,773£163,25016
2009–10£250,000£163,97515
2008–09—£155,0009
2007–08£282,497£172,62514
2006–07£268,250£169,00022
2005–06£262,500£159,00036
2004–05£245,000£154,00011
2003–04£247,500£141,25019
2002–03£244,250£122,00026
2001–02£199,000£94,95033
2000–01£185,247£80,00022
1999–00£135,000£71,00023
1998–99£149,000£63,50027
1997–98£117,500£59,43724
1996–97£108,000£55,74721
1995–96£85,500£52,00017
Then & now

The median Farningham home sold for £430K in the year to August 2016, and £510K in the year to August 2026.

+£80K
−1.4%
past year
+4.1%
past 5 years
−24%
since the 2022–23 peak of £673K
6×
since 1995–96

HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard (category A) sales of houses and flats inside the built-up area, by the year to August. These are actual sale prices, not an index: a year with more flats or new builds moves the median as well as prices do. The newest months are still being registered.

House prices

What homes sell for, by type

Medians of 49 standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026. The tick on each bar is the typical UK town of 2,500+.

Detached£680K
Semi-detached£535K
Terraced£380K
FarninghamTypical UK town
What sells share of sales
Detached 39%Semi-detached 22%Terraced 35%Flat or maisonette 4%
£405K–£720K
the middle half of sales
0%
new builds
Show as a table
TypeMedianSalesShare
Detached£680,0001939%
Semi-detached£535,0001122%
Terraced£380,0001735%
Flat or maisonette—24%

HM Land Registry Price Paid: category A sales (one home at full market value), so repossessions, company buy-to-lets and bulk sales are left out. In the last 12 months the median was £510,000 (17 sales).

Affordability

A typical Farningham home costs 7.7 years of area income

Most lenders cap a mortgage at about 4.5 times household income. The calculator starts from the area’s mean household income; switch to your own.

Household income a year, before tax
£
ONS mean household income, Sevenoaks council area
You could borrow and buy about
 
Typical Farningham home £530K

The typical home, each month
 
Mortgage Council tax, Band D

An estimate, not a mortgage offer: borrowing of up to 4.5× income, a 25-year repayment mortgage at the rate shown, and Band D council tax (your band may differ). Stamp duty uses England’s rates from 1 April 2025, with first-time buyers’ relief. Other debts, fees and survey costs aren’t included.

Renting

A two-bedroom rents for about £1,579 a month

The average private rent in the Sevenoaks council area is £1,809 a month (August 2026): £350 more than England’s, £383 more than South East’s.

By size a month, the tick is England

One bedroom£1,266
Two bedrooms£1,579
Three bedrooms£1,926
Four or more£2,952
Since 2015 average rent a month
SevenoaksEnglandSouth East
£500£1,000£1,500£2,000201620182020202220242026
31%
of mean household income, for the average rent
+5%
in a year · England +4%
+29%
in five years · England +35%
15%
of households rent privately · England 21%
£1,475
a flat · terraced house £1,655 · semi £1,902 · detached £2,750

ONS Price Index of Private Rents: the mean rent of all private tenancies, new and existing (not asking rents), for the whole Sevenoaks council area. It’s the smallest area the ONS publishes.

Council tax

Band D is £2,505 for 2026–27; Sevenoaks council’s average is the 2nd highest of Kent’s 13

Farningham’s bill is the Sevenoaks council’s share with the county or combined authority, police and fire shares, plus the parish or town council precept of about £103 a year. England’s average Band D is £2,392. Since 1993–94, Sevenoaks’s average Band D has risen from £528: 378% in 33 years.

Average Band D 2026–27, by council

Medway£2,329
Dartford£2,375
Swale£2,406
Gravesham£2,408
Ashford£2,410
Canterbury£2,419
Tunbridge Wells£2,446
Dover£2,462
Tonbridge and Malling£2,472
Thanet£2,491
Maidstone£2,503
Sevenoaks£2,522
Folkestone and Hythe£2,539
Farningham’s bill by band a year, and each of 10 instalments
Band value in 1991A yearA month
Band A up to £40,000£1,670£167
Band B £40,001–52,000£1,948£195
Band C £52,001–68,000£2,227£223
Band D £68,001–88,000£2,505£250
Band E £88,001–120,000£3,061£306
Band F £120,001–160,000£3,618£362
Band G £160,001–320,000£4,175£417
Band H over £320,000£5,010£501

Your band comes from what your home would have sold for in April 1991, set by the Valuation Office Agency; look it up on GOV.UK. Each band pays a fixed fraction of Band D, from six ninths (A) to two (H). Living alone takes 25% off.

Who owns, who rents

75% of households own their home; 15% rent privately

Census 2021, all households. Fewer households rent from a council or housing association than across Kent’s towns (7% against 14%).

Own outright
Farningham40%
Kent34%
England32%
Own with a mortgage
Farningham35%
Kent31%
England29%
Shared ownership
Farningham3.2%
Kent1.4%
England1%
Social rent
Farningham7.2%
Kent14%
England18%
Private rent
Farningham15%
Kent19%
England21%

Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.

Towns its size

939th of 1,213 UK towns its size for what a home costs against income

Median sale price ÷ the area’s mean household income, cheapest first, for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people: the towns either side of Farningham, and others in Kent.

#TownMedian home÷ incomeRentBand DCost
1Lynemouth Northumberland£74K1.6×£695£2,576A
…
95Eccles Kent£268K4×£1,489£2,467B+
…
147Grain Kent£250K4.5×£1,232£2,517B−
…
162Warden Kent£250K4.5×£1,114£2,405B
…
227Burham Kent£325K4.9×£1,489£2,464B
…
936Walkington East Riding of Yorkshire£373K7.7×£724£2,442B−
937Denham Buckinghamshire£535K7.7×£1,475£2,529C
938Hordle Hampshire£435K7.7×£1,244£2,367D
939Farningham Kent£530K7.7×£1,809£2,505C−
940Brigstock Northamptonshire£394K7.7×£992£2,402C−
941Bottisham Cambridgeshire£465K7.7×£1,038£2,452B−
942Wymeswold Leicestershire£425K7.7×£960£2,421C+
…
1213Caldy Merseyside£1M22.3×£859£2,501D−

Rent and Band D are for each town’s main council area. Cost letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; this order is context only.

Neighbours

Eynsford sells for £45K more; South Darenth and Sutton at Hone for £235K less

Median sale, September 2023 to August 2026, for the built-up areas around Farningham, shaded against Farningham’s median. Five-year change where both years had 20+ sales.

25%+ cheapercheaperabout the samedearer25%+ dearer
TownCostMedianNew5 yrsBand D
FarninghamC−£530K0%—£2,505
EynsfordD£575K0%−17%£2,519
Horton KirbyC−£455K0%—£2,525
South Darenth and Sutton at HoneB+£295K0%+26%£2,481
West KingsdownC£460K0%+22%£2,454
CrockenhillC£442K0%—£2,535
SwanleyC+£397K3%+13%£2,529
HextableC£440K9%+11%£2,521

Eynsford, 0.8 miles away, has the dearest homes nearby (£575,000). South Darenth and Sutton at Hone is the cheapest (£295,000).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Sale prices aren’t valuations. A median is the middle sale, so a year with more flats or new builds moves it even if no home changed in value. The ONS House Price Index adjusts for the mix; it is published by council, not for Farningham’s built-up area.
  • Rent is for the whole council. The ONS publishes private rents by council only, so the figure covers the whole Sevenoaks council area, not just Farningham.
  • Income is a mean. The grade divides costs by the ONS’s mean household income for the council area (£68,988), which a few high earners pull up; the median household’s is lower.
  • The newest months are thin. Land Registry registers a sale weeks or months after completion, so the year to August 2026 will gain sales as registrations catch up.

Questions about living costs in Farningham

Is Farningham expensive to live in?

The median home in Farningham sold for £530,000 between September 2023 and August 2026, £253,000 more than the typical UK town. That is 7.7 times the area’s mean household income, cheaper for local incomes than in 13% of UK towns. The average private rent of £1,809 a month takes 31% of that income.

Are house prices falling in Farningham?

The median sale was £510,000 in the year to August 2026, flat on the year before, after peaking at £672,500 in the year to August 2023. Over five years prices went up 4%, and over ten went up 19%.

How much is rent in Farningham?

The ONS puts the average private rent in the Sevenoaks council area at £1,809 a month in August 2026: £1,266 for one bedroom, £1,579 for two, £1,926 for three and £2,952 for four or more. Rents went up 5% over the year, against 4% across England.

How much is council tax in Farningham?

Band D is £2,505 for 2026–27, against England’s average of £2,392. Band A is £1,670 and Band C £2,227. Your bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.

How much do I need to earn to buy in Farningham?

With a 10% deposit and borrowing of 4.5 times income, a household needs about £106,000 a year to buy the median Farningham home of £530,000.

Is Farningham cheaper than Dartford?

No: Dartford’s median sale was £363,000 over the same three years, against Farningham’s £530,000, and its average rent £1,575 a month against £1,809.

Sources: HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · HM Land Registry Price Paid, every standard sale since 1995 (years to August), by council ward and postcode district · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents, monthly since January 2015 (councils, regions, England and Wales) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · MHCLG Band D council tax by council, 1993–94 to 2026–27; Welsh Government council tax levels 2026–27 · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.