Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0A 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Show as a table
| Year to August | Farningham | Typical town | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | £510,000 | £277,000 | 17 |
| 2024–25 | £517,500 | £280,000 | 12 |
| 2023–24 | £555,000 | £275,000 | 20 |
| 2022–23 | £672,500 | £280,000 | 16 |
| 2021–22 | £572,000 | £265,000 | 10 |
| 2020–21 | £490,000 | £250,000 | 35 |
| 2019–20 | £400,000 | £230,000 | 19 |
| 2018–19 | £382,500 | £225,000 | 17 |
| 2017–18 | £500,000 | £219,950 | 19 |
| 2016–17 | £422,500 | £210,000 | 26 |
| 2015–16 | £430,000 | £195,000 | 19 |
| 2014–15 | £417,000 | £183,500 | 27 |
| 2013–14 | £335,000 | £173,500 | 24 |
| 2012–13 | £342,150 | £165,000 | 18 |
| 2011–12 | £410,000 | £162,500 | 13 |
| 2010–11 | £232,773 | £163,250 | 16 |
| 2009–10 | £250,000 | £163,975 | 15 |
| 2008–09 | — | £155,000 | 9 |
| 2007–08 | £282,497 | £172,625 | 14 |
| 2006–07 | £268,250 | £169,000 | 22 |
| 2005–06 | £262,500 | £159,000 | 36 |
| 2004–05 | £245,000 | £154,000 | 11 |
| 2003–04 | £247,500 | £141,250 | 19 |
| 2002–03 | £244,250 | £122,000 | 26 |
| 2001–02 | £199,000 | £94,950 | 33 |
| 2000–01 | £185,247 | £80,000 | 22 |
| 1999–00 | £135,000 | £71,000 | 23 |
| 1998–99 | £149,000 | £63,500 | 27 |
| 1997–98 | £117,500 | £59,437 | 24 |
| 1996–97 | £108,000 | £55,747 | 21 |
| 1995–96 | £85,500 | £52,000 | 17 |
The median Farningham home sold for £430K in the year to August 2016, and £510K in the year to August 2026.
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.
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+.
Show as a table
| Type | Median | Sales | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £680,000 | 19 | 39% |
| Semi-detached | £535,000 | 11 | 22% |
| Terraced | £380,000 | 17 | 35% |
| Flat or maisonette | — | 2 | 4% |
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).
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.
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.
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
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.
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
| Band value in 1991 | A year | A 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.
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%).
Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
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.
| # | Town | Median home | ÷ income | Rent | Band D | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lynemouth Northumberland | £74K | 1.6× | £695 | £2,576 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 95 | Eccles Kent | £268K | 4× | £1,489 | £2,467 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 147 | Grain Kent | £250K | 4.5× | £1,232 | £2,517 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 162 | Warden Kent | £250K | 4.5× | £1,114 | £2,405 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 227 | Burham Kent | £325K | 4.9× | £1,489 | £2,464 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 936 | Walkington East Riding of Yorkshire | £373K | 7.7× | £724 | £2,442 | B− |
| 937 | Denham Buckinghamshire | £535K | 7.7× | £1,475 | £2,529 | C |
| 938 | Hordle Hampshire | £435K | 7.7× | £1,244 | £2,367 | D |
| 939 | Farningham Kent | £530K | 7.7× | £1,809 | £2,505 | C− |
| 940 | Brigstock Northamptonshire | £394K | 7.7× | £992 | £2,402 | C− |
| 941 | Bottisham Cambridgeshire | £465K | 7.7× | £1,038 | £2,452 | B− |
| 942 | Wymeswold Leicestershire | £425K | 7.7× | £960 | £2,421 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 1213 | Caldy Merseyside | £1M | 22.3× | £859 | £2,501 | D− |
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.
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.
| Town | Cost | Median | New | 5 yrs | Band D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farningham | C− | £530K | 0% | — | £2,505 |
| Eynsford | D | £575K | 0% | −17% | £2,519 |
| Horton Kirby | C− | £455K | 0% | — | £2,525 |
| South Darenth and Sutton at Hone | B+ | £295K | 0% | +26% | £2,481 |
| West Kingsdown | C | £460K | 0% | +22% | £2,454 |
| Crockenhill | C | £442K | 0% | — | £2,535 |
| Swanley | C+ | £397K | 3% | +13% | £2,529 |
| Hextable | C | £440K | 9% | +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).
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.