Halfway Houses’s story
2 listed buildings
Historic England lists them inside Halfway Houses’ built-up area.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →
Halfway HousesKent
TownGrade
C
#50 of 87 in Kent
Some 4,396 people live in this town, in Kent, South East.
7 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Penny Mayes · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
4,396
Census 2021 · Swale council
Median home
£290K
234 sales in 3 years
Median age
44.5
22% are 65+ · Kent 19%
Degree level
18%
of residents 16+ · England 34%
Walk, cycle, bus
11%
of commuters · England 27%
Is Halfway Houses a good place to live?
Middle of the road on almost everything. Health is a weak point: life expectancy is 79.4 for men and 82.1 for women. The local economy is weaker than most (C): households earn a mean £51,645 a year, and 3.4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Buying the median home, at £290,000, takes 5.3 years of household income in the Swale council area. Its strongest is hazard risk (B+). Put together, the subjects come to a C overall, ranking #50 of 87 in Kent. On that grade it does better than 30% of UK towns.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
How Halfway Houses grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Halfway Houses is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Jobs & incomeIncomes and work trail most townsCOpen →HealthBelow the middle of the towns comparedCOpen →SchoolsPrimary results beat 72% of towns in England; secondary results beat 1% of towns in EnglandCOpen →Hazard risk0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the seaB+Open →WalkabilityBased on walking, cycling and transit to everyday placesCOpen →SafetyBased on crimes reported per residentC+Open →Cost of livingAbout average among the towns comparedB−Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
History2 listed buildingsDOpen →Outdoors71% live within 400 m of a park; 1.8 ha of public green space per 1,000 residentsCOpen →Civic life1.1 local charities per 1,000 residents; 0% live within 1 km of a libraryDOpen →
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Halfway Houses stand out
The 3 things Halfway Houses does most differently from other towns.
Walk, cycle or public transport
Getting around
11% leave the car
of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport (England’s towns 27%)
Degree level, 16+
Education
Degree-level qualifications, residents 16+ (England’s towns 34%)
Kent 29%.
Secondary results, towns in England
Schools
Secondary results trail 99%
of towns in England, on GCSE results (Attainment 8, English and maths)
Primary results beat 72%. Department for Education.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Halfway Houses.
Who lives here
Degrees are less common in Halfway Houses than in Kent’s towns or across England’s towns: 18% of adults
44.5median age
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town, above both Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Children under 15 count for 16% of the people here. Half the people of Halfway Houses are older than 44.5.
Halfway HousesKentEngland
Ages · share of residents
22%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications24%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar19%
Degree level18%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Halfway Houses | Kent | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 18% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 18% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
SchoolsC
On exam results, Halfway Houses’s schools trail 67% of towns in England
CSchool Grade
Below are two of its 3 schools, each with why it was picked. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 16% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 33.2.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halfway Houses Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 498 | B+ |
| Leigh Academy MinsterLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,005 | D− |
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 3 schools →
History
Halfway Houses’s listed buildings: 2, all Grade II
2listed buildingsDHistory Grade
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Halfway Houses has 5 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents. 12% of its homes were built before 1919, below Kent’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (16%) alike.
Listed buildings by grade · Historic England
Grade I0
Grade II*0
Grade II2
0
scheduled monuments
0
registered parks and gardens
12%
of homes built before 1919 · typical UK town 15%
5
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical UK town 24
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Health
Good or very good health: 82% of Halfway Houses’s residents
82%good or very good healthCHealth Grade
Men in Halfway Houses can expect to live to 79.4, women to 82.1 (2019–23). There is no GP practice here: the nearest is 1 miles off. The nearest A&E to Halfway Houses is Southend University Hospital, 9.8 miles away.
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 82%Fair 13%Bad or very bad 5%
| Census 2021 | Halfway Houses | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.9% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
79.4
life expectancy at birth, men (2019–23)
82.1
life expectancy at birth, women
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C
Only 11% of commuters in Halfway Houses go to work without a car, fewer than in both Kent’s towns and England’s towns
11%walk, cycle or ride
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 86% of commuters, above both Kent’s towns (75%) and England’s towns (70%). 37% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. There are 0.3 jobs in Halfway Houses for each resident in work.
How commuters got to work · March 2021
Driving86%
On foot7%
Train2%
Bicycle1%
Bus1%
37%
of commuters travel under 5 km · England 45%
20%
worked mainly from home in March 2021
£52K
mean household income, before tax
3.4%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
C
Walkability: more walkable than 35% of UK towns
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Safety
Halfway Houses has more crime per resident than 58% of UK towns
25.7violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearC+Safety Grade
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 204 crimes and 47 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Halfway Houses’s built-up area. Of all the crimes, 42% were violence and sexual offences. Violent crime comes to 25.7 per 1,000 residents a year.
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 42% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual86
Other theft31
Damage & arson24
Shoplifting18
Vehicle crime12
Public order9
Burglary8
Other crime8
Anti-social47
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
25.7
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
10.5
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
7.8
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
204
crimes recorded in the 12 months to August 2026
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
HousingCost of living grade B−
Most households in Halfway Houses own their home: 82%, more than in both Kent’s towns and England’s towns
£290Kmedian sale
2% live in social housing, below Kent’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Renting privately is how 16% of households live. Private rents average £1,114 a month across the Swale council area.
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Halfway Houses£290K
Typical UK town£277K
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £332,497 | 86 |
| Semi-detached | £286,000 | 90 |
| Terraced | £250,000 | 53 |
| Flat or maisonette | £200,000 | 5 |
82%
of households own their home · England 61%
16%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,114
average private rent a month, Swale council area
£2,359
council tax, Band D, 2026–27
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Halfway Houses
14pages on Halfway Houses
The big questions
SafetyC+25.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026Cost of livingB−Median home £290K · rent £1,114 a monthHousing56 sold in 12 months · busiest street Halfway RoadSchoolsC3 state schoolsHealthCLife expectancy 79.4 (men), 82.1 (women)Work & commuteC44% of working residents work in the townFlood & hazardsB+0% of homes at high or medium flood risk
Out and about
Nearby attractions
All attractions →Queenborough Castle and 4 more in and around Halfway Houses
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Halfway Houses. Best known first.
CastleQueenborough Castle700 m outside town, to the west
FortDummy Battery4.2 km outside town, to the northwestFortFortGrain Fort4.9 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumQueenborough Guildhall Museum1.1 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumMinster Abbey Gatehouse Museum1.9 km outside town, to the eastPlaces: © OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata
Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (2)
- Queenborough Castle: Richard Dorrell, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Dummy Battery: Phillip Perry, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
About Halfway Houses
Town in Kent, England
Halfway Houses is a built-up area of 4,396 people, in the Swale council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
- Population
- 4,396 (Census 2021)
- Council
- Swale
- County
- Kent
- Region
- South East
- Area
- 0.4 sq mi (1.1 km²)
- ONS code
- E63005049
Halfway Houses’s neighbours
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
SheernessQueenboroughMinster (Swale)GrainIwadeEastchurchSittingbourneHalfway Houses
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halfway Houses | 4,396 | — | C | B− | C+ | C |
| Sheerness | 13,253 | 1 | D | B+ | D− | D− |
| Queenborough | 3,915 | 1.1 | D | B | D | C− |
| Minster (Swale) | 16,735 | 1.4 | D | C+ | C | C− |
| Grain | 1,728 | 3.4 | — | B− | C+ | D |
| Iwade | 4,533 | 3.7 | C+ | C | A− | C+ |
| Eastchurch | 3,381 | 4 | D− | B+ | D− | D− |
| Sittingbourne | 54,385 | 5.7 | C | B− | D | C |
Grain has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Halfway Houses
Are schools in Halfway Houses good?
Halfway Houses has 3 state schools; places are handled by Kent council.
Is Halfway Houses safe?
Against all UK towns, it grades C+.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · 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.