Kent, the Garden of England, is a popular place to live amongst older people because of its unique mix of fantastic scenery, beautiful coastlines and towns full of all the shops and services you could possibly need. This also makes it an ideal spot to look for a care home, when the time comes.
Of course, not everywhere in Kent is the same! On this page, Age Space will guide you through some of the best areas in Kent that you could choose a care home. For more general information on choosing a care home, take a look at our national Guide to Choosing a Care Home.
Find Kent Care Homes
Age Space is currently working on our very own Kent Care Home Directory. For now, we recommend that you take a look at the CareHome.co.uk website, where you can search for care homes in your preferred locations, or sort through them based on other relevant factors.
Different Areas to Consider in Kent
There are many factors to take into account when choosing the best location for a care home. Proximity to relatives is, of course, one of the major areas to consider. However, it is worth finding out more about the towns themselves. The following provides a brief overview for some of Kent’s major towns, including some features that may make them great choices to move to.
Ashford
With its central location, Ashford is easy to get to from most other places in Kent, making visiting relatives a simpler task. Ashford is also a particularly scenic place to live, being located on the southern edge of large Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, that includes the chalk hills of the Kent Downs.
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic, English cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring a great blend of city, coast and countryside. It is, of course, home to the famous Canterbury Cathedral, one of our Best Accessible Days Out in Kent. Canterbury was voted as the best place to live in Kent by KentLive in 2018, although it has been noted that the noisy roads are a potential downside!
Maidstone
Maidstone itself has all the amenities you’d expect of a lively market town, including good services for older people! The historic town centre is largely pedestrianised, making it easy to navigate for older people. Leeds Castle, one of our Best Accessible Days Out, is just a 15-minute drive from the centre of Maidstone.
Margate
Located in Thanet, the seaside town of Margate has been one of the UK’s leading seaside resorts for over 250 years. With sandy beaches, vintage shops and quaint tea rooms, there is plenty of opportunity for older people to get out and make the most of Margate. It is also home to the famous Turner Contemporary Gallery, another of Age Space’s Best Accessible Days Out for the more culturally-minded.
Sandwich
Sandwich is a calm and idyllic town with a large older population. Boasting an impressive number of sandwich shops and tea rooms, there are plenty of social opportunities for older people in the town. Sandwich is also within easy reach of a number of lovely beaches and two world class golf courses for those who still play!
Average Costs of Care Homes in Kent
The average costs of care homes in the South East of England tend to be higher than the UK average (£37,237 per year for residential and £51,700 for nursing). This can be due to a variety of factors, but also takes into account how popular Kent is for retirement. However, this doesn’t mean that you can expect to pay the prices below, as care home fees are dependent on a lot of things, such as location, facilities, space, type of care, length of care, staff per resident and preference.
| Residential Only | Res. With Nursing Care | |
|---|---|---|
| Frail Older | £41,868 | £58,192 |
| Dementia | £42,750 | £60,192 |
Estimates taken from a study by LaingBuisson from the Care of Older People UK Market Report 2018, adjusted for inflation
The Benefits & Drawbacks of Life in Kent
Kent has an outstanding range of parks, national trust gardens, abundant countryside and plenty of wildlife. There’s a reason it is the Garden of England!
Transport links vary across Kent as there is a real mix of large, well-connected towns and more rural villages that are only accessible by car. Major towns are also only a short train journey from London.
Kent has a wide range of care homes, although they can vary in quality – be sure to follow our guide to Choosing a Care Home before committing to move in somewhere. It is also a good idea to check their CQC ratings.
One downside to choosing a care home in Kent is that they cost more than the national average. This is not true of every care home in Kent though, so you should not let it put you off searching.
Kent has a great range of accessible days out, meaning you would never run out of things to do, even if you become less mobile. Check out our page on the Best Accessible Days Out in Kent to find out more about them.
