Rochester

10°CPatchy rain nearby

• Today: 10° / 9° · 43% rain
• Tomorrow: 11° / 9° · Partly Cloudy

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:56Sunset 16:26

9h 30m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

42US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Chatham Roadside, United Kingdom

• 7.7 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.8% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

573 reported · August 2026▲ 23% YoY

• Violence & sexual offences175
• Anti-social behaviour166
• Shoplifting62
• Criminal damage & arson37

109 stop & searches · mostly controlled drugs

Neighbourhood team: Rochester West and Borstal · Kent

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

173 reported road collisions (2025)

40 killed or seriously injured · 227 casualties · 16.2 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

500+ food businesses within 2 miles

• 430 rated 4–5 ★ (344 top)
• 13 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency · split of the nearest 500

• Nearest station: Rochester (0.2 km)
• 44 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£342,498 average▲ 0.3% YoY

Across Gravesham · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,336 average monthly rent▲ 5.3% YoY

• 1 bed £910
• 2 bed £1,201
• 3 bed £1,465

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

8.9× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 8.9 times median annual pay (9.3× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

1,124 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

• Cheapest petrol: 157.9p · Esso (4.1 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 189.9p · Esso (1.8 km)

15 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

26 charging locations within ~8 km

• 10 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 120 kW
• Nearest: Cory's Road 1 (0.3 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Sports centres1
• Gyms2
• Swimming pools1
• Sports pitches19
• Playgrounds23

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

• Gravesend Borough Market leasehold opportunity· 21 Oct 2026
• Harbourside contamination statement· 19 Oct 2026
• Greener gateway completed at Gravesend Station· 1 Oct 2026
• There's no place like The Woodville this Christmas as The Wizard of Oz follows the yellow brick road to Gravesend· 23 Sept 2026
• More projects receive Pride in Place funding· 15 Sept 2026

Source: Gravesham Council

106,900 residents in Gravesham · 1,080/km²

• Under 16: 21%
• 16–64: 62%
• 65+: 17%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK7,056
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK7,424
• Net moves−368

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

More deprived than the average in England

Ranked 94 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

9% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,408 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (34% of 45,060)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

44 schools · 21,357 pupils

27 primary · 7 secondary · 10 other

Ofsted: 14 of 15 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (93%)

38 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Gravesham

1,676 CQC-registered services

• Care homes503
• GP practices222
• Dentists360
• Homecare agencies415
• Hospitals & hospices47

CQC ratings: 87% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 20 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Kent

• In a conservation area (Historic Rochester)
• Not in the Green Belt
• 345 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

137 applications decided

78.8% granted · 108 granted, 29 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Lauren Edwards

Labour

Rochester and Strood

Source: UK Parliament

Labour majority

• Lab 22
• Con 12
• Ref 5

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools19
• GPs & clinics11
• Pharmacies10
• Supermarkets11
• Parks & greens273
• Restaurants & cafés162

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

4,670 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

503 jobs advertised · £43,529 avg

e.g. HGV Class 1 Driver - Rochester, Workshop Service Engineer, Class 1 Driver

Source: Adzuna

£859 median full-time weekly pay

4.3% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£24,984 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

45% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 47,366 certificates

11.4% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

39% low-carbon electricity

Gas 60% · Wind 30% · Nuclear 6% · Biomass 3%

241 gCO₂/kWh · very high intensity

Latest estimate for South East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 83.5 yrs women · 78.7 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy (Kent): 63.9 women · 62.5 men

70% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.5
• Feeling worthwhile8.1
• Happiness yesterday7.4
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.0

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

13 GP surgeries · 6 pharmacies in ME1

• City Way Surgery
• Thorndike Partnership
• Phoenix Medical Practice

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Rochester and Strood:

• Mandatory suicide risk assessment for adolescents in hospital who express intent449 local signatures · 18,972 nationwide
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases376 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide
• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth307 local signatures · 113,305 nationwide
• Permanent driving ban on intoxicated drivers guilty of causing death269 local signatures · 29,985 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND262 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

• 
  Eastgate House, Rochester · 0.1 km

  Eastgate House is a Grade I listed Elizabethan townhouse in Rochester, Kent, England. It is notable for its association with author Charles Dickens, featuring as Westgate in The Pickwick Papers and as the Nun's House…

• 
  French Hospital (La Providence) · 0.1 km

  The French Hospital was founded in 1718 in Finsbury on behalf of poor French Protestants and their descendants residing in Great Britain. In the 1860s it moved into the spectacular purpose-built hospital designed by R…

• 
  Restoration House · 0.2 km

  Restoration House is an Elizabethan mansion Manor House in Rochester, Kent. It is so named after a visit by King Charles II on the eve of his restoration in 1660.

• 
  Anglican Diocese of Rochester · 0.2 km

  The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bis…

• 
  Rochester Cathedral · 0.2 km

  Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester and seat (cath…

• 
  St Nicholas Church, Rochester · 0.2 km

  St Nicholas Church is a former parish church in Rochester, Kent, England, next to Rochester Cathedral. It is now the offices of the Board of Education of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester. It is a Grade I listed build…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)