The average Dartford home is £342,167, down 4.9% on a year. That is the biggest fall in Kent by a distance, and only ten areas in England fell faster.
The average home in the Dartford borough was worth £342,167 in August. That is £17,563 less than in August last year, a fall of 4.9 per cent.
No other council area in Kent comes close. The next biggest fall in the county was Maidstone, at 1.1 per cent.
The figures come from the UK House Price Index, published on 21 October. It is the official measure, built from completed Land Registry sales rather than asking prices (HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, Dartford).
A real fall this month, and a high base
Two things are driving the headline number.
The first is a genuine drop. The average fell £6,735 between July and August, or 1.9 per cent. August’s figure is the lowest since June 2025.
The second is the month it is being measured against. Prices here jumped in the summer of 2025:
- 4.8 per cent in July 2025, the largest one-month rise in at least ten years
- a further 1.4 per cent in August 2025, to £359,730
So this August is compared with a month that was already unusually high. Last month’s annual figure was distorted the same way, as we reported in September.
The steadier measure is the distance from the peak:
- the borough’s record average was £361,009 in October 2025
- August’s £342,167 is £18,842 below that peak
- prices have fallen in seven of the ten months since
July has been revised
The index restates recent months as more sales are registered.
- when we reported July, it read £347,773, down 2.0 per cent on the year
- it now reads £348,902, down 1.7 per cent
- October 2025’s record has moved up slightly, from £360,803 to £361,009
The Land Registry treats the latest months as provisional for this reason, so August will move too (About the UK House Price Index).
Every type of home is down
August’s average by property type, with the change on August 2025:
| Type of home | Average price | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £686,978 | -5.2% |
| Semi-detached | £419,890 | -3.4% |
| Terraced | £337,535 | -3.9% |
| Flat | £203,885 | -7.6% |
Flats are again the weakest, down 7.6 per cent. The Kent average for flats fell 3.2 per cent, and Bexley’s fell 0.8 per cent.
When we reported July, semi-detached homes were almost level on the year, at minus 0.5 per cent. In August they are down 3.4 per cent.
How Dartford compares
Annual change to August 2026 across Kent’s districts, Medway and the county as a whole:
| Area | Average price | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|
| Swale | £296,578 | +0.6% |
| Medway | £297,757 | +0.5% |
| Dover | £282,945 | +0.4% |
| Sevenoaks | £535,810 | +0.4% |
| Gravesham | £342,498 | +0.3% |
| Tonbridge and Malling | £405,507 | -0.1% |
| Tunbridge Wells | £452,845 | -0.1% |
| Canterbury | £336,427 | -0.3% |
| Kent (county) | £345,200 | -0.5% |
| Folkestone and Hythe | £302,106 | -0.7% |
| Ashford | £340,991 | -0.8% |
| Thanet | £268,549 | -0.8% |
| Maidstone | £352,878 | -1.1% |
| Dartford | £342,167 | -4.9% |
The county has turned. In July, Maidstone was the only Kent district apart from Dartford with a fall. In August, eight of the twelve districts are down, and so is Kent as a whole.
Next door, Gravesham is now level with Dartford on price: £342,498 against £342,167. Across the river, Thurrock fell 1.4 per cent to £319,969. Bexley rose 1.9 per cent to £414,833.
Dartford ranks 285th of the 295 local authority districts in England for annual change. The ten areas that fell faster are nine inner London boroughs and Worthing. That comparison comes from the index’s full data file (UK HPI full file, August 2026).
England as a whole rose 0.4 per cent to £293,525. The South East fell 0.8 per cent and London 2.2 per cent.
First-time buyers
The index’s separate first-time buyer average in Dartford was £297,477 in August, down 5.0 per cent on the year and 1.9 per cent on the month.
That takes it back under £300,000, the point up to which first-time buyers pay no stamp duty. Above it they pay 5 per cent on the slice up to £500,000 (HMRC stamp duty rates).
What it means for you
- If you are buying, prices are lower than at any point in the past year, and flats have fallen furthest. Use completed sales on the street you want, not the borough average.
- If you are selling, price against what has actually sold nearby in the past few months. The borough average is down £18,842 from its October peak.
- If you are a first-time buyer, the average first-time purchase here, at £297,477, now pays no stamp duty. A home mover buying at the same price would pay £4,874.
- Read the average carefully. The index publishes a mean, not a median. A few expensive sales pull it up, and a quiet month for large detached homes pulls it down.
- The figure will be revised. The September release, due in November, will restate August.
Our Dartford house prices page has the longer picture. For running costs, our council tax bands page has this year’s charge for every band.
Sources
- HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, Dartford, August 2026 release
- UK House Price Index for August 2026, published 21 October 2026
- UK HPI full data file, August 2026, used for the property types, Kent, national and ranking comparisons
- About the UK House Price Index, on revisions and what the index measures
- HMRC: Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates
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