Hello readers,
Before carrying on with our series looking at the highest and lowest house prices for Chatham, Rochester and Gillingham, I thought I’d share that, according to Halifax, house prices for October have risen at their fastest pace since January.
This takes us up to an annual rise of 1.9% – passing a predicted 1.5% increase and certainly is a good sign as the year end starts to come into focus and for Medway, this annual increase shoots up to 3%! Here’s a graph of how the national house price change breaks down on a monthly basis over the past year.
As we move on to the next instalment in my series on house prices, it’s Rochester’s turn where prices are up 2% over the past year, starting with the three most affordable sales.
Cheapest sale at £81,500 – 100B High Street, Rochester, ME1 1JT
Coming in at the cheapest sale over the past 12 months is this two bedroom, one bathroom converted flat in Rochester High Street. The sale completed in October 2024 by auction and you can view the archived listing here.
An interesting opportunity for a savvy developer this one I think, however there is always a question as to why a property was listed at auction in the first place. Looking at the auction listing, it appears that the flat does need quite some refurbishment and prior to this, it was sold back in June 2015 for £146,000. I’m a bit confused about the drastic drop in price here – perhaps there is some problem with the data on Zoopla or some extreme issue with the property that is not immediately visible from the photos.
Other similar flats in Rochester High Street seem to sell for around £180,000, so there’s definitely margin for a developer to add value and rental values seem to sit around £1,400 per month so this could have been a great purchase!
second Cheapest sale at £95,000 – 38 Rochester Gate, 214 High Street, Rochester, ME1 1JG
In with the second cheapest sale in Rochester and we have this one bed, one bath retirement property at Rochester Gate in Rochester High Street. On the whole, there’s not all that much I can say about this property apart from it being relatively ‘average, but in need of some redecoration’ and you can view the listing here.
One interesting point however, is that the property last sold back in 2021 for £95,000 so this latest sale price around four years on is exactly the same. I have looked at other listings for this complex and it does seem on the lower side, with other apartments listed at £130k – £140k but with a much better finish.
third cheapest sale at £105,000 – 12 Warblers Close, Rochester, ME2 3ED
The third cheapest property sold over the past year is this two bed maisonette in Warblers Close. Just off Barton Road, Warblers Close is a retirement complex and this maisonette was listed at £110,000 and sold back in March for £105,000. You can view the listing here.
Prior to the latest sale, this retirement property sold back in November 2021 for £130,000 – £25,000 less than the sale in 2025. I don’t know if this is due to the length of lease (as nothing is mentioned in the listing) or simply in line with a statistic from the Home Owner’s Alliance that explained how, for McCarthy and stone’s properties built between 2010 and 2019 being re sold, 59% have fallen in value.
Perhaps a retirement flat is not always the best option if you want to maximise the inheritance left to your children!
Most expensive sale at £1,378,000 – 5 Sylewood Close, Rochester, ME1 3LL
The most expensive sale is an interesting one as 5 Sylewood Close is actually a 36 bed care home. It was sold off-market according to Zoopla and as you will see from this Google Street View image, the property has been there since before 2010.
This property was purchased by its current operator Belmont Healthcare Group from Four Seasons Health Care Group in May this year – certainly an interesting one to appear on the property portals (and I’m guessing a fantastic yield for the purchase price!).
Second most expensive sale at £975,000 – VINES CROFT, 23 Crow Lane, Rochester, ME1 1RF
Another fascinating sale is Vines Croft, a semi-detached house with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and three reception rooms.
There’s no further detail or internal photos on the listing, but some brief research reveals this property is a Grade II listed building built in the 1600s, with Historical England having the tags below against the listing.
Brick, Tile, Timber, Tudor Jettied House, Elizabethan Monument (By Form), Stuart Jettied Building, Jacobean Timber Framed Building, Timber Framed House, House, Domestic, Dwelling
As you may be aware, Rochester has an incredibly rich history and this building is just one of many gems!
Third most expensive sale at £870,000 – 81 Wilson Avenue, Rochester, ME1 2SJ
Coming in at number three is this stunning six bedroom, four bathroom Chalet sold for £875k in January this year.
This property was sold in December 2016 for £499,550, so selling for 74% higher nine years later (almost staying true to the saying that house prices double every decade – although I’m not sure I completely agree with this saying).
What’s interesting is that I cannot find any information on the planning portal as to when this property was built. GetTheData suggests between 1983 and 1990 however, so the property is likely to be less than 40 years old.
Taking a look at the average prices for each road there’s been a sale on for Rochester over the past year, you will see how the majority of properties fall within the £200k – £400k range, with about 41% being £200k – £400k and 34% being between £300k and £400k.
I trust you found this article interesting – you can view the raw data for the graph above here and I’d welcome any thoughts or observations you have to the sales. The best way to reach me is by emailing hasan@home-share.co.uk.
Hasan