The High Speed 1 rail link connects Ebbsfleet International to central London in just 17 minutes, making Kent Thameside an excellent place to live for those working in London and seeking a quality lifestyle and value for money property investments.

With the launch of High Speed 1 on 13th December local estate agents are already seeing increased interest in the area from those with an eye for investment potential, thanks to the unrivalled connectivity offered by this new high speed service.

With 25,000 new homes planned and average house prices being £195,090 and £162,939 in Dartford and Gravesend respectively, Kent Thameside offers good value for money when compared with the Kent property average of £201,199. The report, Economic Impact of High Speed 1, published in 2009 ahead of the launch of the HS1 preview services estimated property price increases of up to 14.4%, with the largest impacts seen around Ebbsfleet International.

The area offers a good quality lifestyle, excellent schools and leisure facilities and an attractive mix of town, country and riverside living, at extremely competitive prices. A short walk from Ebbsfleet International is Springhead Park, a development of over 600 contemporary new homes. It is the first community in the UK with "Fibre to the Home", a built-in fibre optic technology.

Crest Nicholson's riverside development at Ingress Park will be providing 950 new homes; Countryside Properties’ Waterstone Park in Greenhithe has award-winning architecture; and Taylor Wimpey's innovative development at The Bridge in Dartford has readily available work / live units. Plus, there are well established existing communities in Dartford and Gravesend, with some very attractive Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian and other older properties to suit a wide range of buyers.

Providing a connection from home to office is the award-winning Fastrack bus service offering rapid transit times between the new homes developments, Ebbsfleet International, Bluewater and key places of work - as well as Dartford and Gravesend town centres.

Anne Knight, Director of the Kent Thameside Regeneration Partnership, commented: "High Speed 1 services are shaping up to be a key deciding factor when people consider buying a home in Kent Thameside. The area already offers an attractive, quality lifestyle and is now about to reap enormous benefits offered by high-speed train travel to London and also to Europe through the Eurostar services from Ebbsfleet International.”

To watch a film on the new high speed services, visit Locate in Kent.
To view the new High Speed 1 timetable, click here.