Sir Roger De Haan insists he is not trying to "gentrify" Folkestone - but admits his new luxury seafront flats are likely being eyed up by wealthy Londoners.

In a rare interview, the former Saga boss spoke with KentOnline about his Shoreline Crescent development and how he has seen the town transform over the past 20 years.

During the first look inside the new homes yesterday it was revealed the townhouses will be valued at £1.8 million - while the price tag of the top penthouse could rise to as much as £3 million.

Sir Roger also revealed that any prospective buyers will be banned from turning the properties into Airbnbs, which had been a major concern of locals.

But the 74-year-old, who is one of the richest people in the UK, admits even the lowest priced of the 84 new-builds - at £430,000 - will likely be too expensive for most Folkestone residents.

As well as heading the firm building the Shoreline Crescent flats, the philanthropist has also pumped millions of pounds into regenerating Folkestone over the past 20 years.

But asked if he was trying to gentrify the town, Sir Roger said: “No, I don’t think so. I think the people who come to live here will help the economy.

“I think it will help with shopping centres. It will help the restaurants, the bars and so on - local businesses.

“It will help Folkestone and hopefully improve the lives and prospects of people living in the town.

“I suppose it’s a sort of gentrification in the sense that many of the homes on the seafront are going to be fairly pricey.

“But I think the whole community will benefit from this investment.”

Sir Roger was previously boss of one of Folkestone’s biggest employers, the Saga Group, which was founded by his father Sidney.

In 2004, he sold the company to a management buyout for £1.35 billion. According to the Sunday Times, he and his brother Peter are currently worth £851 million.

Over the past two decades, Sir Roger has spent a huge chunk of his fortune on sparking an arts-led regeneration of Folkestone, including buying the town’s harbour for £11 million.

The harbour arm - owned by the businessman’s Folkestone Harbour Seafront Development Company (FHSDC) - is now one of Kent’s premier tourist attractions.

Meanwhile, nearby Tontine Street - previously nicknamed the “Gaza Strip” - and the Old High Street have been transformed into the “Creative Quarter”.

The area is now home to The Quarterhouse, which hosts plays and comedy shows, as well as art galleries and trendy bars.

Reflecting on the huge changes, Sir Roger told KentOnline: “Twenty years ago Folkestone was in serious decline.

“I think it’s made a great recovery. It’s really become a different place.

“I think the high-speed train [between Folkestone and London, which launched in 2009] has helped enormously.

“I understand that over half of all people buying homes now are coming from London.

“It’s now got a great arts scene. The schools are good. The sport is magnificent with the new skate park [F51] and athletics centre [being constructed off Cornwallis Avenue].

“The old town of Folkestone which 20 years ago was very run down is now a thriving Creative Quarter.”

Shoreline Crescent is part of FHSDC’s long-running plans to build up to 1,000 new homes, as well as shops, bars, restaurants and public and green spaces.

The project encompasses land previously occupied by Jimmy Godden’s much-loved Rotunda amusement park - as well as, controversially, the harbour arm car park.

Asked whether he ever regrets taking on such a mammoth task, Sir Roger joked: “Every day! I should be playing golf and going on long overseas holidays.

“But no, I am passionate about Folkestone and I’ve been involved with trying to help with its regeneration over the last 20 years.

“There has been the odd moment when I thought perhaps we weren’t going to get there - but I generally think it’s been successful and it’s a lovely place to visit, a lovely place to live in.”

Flats in Folkestone sold for an average of £213,414 last year, according to Rightmove. The cheapest apartment at Shoreline Crescent - located almost on the beach at the bottom of The Leas - will be more than double that.

Sir Roger concedes this may see most local people priced out - but says more affordable properties will become available in the later phases of the development.

“There is no doubt that at that price, only certain people can buy,” he told KentOnline.

“But it’s a very expensive place to build. We had to raise the level of the beach by over a metre.

“We had to spend squillions of pounds on fixing and refurbishing the harbour.

“We’re building to a very high standard.

“You see all around the coastline, a lot of the buildings rusting away. We’ve had to use materials that won’t rust, that are resilient to the conditions on the sea shore.

“It’s an expensive project and therefore the homes are, by Folkestone’s standards, reasonably pricey.

“But as the project moves closer to the harbour, I think the unit prices will come down.

“The homes that will be built in and around the harbour will be of a different style and different volume, so the prices should be lower.”

As Folkestone’s reputation among tourists has risen since the turn of the century, so has demand for homes in the town.

KentOnline recently revealed how the district is now the third most popular area in the UK for Londoners buying second homes.

Many of these properties are then used as holiday lets for much of the year - and many residents feared the same would happen with the Shoreline Crescent properties.

But Sir Roger told KentOnline: “They won’t be able to be used as Airbnbs at all. We’re putting covenants in the sale agreements that will prevent people doing that.”

Since 2020, residents have watched huge cranes towering over the coastline as the curved Shoreline Crescent was constructed, brick by brick.

Yesterday, along with about 20 journalists from London who arrived on a coach, KentOnline was finally able to see inside the building.

The flats are beautifully presented and have a very modern feel - with the high ceilings helping even the one-beds feel spacious.

Meanwhile, the balconies on the higher-end apartments offer stunning views across to the harbour and out to sea.

Most of the properties are now complete with the final penthouses still to be finished.

The first residents are expected to move in in August once the homes go on the market early next month, developers say.

The two-bedroom flats will start at £640,000, while it will be £1.25 million for a duplex and £1.8 million for the penthouses and town houses.

Of the 84 new homes, 54 are one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 562 sq ft to 1,409 sq ft.

As well as this, six prime penthouses are available, two of which provide more than 1,800 sq ft.

Twenty townhouses line the centre of the building and offer direct access to the beach. Each five-storey home measures over 2,100 sq ft.

Underground parking is also available, with designated spots being provided for each flat.

At a public consultation held in May, residents expressed fears the landscape of their town could be “changed forever” by FHSDC’s developments.

But Karrina Oki, sales and marketing director at the firm, believes the designs are “timeless”.

“Shoreline Crescent is the first opportunity to live on what will be one of the UK’s most impressive mixed-use coastal developments,” she said.

“The homes are unlike anything else available on the market and occupy a position that will never be bettered, with designs that are timeless.”