An influx of cash-rich Londoners to Kent has left many locals fearing they and their families will be priced out of buying homes in the towns they grew up in.

As concerns over gentrification grow, reporter Chantal Weller reveals how the number of properties being sold for seven-figure sums along the coast has exploded in recent years…

Whether it be working from home or more conscientious hand-washing, the Covid pandemic had a lasting impact on everyone.

But in Kent, particularly along stretches of the coast, the lockdowns resulted in another huge change - a boom in the sale of million-pound properties.

Everyone knows house prices rocketed around 2020 and 2021 as people living in London looked to escape the city for a quieter life in rural and seaside locations.

Now, new analysis by KentOnline shows how in certain parts of the county, fierce competition among buyers fuelled unprecedented growth in the sale of luxury homes.

In Kent as a whole, the number of properties worth at least £1 million being sold increased by 70%.

The spikes in these sales differed across the county. In places like Sevenoaks, hundreds of wealthy buyers have been snapping up homes commanding seven-figure sums for the past two decades - so the impact of lockdown on the market was less significant.

But in Folkestone and Hythe, sales of £1 million-plus properties more than tripled - and the same is true of the Dover district.

One estate agent estimates that four out of every five of these homes were sold to Londoners - often racing to get viewings and then outbidding each other.

Places like Folkestone are now gaining national attention, being named The Sunday Times’ best place to live in the south east.

The town is also home to the most expensive two-bed property for sale in the country, outside of London, according to Zoopla.

The penthouse at the new Shoreline Crescent development on Folkestone beach is currently being marketed for £2.8m by Mayfair-based estate agents.

It is perhaps little surprise that some locals fear parts of Kent are becoming gentrified - and that first-time buyers could be priced out.

Lesley Alexander, who moved to Folkestone from London nine years ago, says while the town has hugely benefited from regeneration, she is concerned homes could soon become unaffordable.

“There’s definitely been a movement out of London as I think people have realised with the high-speed rail link they can have the best of both worlds,” the 63-year-old said.

“I lived in London for 25 years before moving here. But I am concerned about the younger generation and how they’re going to get onto the property ladder.”

The Folkestone Harbour and Seafront and Development Company (FHSDC), the firm behind the Shoreline flats, is also responsible for transforming the town’s harbour arm into what is now one of Kent’s premier tourist attractions.

FHSDC’s non-executive chairman Sir Roger De Haan has previously told KentOnline he is not trying to gentrify Folkestone.

But Ms Alexander added: “There are no affordable places because it has become so popular.

“It’s worrying, and while I welcome regeneration there’s a point that it needs to stop otherwise it will be spoilt.”

Another resident, Robert Marsh, 70, said: “I am a bit sceptical of people coming from London and buying houses here because some of the houses they are buying are being taken away from locals.

“The younger generation who have been brought up in the area might find that they can’t afford to buy a property there - they’re being outbid by someone from London with more money.

“This might mean they have to move further afield, which is a shame.”

In February 2020, the average house price in Folkestone and Hythe was £264,345. By August 2023 - when the market peaked - this had rocketed to £330,309, a 24% increase. It is also more than double what buyers were paying in 2009.

Mr Marsh’s wife, Gillian, 65, added: “Where people are working from home, I think people realised they can get a bigger and better property here.

“Some of our grandchildren are looking for houses and often say it’s a lot cheaper in Dover, but not the whole district.”

Our analysis of Land Registry data shows that in the Dover district, in the four years before the pandemic, 20 homes sold for £1 million or more. Between 2020 and 2023, the number almost quadrupled to 77.

Of these, five were in Wellington Parade, which stretches right along the coast between Kingsdown and Deal.

Among those enjoying a seafront stroll when KentOnline paid a visit were Debbie and Dave Burton, from Thanet.

“The big thing for me is that we lose that community spirit when people come here from London,” Mr Burton said.

“If you go down to the west country, it’s exactly the same there.

“If you sell your terraced house in London for £1.5 million, you come down here and buy a place for £1 million, you’ve got money left over.

“Local people are on minimum wage and losing out because of it. I don’t know what you can do about it.”

Mrs Burton added: “I think it all has a knock-on effect.

“My daughter has just bought a house but the mortgage she’s paying is so high. It’s just a two-bedroom house in Sturry and it’s £1,700 a month.”

In the Dover district, properties cost £245,327 on average in February 2020. By September 2023, this had increased by 25% to £302,557. As in neighbouring Folkestone and Hythe, buyers were paying half that in 2009.

Londoners Suzanne Cave and Phillip Kenley, who often visit Deal, acknowledge that the increasing number of luxury home sales could create a divide in the town.

Mr Kenley said: “When you come to Deal, you get a feeling that there are two tiers of life.

“There are people who have been here for all their lives and others who immerse themselves in the town and the local businesses, meaning it’s often hard to get a table in a restaurant.

“I think people were going to maybe choose to move to Deal from London anyway, but it happened faster because of lockdown.”

Ms Cave said: “We often come down to Deal for breaks and wouldn’t rule out living here - but we do like living in London and we wouldn’t be able to afford to have two properties which is something some people do.”

But others see the benefits ‘DfLs’ (Down from Londoners) can have on Kent.

Matt Jacobson points out that one house at the end of Wellington Parade is being done up beautifully.

“This is good, otherwise it could have been left to rot,” he said.

“I’m not against DfLs coming here to do this.”

His wife Eileen agreed that without Londoners moving to Kent to invest in properties, affluent areas could fall apart.

“They bring money into the town,” she said.

But what about those living in Kent’s sought-after streets? Perhaps understandably, considering the negative attitudes of some towards DfLs in Kent, most declined the opportunity to talk on the record about why they made the move.

One couple who recently snapped up a property in Folkestone and Hythe were willing to speak only on the condition of anonymity.

The husband, who moved to the area from the capital in 1987, said: “What you get for your pound here in Kent is so much more than what you would get in London.

“If you can afford the commute and the time for the commute, then I think this is attractive to some people who have previously been living in London.”

However, he stressed the need for more affordable housing to be built in the district.

“When you have a feverish property market, it makes it so much more difficult for people to make their first step onto the property ladder,” he said.

“It’s easy to be seduced by the fact that there are a lot of people with a lot of money who will buy expensive homes, but there is a real need for starter homes.”

The property market has cooled over the past couple of years, with the cost-of-living crisis and the average five-year fixed mortgage interest rates rising from 2.4% in 2020 to 4.7% in 2023. But the sales frenzy which exploded after the first lockdown will live long in the memory of those who worked through it.

For the past eight years, Ross Anderson has been south east director of Fine and Country, which specialises in selling homes for at least £750,000.

Recalling the moment some restrictions were lifted and staff were allowed back in the office after the first lockdown, he said: “It was so intense. We saw a huge rise. Our own business virtually trebled in 2020-21 compared to the best years before that.

“It was a complete influx of people. Interest rates were low. There was a stamp duty holiday. The whole country had a reason to move.”

He says the biggest factor in people moving to Kent was the ability to work from home.

“They didn’t have to be in London,” he said.

“They could relocate to the coast or rural locations in Canterbury, get more value for their money and live on the picturesque coastline.”

Mr Anderson says that pre-Covid, the demographic moving to the Kent coast was typically aged 50 and over and semi-retiring by the sea, cashing in on properties worth about £2-3 million and buying for £1 million.

Post-Covid, the estate agents found that younger families in their 30s with children were “completely relocating their whole lives”.

Mr Anderson said: “They were selling two-bed apartments in London for £1.2 million and doing a straight swap for somewhere on the Kent coast - or selling terraced houses on the outskirts of London for around £700,000 and buying a £1 million-plus home in Kent.

“There was about a 140%-180% increase in buyers from London.”

He says the three main areas buyers were eyeing up were Broadstairs, Hythe and Deal. Canterbury also saw a significant boost from people buying around the villages and still commuting.

In the 10 months after mid-May 2020, Fine and Country saw prices rise 20%.

“March 2021 sticks in my mind,” Mr Anderson said.

“We sold 20 properties that month. Our average is seven to eight a month.

“We were putting properties on the market on the Monday for £1.2 million, had 10 viewings by the weekend and would sell for about £1.3 million.”

He says of the properties commanding seven-figure sums being sold after the first lockdown, about 75% or 80% were going to people from London.

Read more of our Spotlight on Housing features here

While the market has dipped since those heady days, many £1 million properties on the Kent coast are still being snapped up.

KentOnline recently reported how what was then the county’s most expensive flat on the market, a penthouse apartment in Seabrook, near Hythe, had sold for almost £2 million.

A property right on Whitstable seafront is currently on sale for £1m, despite having only one bedroom and a total floor space of just 62 square metres.