A row of seafront holiday lets remain on the market almost two years after being first listed.

The seven cottages in Sea Street, Whitstable were partly built on council land which controversially sold for £165,000 and were marketed for £3.5 million in August 2022.

But the price tag has since been slashed by more than £500,000 with estate agency Christie & Co knocking it down to £2.9m.

First opening for trade in 2020, the estate agent says the properties generated £315,000 in income from holidaymakers in 2023 – down from a peak income of £430,000.

On the first floor of each property, there is a lounge with kitchen facilities which doubles up as a second double bedroom, with its own shower room.

On the second floor is a double bedroom with an en suite shower and a balcony with sea views.

“The Warehouse Cottages represents a rare opportunity to purchase a high-quality, purpose-built terrace of seven holiday cottages on the seafront,” the agents state.

“The business is already enjoying a good level of occupancy and strong average daily room rates of about £180.

“Each unit has private parking and offers accommodation for up to four people.”

Consisting of one and two-bedroom houses, the lucrative site forms part of The Warehouse development that incorporated the formerly Canterbury City Council-owned Oval Chalet plot and land previously occupied by a tile firm.

The Warehouse development also featured the erection of eight luxury homes – which were marketed for almost £10 million combined in 2021.

The local authority struck a deal with house-builders to hand over its chunk for £165,000 some 10 years ago – a decision that still riles critics.

Graham Cox of the Whitstable Society told KentOnline: “It was sold for a pathetically cheap price.

“It was a missed opportunity for the council on a massive scale.

“We got professional valuers who said the site was worth between £300,000 and £500,000 – not the pittance they paid for it.

“It’s left a lot of people very, very angry.”

The sale sparked a High Court challenge that ended with a judge ruling it had not secured the best price for the 0.2-acre plot.

Despite this, the judge ruled the sale to Sea Street Developments Ltd – headed by Whitstable Oyster Company boss James Green – could go ahead.

Controversy surrounding the Sea Street development began in 2014 with the sale of the Oval Chalet land, which had been a dinghy park for more than 50 years.

Council bosses insisted the site “had to be combined with the land that used to be home to the Tile Warehouse” to ensure its transformation “from derelict scrubland” was a success.

But they said this “limited who we could do a deal with”.

A spokesperson for the city council previously told KentOnline: “The issues around the sale of the Oval Chalet site have been fully investigated.

“Lessons were learned and processes around the disposal of land have been changed.

“As such we have no further comment to make on this historic matter.”