Coastal Calling: Why Some Londoners are Moving to the Seaside Towns of Kent

For the first time in 5 years, the number of people leaving London is greater than the number of people moving in. As a byproduct of bloated house prices, regional hubs are pulling individuals out of the capital.

Creatives, artists and writers, in particular, are being lured by the “cheap living costs….and low-cost space for studios, performance spaces, galleries and nightclubs” offered in Birmingham, Manchester and Margate.

Why Some Londoners are Moving to the Seaside Towns of Kent

An area which has gained substantial traction is Kent, with increasing popularity and demand for housing catalyzing house price growth. In comparison to neighbouring counties like East Sussex, West Sussex and Surrey, house prices in Kent have risen at the fastest rate.

Last year, Margate, a small seaside town in the north of the county, was awarded the nickname “Shoreditch-on-Sea” for its new-home-for-hipsters status. In recent years, creatives which had settled in East London have been priced out, with stories of Margate’s solace surfacing as an alternative.

Image Source - 4.10.217

Does Margate mirror East London’s artistic pull?

The story mirrors that of Hackney’s, in which artists gravitated towards the ex-Victorian slum in search for cheap studio space just 3 miles away from the capital, only to watch demand push house prices upwards at a staggering rate. The borough shifted from being “one of London’s least-loved boroughs to one of its most desirable.”

“Margate may have the period architecture and the embryonic signs of hipster-dom that have consumed areas such as Hackney, but property prices still bear little resemblance.”

- Zoe Dare Hall, The Telegraph

Despite its former association with “deprivation and urban grime,” house price growth in Hackney has outperformed all other London boroughs in the past 10 years, rising by 9.5% between September 2016 and September 2017.

Likewise, while Margate was once known “as a bit of a disheveled seaside town,” it now quickly convinces Londoners to uproot from the capital and welcome the “coastline, fresh air, culture, art, history - and cheaper rents.” Margate was recently named as “one of the best places to live in the country.”

Between 2015 and 2016, Margate welcomed a number of new businesses - many of which were founded by ex-Londoners, including the new magazine, Margate Mercury.

House prices in Whitstable grow by 38.175% in 5 years

Famed for its annual Oyster Festival, Whitstable’s picturesque appeal is supported by “elegant seafront Victorian and Edwardian architecture.” The seaside town has attracted enough ex-Londoners to have developed a “DFL” population category, referring to those who are “Down from London.”

According to Zoopla on the 4.10.17, house prices in Whitstable rose by 38.17% in the last 5 years alone, with Margate following closely at 35.29%.

Not only is Whitstable home to one of the world’s greatest holiday homes, but an increasing number of celebrities have purchased property in the area.

“It used to be better known for oysters than urban sophistication, but 21st-century Whitstable is a revelation, a buzzy little town with year-round appeal. The shops and restaurants have a quirky charm – and, of course, the oysters are still there, in glorious abundance.”

- Max Davidson, The Telegraph

In recent months, terraced houses in Whitstable have reached highs of £500,000. Even those constructed in the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s are watching their values rise.

When did London’s overspill begin?

50 years ago, the London County Council - now the Greater London Council, encouraged a million people to move out to overspill towns outside the capital. Though the move was initially made by council tenants, overspill towns today are watching waves of private buyers flood in.

Ashford in Kent, for example, offers “a port in a storm for overstretched buyers” who have been priced out of the capital. In Ashford, approximately 30-35% of buyers are from London or near London, according to Michelle Roberts of Mann Countrywide.

Appeals include a 38-minute train to St Pancras International and “oyster lunches in nearby Whitstable.”

Capital at risk