For years, Folkestone in Kent proved to be the perfect retirement destination for local builder Patrick Murphy.
With its laid-back lifestyle, tight-knit community and affordable living costs, it’s easy to see why the spa is a favorite among retirees and why Patrick considered it the ideal place to finally unwind.
Pensioners make up a quarter of the population. But a recent influx of younger families, professionals and real estate investors is changing the pace.
While the new residents have brought regeneration, a vibrant community and a host of new businesses to Folkestone, Patrick, 65, is among the retirees who fear being left out or left behind.
“Older residents like me feel increasingly marginalized and unwanted,” he says. “It’s not just real estate prices that are pushing us out, but also shops and restaurants.”
Old world charm: a winding, cobbled street in Folkestone – but pensioners fear they could soon be driven out of town for the price
He points to the Rocksalt restaurant opposite where he is sitting in the sun, where a bottle of champagne costs £109.50 and a dozen oysters costs £54.
We are standing at the end of a newly landscaped walkway known as Harbor Arm. It was originally a railway terminal and the departure point for many soldiers heading to fight in the trenches in the First World War.
Abandoned until a decade ago, it has been “reimagined” to include a stylish lighthouse cocktail bar, seafood restaurants and a host of live music events on the weekends.
When Patrick moved to Folkestone from London ten years ago with retirement in sight, he was able to buy a four-bedroom house for £130,000. “Now Folkestone is so popular it would cost more than three times as much – there’s no way I could afford to do it now,” he says.
Coastal cities have traditionally been more popular with retirees than younger workers and families.
The three towns with the oldest populations are all coastal: Barton on Sea in Hampshire has an average age of 65, Sutton on Sea in Lincolnshire has an average age of 64 and Budleigh Salterton, Devon, has an average age of 62. .
Nationally, about 21 percent of residents in coastal communities are 65 or older, compared to about 18 percent in noncoastal cities.
Seaside retirement: Peter and Jean Jones bought a bungalow in Folkestone a decade ago
But new trends in living and working patterns mean that is changing in coastal areas. Folkestone is just one example, but similar stories are unfolding in coastal towns across the country.
For example, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, a popular retirement location, up to a third of all property sales are now made to non-locals.
The trend toward working from home means families once tied to big cities can move to coastal towns in search of space and sea air, without having to give up their jobs.
Folkestone is just an hour from London by train, perhaps undesirable for someone who works in the City full time, but extremely attractive for a worker who travels a couple of days a week.
And home prices are typically cheaper in coastal cities, where a lack of local job opportunities typically made homeownership less desirable — until the option of remote work shook things up.
On average, house prices in Folkestone are less than half those of London: £301,000, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, compared with £725,000 in the capital.
Artist José Juan Barba, 45, moved to Folkestone with his singing partner Sarah Quist a year ago and was holding an exhibition of his work at a local gallery.
He says: ‘We pay £900 a month for a two-bedroom flat; You can’t get a shoebox for that in London. “We have been amazed by this city’s welcoming sense of community and love of the arts.”
Nina Harris, senior sales negotiator at estate agency Martin & Co in Folkestone, agrees the town is proving a popular alternative for families looking for lower costs.
She says: ‘I’m one of the so-called “Down From Londons” (known as DFL) and I arrived five years ago, when I was almost 40 and had a 16-year-old daughter.
At the time, a friend feared that I would move to a truck park because of the traffic queues leading to the Channel Tunnel.
Cheaper rents: Artist José Juan Barba, who moved to Folkestone a year ago, says he was surprised by the welcoming sense of community in the town.
“The influx of people can drive up prices and make properties more expensive, but there is plenty of space for everyone thanks to the new developments.”
However, some older residents fear that expensive new homes and developments remain out of reach and will only serve to drive up house prices and living costs in the area.
Ward Councilor John Wing takes a lively morning stroll along the seafront. The path is part of a new gentrification of the area that includes palm trees and sun loungers on the beach. He welcomes the improvements but fears they could mask a housing crisis.
The retired railway worker says: ‘When the sun shines it is beautiful here, but the reality is Folkestone is one of the most deprived areas of the country. Seniors may especially have difficulty finding affordable accommodation.
‘If you complain, the owners can kick you out. And a housing boom means pensioners on fixed incomes are priced out.
‘There are concerns that they may be abandoned, isolated from the rest of the city in a ghetto far removed from the expensive new housing complexes being built to attract DFLs and investors.
“Folkestone is not a holiday resort but a home for real people who need to be cared for and not isolated.”
Looking west along the coast, we can see Shoreline Crescent, a giant concrete block of 84 houses opening this summer, nicknamed ‘Tinnitus Towers’ because of the deafening banshee-like wail the building can emit when the wind blows.
Retirement hotspots: Nationally, about 21% of residents in coastal communities are 65 or older, compared to about 18% in non-coastal communities.
The properties cost a hefty £430,000 for a one-bedroom flat – or £2.1m for a penthouse – out of reach for most older residents on pension incomes.
When billionaire Sir Roger De Haan sold Saga, the company founded by his father Sir Sidney De Haan in Folkestone in 1951, for £1.3bn a decade ago, he decided to invest some of the windfall in local developments.
Shoreline Crescent is just the beginning. It has plans for a total of 1,000 luxury seaside homes, including a 12-story complex that residents call “something out of the Flintstones.”
A “creative quarter” with trendy cafes and boutique art galleries by the sea has opened in Folkestone in recent years, but just a few meters behind this area lies a deprived region around Dover Road.
Retired nurse Lynda Hensher, 78, trudges along Dover Road with a walker. The widow needs support, since a decade ago she suffered an accident with her hip and leg.
Lynda now lives in a housing complex for which residents must pay £500 a month.
He worries that the council has focused too much on attracting new investors, meaning it risks forgetting about long-standing residents.
“I think the city council just wants to present a false and ostentatious image of the city to attract new investors,” he says. ‘I understand we need to attract money to the area, but this brings its own problems for older residents.
“Police sirens keep me awake as they chase down young people causing trouble or getting into fights after a night out on the town enjoying the new bars.”
Back at the port I meet Peter Jones, 82, and his wife Jean, 77, who fear that retirees will now be unable to move to Folkestone for the enjoyable retirement they now enjoy.
They discovered the area’s appeal a decade ago, upon retiring from their careers in Brussels, where they worked for the European Commission and the European Council respectively. The Eurotunnel terminal headquarters was a natural stop for them.
Peter says: ‘We bought an old bungalow for £300,000 which we renovated to give it two floors and four bedrooms, creating what estate agents call a chalet. It is now worth £600,000.
‘Unfortunately, if we were to retire now, we might not be able to afford it. This is creating a serious problem, and luxury developments are certainly not the solution, but will only make things worse.’
However, while some things are changing, in others Folkestone is adapting to cater for both old-timers and newcomers.
Peter and Jean walk to Bob’s Seafood Van on the harbor from their nearby house, just a few minutes from the Rocksalt restaurant with its oysters and champagne.
“We’re going to buy a bag of jellied eels for £5,” says Peter. ‘Delicious.’
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