I live in one of the ‘best’ places in the UK – there’s a dark side to wearing the crown

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This weekend, I had the unusual expertise of studying about my city in a nationwide broadsheet. “The very model of modern regeneration for shipshape and stylish living,” they known as it, fawning over the “public art at every turn”, “funky shops”, “colourful old high street” and the accompanying “buzz”.

It provoked a combine of feelings. On the one hand, delight – individuals are seeing what I see! Finally, my woman has had her She’s All That makeover and is in the operating for promenade queen! On the different, an unholy dread – as a result of that recognition can solely carry one factor: skyrocketing costs.

What has prompted this delicate existential disaster is that, for the first time in my life, I live in one of the UK’s most fascinating locations. That’s in accordance to The Times, at any charge, which has simply named Folkestone as the greatest place to live in the South East as half of its not too long ago launched annual rankings for 2024.

The profile of this inventive hub on the Kent coast that’s dwelling to the Chunnel (Channel Tunnel) has been steadily rising over the previous 5 to 10 years – and this newest accolade has tipped it over into fully-fledged mainstream standing. A city topped “best” in a class that features the likes of commuter darlings St Albans and Tunbridge Wells, plus the former king of coastal cool Brighton, is formally now not hiding its gentle below a bushel.

But whereas media consideration can clearly be a boon, recognition – and significantly overpopularity – usually comes at a value, each actually and metaphorically. Does overexposure threat endangering all the issues that made someplace nice in the first place?

This gentrification pressure was neatly encapsulated not too long ago when two associates of mine received into a considerably heated debate about its impact on Folkestone. One was mentioning the positives – it attracts folks with disposable revenue, which helps maintain a number of impartial companies in the space that all of us profit from. The different, who presently rents however goals of shopping for a property, argued that the city’s “buzz” is attracting builders and second-home house owners, pricing out locals. “How many more people from London do we need to move here?” she requested, incredulously. “When is enough, enough?”

I merely shuffled my toes sheepishly at this level – I am very a lot half of The Problem. Firstly, I was that Londoner in search of someplace cool to begin afresh; or, as they name us in this neck of the woods, with an often hostile undertone, a “DFL” (Down From London). I additionally perceive my pal’s frustration higher than most. When I first began looking to buy a home in Folkestone, again in 2018, it was extremely reasonably priced (half of the distinct allure). Fast-forward to 2021 when I was truly in a place to transfer, and the supercharged post-lockdown housing market had revved into overdrive. It was 18 months between the begin of my search and my transferring right here: 18 months in which I spent each weekend at viewings; made numerous “best and final” provides that have been trumped by money patrons who would do lacklustre “refurbs” and have these homes again on the market six months later; and had 4 separate provides accepted earlier than the purchases fell by means of.

It speaks to a larger downside: if Londoners are transferring out of the metropolis as a result of they will’t afford to get on the property ladder, pushing up costs in commuter cities as a consequence, which in flip squeezes out locals… what subsequent? How greatest to take care of the housing disaster knock-on impact?

I’m additionally half of the downside as a result of I’ve performed my justifiable share of raving about Folkestone’s enchantment in the nationwide press. My transfer was prompted by a piece I wrote about it being “cooler than Margate” after I visited six years in the past, and I’ve since waxed lyrical about making associates right here, sung its praises as the final staycation vacation spot, and performed a deep-dive into the therapeutic powers of our local people sauna. I’m a Folkestone stan 4eva, and that has spilt over into my work.

I by no means actually considered the influence all which may have till not too long ago, when an acquaintance requested me, solely half-joking, to “stop writing about how great it is here until after I’ve managed to buy a flat, please… Every time someone publishes an article, I have to save another £5k for my deposit.”

I’m not fairly conceited sufficient to suppose I’m singlehandedly liable for driving up the housing market. But the groundswell of recognition that has seen Folkestone go from “up-and-coming” to “up-and-come” seaside darling has resulted in a dramatic shift. In March 2014, the common value of a property in Folkestone was £186,227. By August 2023 it had risen by nearly 86 per cent to £343,808.

Popularity has different drawbacks, too. Roger de Haan, the ex-Saga CEO whose cash has been the driving drive behind Folkestone’s stellar regeneration, has stirred up controversy in the final couple of years with plans for a quantity of upmarket housing developments on the seafront. One has already attracted censure for creating a wind tunnel that makes deeply disagreeable, banshee-like screeching noises each time a gust picks up. Another is to be constructed on the Harbour Arm, taking the place of the present much-loved consuming and eating spots, stalls promoting wares from native impartial companies, and seating areas the place folks can simply hang around in the sunshine and luxuriate in the sea views.

These new properties are all high-end, too costly for many locals to afford: one-bedroom flats in the Shoreline Crescent improvement presently begin from £430,000; a four-bedroom seashore home is on the marketplace for £2.15m.

De Haan was additionally liable for establishing the charitable belief Creative Folkestone, whose strong and considerate mannequin of artist-led gentrification drew numerous newcomers to the city. The belief purchased up a number of deserted buildings, transformed them into dwelling and dealing areas, and invited folks to apply to lease them at a subsidised charge. The concept was to construct a inventive group, maintaining these rents beneath market worth to be sure that the artists who would assist flip Folkestone into a Destination with a capital “D” wouldn’t then be priced out as soon as they’d made it stylish. Unlike locales the place gentrification by means of artwork has occurred organically relatively than deliberately – Shoreditch in east London being a prime instance – there was a failsafe in place to cease it from morphing into some shiny, soulless, company nightmare. But even this scheme appears to have been watered down in current years thanks to its recognition.

A neighborhood author and director tells me he moved to Folkestone particularly as a result of of the Creative Folkestone dwelling areas; he was initially quoted a lead-in value of £450 monthly to lease a flat again in 2021. A fast scan of the web site right this moment exhibits all obtainable properties value £1,050 monthly. He now feels fully disillusioned. “The promise of ‘cheap rent for artists’ was the single biggest factor in my decision to move down to Folkestone,” he says. “But in reality, it’s now cheaper to rent privately than through Creative Folkestone. And the rents are going up faster than I can keep pace; the cheapest apartments have almost doubled in price since I arrived here almost two and a half years ago.”

Meanwhile, as with all gentrification, there’s the thorny difficulty of an ever-growing divide between the unique residents and the inflow of new folks attracted by all the hype – a divide that usually stems from revenue inequality. Folkestone and Hythe has the third-highest youth unemployment charge of any space in Kent, with 7.8 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds presently out of work (3 per cent larger than the county common). Some 33.3 per cent of youngsters in the constituency have been dwelling in poverty in 2021-22, in accordance to information from the charity Action For Children. As Rhys Griffiths writes in a stirring piece for Kent Online, “The challenge now is to ensure that the community doesn’t become too deeply divided between the haves and the have-nots.”

Don’t get me flawed: the city nonetheless has lots to advocate it. I’m nonetheless a Folkestone stan 4eva. But possibly being topped one of the “best” places to live isn’t the laborious half; possibly what’s difficult is what comes subsequent. Prom night time is over: now it’s time to determine what Folkestone’s future will seem like.