Hot Spot: Sandwich, Kent

Period property, some from Tudor times, is selling well in the conservation-conscious seaside town, and part of the thrust behind the big boom is clearly caused by Viagra. Robert Liebman reports

Throughout the Middle Ages, Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports that provided men and ships to the Navy. The venerable Kent town was also where Viagra was discovered, in 1989, and developed by the drugs firm Pfizer. The town centre is now a conservation area with an abundance of period properties, some of which have Tudor origins. "Sandwich is still moated," says Nigel Colebrook of estate agent Colebrook Sturrock. "It was the first town in England to have a conservation order placed on the entire town, and it has more listed buildings per acre than anywhere else in the country. It's Kent's best-kept secret."

Attractive period properties in a seaside town appeal to a wide range of potential buyers, and that may help to explain Sandwich's consistently well-performing property market. Mr Colebrook says the area's appeal is based on "golf, tourism, easy access to the Continent, and retirees".

Pfizer, whose researchers formulated Viagra, has 5,500 employees in the UK, mostly in Sandwich, Deal and Herne Bay. "Many of its staff move here, rent for six months to get to know the area better, then buy a home," he adds. "It's clearly impor-tant to the area, but people overstate the impact it has on property.

"Many property professionals assume that the company accounts for about 70 per cent of the market, but we did a three-month analysis and it actually accounted for less than 30 per cent of sales."

Repeat sales of the same property over a short time-frame enable Colebrook Sturrock to track price movements. "We sold one house four times in two years, a town-centre cottage that went for £110,000 in early 1997, then sold two more times until the fourth sale this year for £153,000. We sold a detached Georgian house for £290,000 in April 1999, and for £350,000 last month. In general, properties have been rising between 10 to 15 per cent annually."

Why the high turnover? "Over the last five years, road access into Sandwich has improved dramatically. More immediately, Pfizer has relocated many of its employees to this part of Kent, which accounts for the recent activity."

Local barn conversions, which are always in demand, are no longer as easy to obtain. David Bass of Finn estate agent says: "A few years ago it was just as easy to get permission to convert a barn to residential as to commercial use. Now most planning authorities throughout the country, not just in Kent, require that a barn can be converted to residential use only if it is not feasible or economic to use it commercially, or for tourism."

The Low-Down

Transport

Sandwich is on the Dover-Margate-Canterbury-London line with fast trains to London Charing Cross and Waterloo East covering the 75 miles in under two hours. Gatwick is 60 miles, and Kent International in Ramsgate has business charter flights. Dover is 11 miles, and Folkestone 22. Passenger service to Lille, Paris and Brussels is from Ashford, 27 miles from Sandwich.

Prices

One-bed flats sell for £50,000, and a typical three-bed terrace for £150,000. The White House is a six-bed mansion with double garage, tennis court and swimming pool on 2.5 acres in Sandwich Bay next to the Royal St George's golf course. The property includes a detached cottage containing two self-contained flats; around £900,000.

Good Deal

In Deal, four miles from Sandwich, Colebrook Sturrock are selling a modern seafront flat with a single garage for £99,950 and a flat with a double garage for £104,950. In Sandwich Bay, a duplex apartment containing two bedrooms, a guest room, three bathrooms and two kitchens is priced at £295,000.

Properties

A Grade-II, timber, three-storey house in the town centre has four sizeable bedrooms, attic room, and a galleried second room on the top floor, £295,000. Conversions include traditional Kent oast houses as well as barns.

Converting the converted

Colebrook Sturrock are selling newly modernised cottages on High Street, Eastry that were once converted to shops, but are now homes again; £129,500. Also available in a former barracks complex are a two-bed gatehouse for £120,000, and a three-bed period townhouse, £185,000.

New

Developer Ansgate has the first phase of a development of two-, three- and four-bed homes in Sarre 12 miles from Sandwich, from £115,000; Millwood is selling the last three of 20 houses, from £245,000 to £475,000. Homebuilder ST Savage is selling three-bed semis and detached homes in Walmer, six miles from Sandwich.

Golf

The Royal St George's at Sandwich Bay will host the British Open in July 2003. Also on Sandwich Bay is Prince's Golf Course, and the private Sandwich Bay Residential Estate.

Nepotism?

Appointed for life by the monarch, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is an honorary position with official duties involving the real Walmer Castle. The original Cinque Ports were Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, Romney and Hastings in a martial alliance, later joined by Rye, Winchelsea and several other towns.

Estate agents

Colebrook Sturrock, 01304 612197; Finn, 01304 612147.