Our seaside town is ruined by ‘eyesore’ newbuild houses – but there’s hope it could soon be improved

HOMEOWNERS in a seaside town full of “eyesore” newbuilds have welcomed the prospect of more traditional brick and mortar.

People living in Tankerton, a suburb of picturesque coastal resort Whitstable in Kent, have become accustomed to modern new developments dubbed “goldfish bowl monstrosities”.

The glass and metal newbuild homes have come to dominate the horizon – alongside beach huts including one owned by artist Tracey Emin before she sold to advertising businessman and Nigella Lawson‘s ex-husband Charles Saatchi.

But a new arrival has won approving glances – a “clean-cut” and modest newbuild which locals says better fits with more traditional adjacent homes.

Near-neighbour Margaret Earles said of the property due to be completed soon: “I think it’s lovely.

“It’s got really nice brickwork and it has kept the character of the old house that was there before.”

The new development fills the spot where a Victorian-style semi-detached stood before being deemed structurally-unsound.

And Mrs Earles welcomed a change from many modern “grey” homes in Tankerton said to have been luring people “down from London” – or “DFLs” – from the capital to the coast.

She said: “I don’t really prefer the ‘DFL-grey’ style you sometimes see around here with newbuilds – I like something more traditional.”

Fellow resident Alan Clayton told : “I like having the well-kept style in the neighbourhood.

“This new one looks to have been built to a very good quality.

“It certainly could have been a lot worse.”

And the new home in the 4,600-population district has also won approval online.

One comment on a Whitstable community Facebook page raved: “Hats off to whoever designed and built this house in Tankerton.

“This property is lovely – respectful to the area’s heritage and a breath of fresh air.

“How some of the houses built recently ever got planning permission is a complete mystery to me – here is a beacon of hope in a rapidly changing landscape.”

A second fan hailed what they called “a welcome change from what is becoming a very formulaic design – big pointed roof, goldfish bowl windows and glass balconies”.

And another remarked: “It is very tasteful.

“Some of the monstrosities that have been built over recent years are not only ugly and don’t fit in, they probably won’t stand the test of time.”

The suburb had been renowned for Victorian and Tudor-style homes before being overtaken by a wave of modern developments in recent decades – notable for their glass balconies and metal panels.

Average property prices in Tankerton top £500,000 – though Emin’s beach hut went for £75,000, albeit 20 years ago.

Emin, now based in the nearby Kent seaside town of Margate, had featured the beach hut in her 1999 artwork named “The Last Thing I Said To You is Don’t Leave Me Here”.

Tankerton hit the headlines in February 2021 when residents decided to turn its Christmas lights back on, in a bid to lift the mood while Covid-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions dragged on.

The positive welcome given to the latest property in Tankerton stands in stark contrast to the response many neighbours have given newbuilds across the country in recent months – as well as those moving into them,

People who paid £580,000 on “luxurious” Taylor Wimpey newbuilds in Yarm, North Yorkshire, say their walls are cracking and they’ve been locked out of their park.

Outraged residents in Holbeck and Seafront in Leeds have labelled theirs “maddening”, with walls so thin they can hear “everything next door at all hours”.

Angry homeowners in Crewe in Cheshire accused developers of building on potentially-contaminated land.

Builders in Bestwood in Nottingham have faced claims of turning neighbours’ lives into a nightmare, blocking driveways and making a racket as they put up new homes.

And people moving into £400,000 newbuilds on the outskirts of Birmingham have complained about finding the places riddled with faults – including waterlogged gardens, flapping fences and mould.

Similar concerns have been raised about newbuilds on an estate in Castleford, West Yorkshire.