We Must Protect Salcombe's Shoreline!

There seems to be a worrying trend creeping into Salcombe's shoreline which could have dramatic consequences if it is not checked.

The owner of The Vinery on Bennett Road has put a planning application in to build a boat house on the foreshore. The proposed boathouse is a world away from the existing one. The same person also wants to build a jetty on the foreshore. These applications if approved will change the shoreline forever and more importantly set a precedent for others to follow, and follow they surely will as money is no object to the owners of these water front properties. Don't get me wrong Salcombe welcomes their money and input into the town and understands that Salcombe may well be a very different place without this "new economy", however development especially along the water side can't go unchecked.

This leads me on to the even more worrying trend concerning our foreshores; namely the beginnings of the enforcement of the "private foreshore" which each house owns. I noticed this last summer for the first time with the owners of Mill Bay who began to try to rope off areas of the beach for their own use, this trend was also apparent in the owners refusal to let the regatta committee use Fisherman's for their fireworks.

The most recent incident came when a father and his 2 sons were stopped on the foreshore near Woodcott and asked if they knew it was private land; apparently this is not the first time this has happened on this stretch of foreshore. This was recently pointed out my a member of the public who attended one of the Salcombe Town Council meetings, this person also voiced concerns that this situation could be even more of a concern once the foreshore began to be developed and the owners started to keep people off the shore and utilise it for their own private use.

Yes, legally they do own these stretches of foreshore but they are not acting in the spirit of the law, these foreshores have been used for decades by the public and the owners of these magnificent water side properties should understand that it is only by default that the foreshore is theirs and respect the use of it by the general public. The last thing we want is for rich second home owners to build their own personal "castles" and make Salcombe even more of a rich mans playground with none of the charm and simplicity that makes Salcombe great...what next private pontoons followed by a marina?

Lets all enjoy Salcombe and ensure that we retain as much of the traditional Salcombe as we can.

Will Credit Crunch hit Salcombe?

This is an interesting thought from the only Vicar left in Salcombe:



There seems to be a technical hitch with Blogger so if you cant see the link above try this link: http://salcombevicar.blogspot.com/2008/09/city-bonuses.html

I know from a friend, who is pretty senior in one of the biggest estate agencies in London, that there has been a huge indflux of £1m+ properties hit the market this week!

Such a shame......or maybe not??

Salcombe Strikes Again!

This is without doubt the most overpriced property yet to come on the market in Salcombe.

10 Island Street, Salcombe is 2 houses knocked into one, reasonably impressive from the waterside but not so from the road side! Anyone pulling up outside would have a heart attack when told the price.

It's water front location gives it the price tag but the tide is out most of the time!

Surely no-one will buy this for £2.6 MILLION?!?!?!?!?!?!

Property Slump in Salcombe?

As one of the comments on my last post points out, Salcombe has lost a Estate Agent!! It appears very few houses are changing hands in Salcombe. I'll see if I can get some figures and post them.

Amazingly the old Fulfords (sorry it's Ireland Weller not Fulfords, see comments) Salcombe office is yet ANOTHER clothes shop. Salcombe may be quiet property wise but there is an awful lot of wealth in the town and visiting the town. Is there any other small town with so many expensive designer leisure wear shops?

Salcombe Second Homes Not a Recent Phenomenon

Seventy % yes 70% of Salcombe's homes now belong to second home owners and you can often hear die hard Salcombe locals bemoaning this fact (who can blame them!?), however, it appears that this isn't a new trend...Salcombe has apparently been a second home haven since the Victorians first started to build their holiday retreats there. In a neat twist of fate it's these houses that are now Salcombe's most sought after with huge price tags attached.

Salcombe is in the top 4 and probably number 2 of the most sought after seaside venues to buy a second home or indeed a home. Sandbanks still eclipses Salcombe price wise, although Salcombe, for me anyway, makes Sandbanks look dull and over priced.

Amazingly one Salcombe estate agent said that he has, at any one time, 50 interested cash buyers with budgets in excess of £2 million(!!!!) just waiting for the right property.

It looks like Salcombe will be immune from the current property slump due to the majority of it's buyers being stonkingly rich! If nothing else it will be interesting to watch...and be assured I will let you know about anything interesting!!

Salcombe, Britains 6th Richest Town!

So we managed number 6 in the Telegraph's top 50 richest towns in Britain! Pretty amazing for a once sleepy fishing/boat building town in Devon. What is quite incredible is the average income for Salcombe residents can't be much over £12k a year! The boom in second home owners has bought wealth to the town but at the expense of local industries and people...I suppose the question is would Salcombe have survived without this injection of wealth??

Who knows....

Salcombe, One of Britains Richest Towns

Salcombe is officially one of Britain's top 50 richest towns, according to a survey by Savills and the Daily Telegraph. The richest towns 50-41 were revealed today and by Saturday we will know the top 10.


I'll keep you updated and lets see where Salcombe comes out! With an average house price around the £400k mark it must be near the top, although, as yet we are some way off Sandbanks prices!

Salcombe feels bite of "City" bonuses.

As if by magic there was an article on "Times Online" yesterday outlining exactly my last post!

Apparently the huge reduction in city bonuses expected this year, down from £5.5 billion to £2 billion (a 60% fall) is hitting the property market of trendy seaside towns like Salcombe, nicknamed "the red trouser belt", very hard...

Over the past 10 years the average house price rise in these seaside towns is a staggering 287%!

The Times goes on to say:

"Top-performing towns in the red trouser belt are seaside resorts, such as Padstow and Rock in Cornwall and Salcombe in Devon, that are within a four-hour drive for a Friday night commute, typically made by City husbands visiting families left in the holiday home for much of the long summer holidays. The areas have also earned some notoriety by attracting hordes of underage drinkers from public schools."

I think the under age drinking tag that they have given Salcombe is a bit unfair, it's nothing like it was in the summers when I was growing up there and the average age in The Ferry was 15 & the average number of pints of "Tally Ho" consumed was also 15!!! Good old Bob.....

Salcombe House Prices Fall

I am quite amazed by this, it is the first time I have seen any significant drop in house prices in Salcombe for 20 years?? (I could be wrong?). This data is accurate as it is from the National Land Registry and covers the last year. Strange how terraced houses have bucked the trend by rising.....flat prices have dropped by a quarter!!!!

Detached House
Price £641,999
Annual Price Change -15.16%
No. Of Sales 11
National Average £352,484

Semi-Detached House
Price £511,500
Annual Price Change n/a
No. Of Sales 6
National Average £204,306

Terraced
Price £384,666
Annual Price Change 16.7%
No. Of Sales 3
National Average £181,863

Flat/Maisonette
Price £413,000
Annual Price Change -24.49%
No. Of Sales 8
National Average £209,042

Could this be the end for the Salcombe property market?

Salcombe & Totnes, Parallel Universes

I have never really thought about it before but just how opposite are Totnes and Salcombe!! Both great places and I could happily live in either, but when you look at it there is a huge difference!

Totnes is all about alternative living, eco-friendly life styles and self sufficiency. Salcombe is all about MONEY, second homes and designer shops!

This weekends article in the Telegraph gives you a great insight into Totnes and what it has to offer.

You have to admire Totnes for the way it is embracing a greener lifestyle and showing the rest of the country up, however the free and easy lifestyle does mask what many locals know is a underlying alternative lifestyle that involves drugs and an acceptance of drugs in the "alternative" way they live.

The ONE similarity between Totnes and Salcombe is HOUSE PRICES! It always comes back to the same thing in the UK and especially Devon. The proliferation and blatant grabbing of celebrity residents is hilarious with Totnes boasting the same residents as Salcombe/East Portlemouth....where do these people really live? Actually who really cares anyway....

If pushed to chose?? Give me Salcombe any day, it may have it's pompous side but it's rural/seaside living at it's ultimate best!

House Prices Still Rising in Salcombe and South Hams

I know it's a constant theme on here but it's one that amazes me! How can Salcombe get anymore expensive? Now I love Salcombe as much as anyone having lived my entire childhood in the area and on the estuary but what is happening now is crazy!

These are the last 3 months figures for the South Hams, a near enough 5% rise! I thought house prices were supposed to be coming down?

South Hams
Average Cost: £325,909
Detached: £432,316
Semi-detached: £262,753
Terraced: £230,045
Flat: £296,421

Change in last quarter: 4.7%
Change in last year: 11.6%
Sales: 544

I think the wealth attracted to the area is great and has ensured that Salcombe has remained a buoyant place, anyone that thinks Salcombe would have survived on just fishing and chandlery is living in a dream world, but soon it will only be the super rich who can buy property here. What makes Salcombe special is the mix of people who live, holiday and own second homes here, if it becomes a haven for the rich and famous we can kiss it goodbye as we know it...

Salcombe's Robin Hood...

Isobel Waterhouse an East Portlemouth (Salcombe) resident since birth has donated her £2m worth of property, comprising 4 cottages to The Waterhouse Trust she has set-up in order to keep the property out of the hands of rich second home owners...

Salcombe's very own Robin Hood and good on her I say, although second home owners definitely have their place and I welcome their undoubted and much needed injection of cash into the community we don't want to become like our Cornish neighbours Rock -not for anything!

Holiday Cottages Devon Blog: Thinking of letting your holiday home?

Holiday Cottages Devon Blog: Thinking of letting your holiday home?

Salcombe raises the property bar...

Check this out...Salcombe must be in the top 5 property hot spots in the UK?
Salcombe property bargain!!!

Second Home Owners Delight...

How good is this for wealthy second home owners (are there any other type?) Pebbles of Salcombe will look after your every need.

They:

"Have an excellent team of local cleaners, and a tried and tested network of local tradesmen including a handyman, window cleaner, gardener, electrician, plumber, painter & decorator, builder, chimney sweep, etc. So if you don’t have the time to search the Yellow Pages for good quality, value-for-money tradesmen, we can arrange it for you – with a recommendation that comes from experience!"

They can also arrange water skiing, personal trainers, catering and a lot more...

Bloody great idea!!!