First phase apartments at Royal Sands development snapped up as property market sees demand for seaside homes

Marketing image for Royal Sands credit Blueberry Homes

Developers behind the Royal Sands apartments, hotel and retail project on Ramsgate seafront say nearly all properties in the first phase of the scheme have now been sold.

Thanet-based Blueberry Homes is creating 106 luxury 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments, each with underground parking, a 60-bed hotel and gym and leisure and retail units. There are also plans for an upmarket spa franchise at the site.

The first phase of the build, at the Ramsgate Tunnels end of the site, consists of the 26 apartments with the planned hotel at the Wetherspoon end of the plot being in the last phase.

Retail units, taking up some 16,000 square foot, will be built alongside each phase with larger units at the hotel end of the site.

Blueberry Homes started work on the long-awaited Royal Sands in June 2020 and has an estimated three-year completion time.

Prices for the first phase apartments range from £275,000 to £750,000.

The company, which has worked on developments across Thanet for some 30 years, is using local trade and has consecutive Blueberry builds at the Boundary Road former gasworks site and Margate’s Dane Road.

An update from Blueberry Homes on the project says: “Having sold nearly the whole first phase off-plan since the autumn, this has been such a great endorsement for the project, with now just a handful of apartments left in the first phase.

“Our aim is still to finish the first apartments on Phase 1 early this summer. Phase 2 will be officially launched in due course, as it has been built and is in the process of being fitted out.

“These apartments will be available to purchase off plan soon. We’re also delighted to confirm, that due to demand Phase 3 is under construction ahead of schedule, and will be at roof height in a matter of weeks.”

Blueberry says increased demand is being driven, in part, by the extension of the stamp duty holiday until June 30 and the announced return of 95% mortgages for homes up to £600,000.

Royal Sands development

They also say the property market in Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate has remained very strong throughout, with recent and long forecast trends showing that many buyers are looking to escape larger towns and cities  and relocate to the coast.

This is backed by the latest report from  Property Market-Index.com. which was released today (May 1)

The index, which tracks key trends impacting part of the home buyers’ market, said the appeal of more indoor and outdoor space after being in lockdown for long lengths of time is a major reason for a seaside move.

However, this also means prices will be driven upwards, says senior researcher Amanda Collins.

She added: “We are seeing demand far outweigh supply and this is going to continue to drive house prices upwards for properties close to the sea.”

Image Blueberry Homes

The report predicts the coastal market will continue boom over the next 5-10 years.

The Blueberry Homes update says: “Coastal towns have been outpacing London in terms of property price increases. Therefore, the development is also proving to be an investment for many.

“In the second phase of the development, the huge pent-up demand will be reflected in the ongoing value and pricing of these properties, which we will gradually start to release onto the market.”

There has also been interest expressed in the hotel which will anchor the site and in the retail units.

Blueberry Homes says: “Despite lockdowns, we are seeing further demand for the Royal Sands Ramsgate development in relation to the hotel, leisure and cafe culture that will form part of the fabric and feel for Ramsgate seafront and its Royal Harbour.”

25 Comments

  1. Any affordable housing for the growing population? or like with the farleys development , more luxury apartments?

    • Even if they’re called affordable they aren’t for the majority of people and big companies often find ways round the regulations to build less of them within their development.

      • As always , all these luxury flats and nothing in Ramsgate town centre worth visiting other than a multitude of bars along the harbour

    • Hi Steve

      I do know that Blueberry are also building 40+ affordable units on the Old Gas Works site Boundary Road Ramsgate

      • Completely forgot about that, small silver lining i suppose , someone said the ones being built on the seafront must be affordable if so many have sold, affordable to some yes!

        • They will become more affordable as the prices drop if Manston re-opens and they get 2 or more an hour dirty old cargo planes flying over them at less than 300 meters high!

    • Depends what you mean by local. One of the world’s richest and most successful cities is a short rail journey away and Canterbury, prosperous and thriving, just up the road by bus.
      There is also some new investment just a bike ride away like Phizer’s recent announcement about the Sandwich site. England seems likely to be facing a labour shortage in the short term. Go for it.

  2. More second homes for the London rich, most will be empty and only used in the summer months. Why can’t they just build affordable houses for locals to live in without massive mortgages. Why can’t they build 200/300 houses at no more than £250,000 price tag, it’s doable and they can still make a profit

  3. More properties means more affordable homes for all. A shame the local lefties cannot grasp simple supply and demand. Instead they prefer to build slums aka “affordable housing” – ignoring the fact that this development is self evidently affordable ; it’s the reason it sold out so quickly.

    • Have you seen the price tag mentioned?
      Supply and demand is one thing, average working or young couples wont be able to afford this , but then you local Tories couldnt give a stuff

      • You know of course that property overlooking the sea ALWAYS fetch a large premium Rich Said Fred?

        • Obviously the case, how exactly does having 750,000 pound flats mean more affordable homes, what we have down the seafront isn’t exactly within reach of your average family, and as someone mentioned they probably sit empty most the year,Townley house is all going to be luxury flats and town houses, how is that helping out people in need of rented properties ? You may have noticed Ramsgate town is dead, its like a ghost town ,so i don’t understand the need for the amount of out of reach properties being built.

    • Your comment stinks of “I’m all right do you should be too.” There is nothing affordable about these prices for young people local to Thanet, another knife in the back for generation rent.

  4. Maybe a few resturants in those retail units for a continental style holiday feel for the few months we have nice weather.

  5. I read that Blueberry were also helping build starter homes and redevelop the old gas work in ramsgate and Margate. What do people want this site was derelict for 25 years and now it is positive as. All this work creates jobs for next 3 years during its development and the prime relations and hotel will create more long term jobs. Why can’t people celebrate something good as happen the regenerates the Thanet towns. The are same people who probably said Turner was was of money and Margate is now start to thrive again.

  6. Here we go again more housing for the DFLs why is there not more refurbishment of empty properties in Thanet which could be made affordable for our first-time buyers
    to get on the housing ladder, I would be interested to know where there are any decently paid jobs in Thanet to pay for these overpriced elitist properties.

  7. Im still trying to find out the maintenance charges for these flats as they are not freehold. Ive asked a few times and they dont reply.

    Also the word luxury is basically given to most new builds, it means nothing. Once rented a Blueberry Homes flat in Broadstairs and it was awful. Was falling apart, could hear neighbours going to the toilet, nasty place that felt like it was made of cardboard.

  8. The reason that there’s a shortage of reasonable homes for ordinary working people is more or less down to Thatcher’s “right to buy” scheme, and her pushing the notion that getting on the housing ladder was a socially desirable thing.
    What she did removed vast amounts of rented housing, and created a housing ownership boom, forcing up prices.
    I think that several posters on this thread have it about right: the flats will be bought up by wealthy people as second homes.

  9. “So, watch the sun fade away on the horizon each night from your balcony and take in the delights of Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour culture.”[Blueberry brochure]
    That’s not likely, unless there’s some serious re-ordering of the Universe.
    The balconies face east.

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