Move over Brighton: is Folkestone the next coastal property hotspot?

As the recent heatwave simmered on, tempura oysters were being washed down with chilled rosé on the beachfront tables at Little Rock, an offshoot of Folkestone’s Michelin starred Rocksalt restaurant. Looking from the shipping container that houses it past a handful of palm trees down the long shingle beach, a huge crane punctuated the clear blue sky above the bright white curves of the town’s biggest new development.

The Folkestone Harbour and Seafront Development Company is hoping to woo a wave of home-buyers to the Kent Channel town’s seafront, with the first phase of 1,000 new homes planned along the beach. The seaside resort and port, in the same vein as Margate and Hastings, has been trying to rebrand itself as a thriving arts centre. In its narrow cobbled Old High Street – once Charles Dickens’s favourite – boarded-up shops have been replaced with a Creative Quarter full of colourfully painted galleries, studios and retailers.

The area around the harbour, including the Harbour Arm, has also emerged from decades of decline and neglect to offer food pop-ups, spruced-up walkways and even a champagne bar at its lighthouse.