We went to Poole at the weekend for a night away. Was nice enough, and we did a boat tour around the bay. The commentary on the trip included something like “on your right is Sandbanks, reputedly the fourth most expensive place to buy property on Earth”.

I was vaguely aware of this in some form or other, but I’d never been before. Now I have been, I’m honestly gobsmacked as to why this might be? The houses are, admittedly, massive. However, each massive house is right smack bang next to, in a Barrett Homes estate style, the next massive house. The gardens run down to the sea, true, but every 15 minutes there’s a boat going past saying “on your right is Sandbanks, reputedly the fourth most expensive place to buy property on Earth”. They’re not private, they’re not secluded, they’re not in a ‘swanky’ area full of smart cocktail bars and restaurants. I just don’t get it.

In places like Nice, the Hollywood Hills, even Kensington and Chelsea I can usually see what my £7million is buying me but Sandbanks? No. What am I missing?

An example of a £7million house crammed in by other £7million houses:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-82075325.html

…because every 15 minutes you can look out at the poor people drooling over your 7m property! 🙂

And to be honest I’d rather pay 7m to look at that view than any property in the middle of a dirty city.

I agree. It’s also Poole, which as you say is nice enough, but not exactly drop-dead gorgeous. I spent a couple of weeks working there last year and have developed a strange dislike for that whole part of the south coast. It’s too busy, too congested, too many dual carriageways and too many people. (Purbeck is nice enough..)

Purbeck is nice enough..)

That’s the other thing, Purbeck is drop dead gorgeous. I’d pay £7m to live in a massive house there, no problem*

*well, one obvious problem 🙂

It is quite strange that it became so desirable.. but then again how much do those flats go for in the “lipstick” tower down Portsmouth? A million quid I’ve heard. You’d have to be bloody mental.

(Just looked it up, they weren’t lying: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-79588199.html .. lordy)

Beats me.

And you have to put up with all night booze and sex and naked butler parties at the neighbours

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sandbanks-the-millionaires-seaside-haven-spoiled-by-booze-strippers-and-naked-butlers-9247032.html

That £7 million house is real pound shop bond villain. Sandbank obviously appeals to a certain type of millionaire.

(Just looked it up, they weren’t lying: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-79588199.html .. lordy)

Ideal home for enthusiastic base jumpers.

That £7 million house is real pound shop bond villain. Sandbank obviously appeals to a certain type of millionaire.

Footballers, apparently (and football managers).

And you have to put up with all night booze and sex and naked butler parties at the neighbours

Well, they’d have to put up with mine.

And as my dad said (who lives near Corfe) “If I was paying £7m for a house, I’d rather have one slightly higher above sea level”

Now the local Tory MP is campaigning for tougher anti-social laws

…because he wasn’t invited…?

The right house with the right location will have sea views to the front and rear. After that it’s status and buying into the myth, it’s not a great place to live, the roads get clogged up in summer as do the beaches. If the sea levels rise, it’s knackered as there’s very little elevation in the land and you get to watch the chain ferry if you are on the “Redknapp” side.

Poole as a town has a pretty bad rich poor divide, the high street is a mass of empty units, discount stores and charity shops. The Quay is ok but you wouldn’t want to spend too much time there. There there’s the sunseekers being built on the other side of the quay.

Millionaires arrive by private yacht.

Roads around there are for paupers.

There there’s the sunseekers being built on the other side of the quay.

That’s where I was working for a couple of weeks. Walking from there into run-down Poole was a contrast. I stayed on the west side of Bournemouth for a week and that was even worse.

And they’ve got plastic lawns!!! 🙂

Judging from what we’ve seen while searching for building land in Scotland the discrete money is heading north, as far away from the crowds, the antisocial behaviour and bad driving as possible. And you get a hell of a lot more for your money up there.

Having had to drive that way for the Gravel Dash last Bank holiday weekend, Dorset is beautiful once you get away from the crowds and up on the high points, but was murder to drive through when busy.

If i had a spare £4 million, then this is up for sale near me in North Norfolk, much quieter and stunning beaches, ride past it occasionally and it is lovely:

https://www.sowerbys.com/property/100439025143/pe31/norfolk/marshdrove/house/13-bedrooms

Unless you are into sailing I really don’t get the point of living by the sea (and I have done in the past) you’ve immediately got 50% less local places to visit for a start 😉

I think there are proposals from the residents to ring fence the peninsula and have armed guards patrolling the little road near the roundabout ..

And make the ferry stop in Poole, and use the slipway for their own helicopters & launches.

🤗🥳

Unless you are into sailing I really don’t get the point of living by the sea (and I have done in the past) you’ve immediately got 50% less local places to visit for a start 😉

I’ve spent 25 years riding bikes in any direction except south. I get confused when I’m giving all compass directions. 😀

Isn’t the reason it’s expensive some clever estate agents marketing strategy. I seem to recall a TV program about it some time ago.

It’s got a lovely beach, but I’m not sure I’d want to live there. The hotel by the ferry is nice enough.

I live here, well Bournemouth actually and up the road in the poor bit. But still, love the place.

There is a big rich poor divide in the area. I can’t understand how the housing market functions here at all tbh. House prices way beyond the local wages.

But, on a Sunday morning I roll down the hill to Sandbanks, meet my mates, hop of the chain ferry and go ride my bike over the stunning Purbecks! When I’m up on those beautiful hills looking at the those views I feel very fortunate indeed.

Poole/Bmouth is an amazing place to live. We have easy access to miles of very clean beaches, a vibrant town (Bournemouth more so), the Jurassic coast. The beautiful New Forest national park is 20mins from my house by road bike. Love it all.

But I agree, I don’t understand how Sandbanks peninsula is supposedly the 4th most expensive place. Probably complete BS

House prices way beyond the local wages.

That describes just about anywhere South of Watford…

If When the sea levels rise, it’s knackered

Fixed that for you.

Much nicer areas in the errr… area I agree As others have alluded to its the same with any bit of marketing it some how got a prestigious repretation which becomes circular.

Poole it’s an odd place. The town centre is a shot hole and half of the town is quite shit the other half is mansions. Real odd small town. Bournemouth is a more of a spread of areas

That’s what brown envelopes and tax dodges buys you

It has the highest per annum hours of sunshine, nationally, and one of the brightest average light levels.

Apart from that it’s an overpriced dump with surprisingly few places to eat out, and a really confusing road system.

Dahlings in Sandbanks do gold, stone lions and bling.
The smart money buys thier own beach and fishing, not a pink Bentley in sight.
https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbedrueds170264

It’s worth that because someone will pay it. The person paying it thinks it’s worth it because that’s what next door sold for. And so it goes on. The bubble will burst sooner or later when people realise the houses and location aren’t actually that pleasant.

The problem with that Scottish property isn’t so much the purchase price though. It will be the ongoing costs for the upkeep of the house and estate.

I never understand the price of London properties so Sandbanks doesn’t seem to bizarre.

Having visited Brownsea Island only last week, id prefer one of the old cottages on there but they’ll never be for sale (not that id be able to afford one if they did come up!)

I couldn’t afford a burger from the café on the beach. 14 quid. I needed it to cure a hangover too 😞

The problem with that Scottish property isn’t so much the purchase price though. It will be the ongoing costs for the upkeep of the house and estate

Remind me again what the ‘spare’ £4m left over from reduced purchase cost will earn when invested…?

😋

I never understand the price of London properties so Sandbanks doesn’t seem to bizarre.

London property is expensive when compared to other provincial UK cities but it is an international city which people seem to forget. Compare it to other international cities and it’s on par. Top three connected city I seem to remember with massive business opportunities. Those factors may not be important to you but they are non the less logical reasons.

Sandbanks is just over marketed spit of sand. Much nicer parts of the area exist and much nicer part of the country.

Remind me again what the ‘spare’ £4m left over from reduced purchase cost will earn when invested…?

£4m might be what you would need to fix the rising damp and leaky roof on some of those old listed Scottish piles. 🙂 Still, if I had the money . . .

Having visited Brownsea Island

We went there as kids- certain time of year the midges are worse than Scotland!

I used to work on West Quay Road near the Sunseeker yard 17 years ago as features ed on a magazine there, and I lived in Baiter Park.
As said above, it’s a bit of a pressure / aspirational sell marketed by estate agents. There was a clear pattern of a story ‘leaking’ to the local paper about once a month of the latest hot celeb being spotted shopping for a house on Sandbanks. Of course, they never did buy, and I seriously doubt Posh & Becks or Kylie ever went anywhere near the place. But of course that gets picked up by a tabloid because it’s an easy story and finds its way into the public consciousness, and people who have the money but possibly not the fame see Sandbanks as the place to buy. The Purbecks are absolutely gorgeous, though, and I do want to go back there for Charlie’s Gravel thing some day.

All very well comparing to the mansions you can buy in Scotland but they are of course in Scotland, which is a bit crap if you want to be somewhere with a bit of life and near London.

I used to live in Poole and pretty well lived on my mountain bike day in, day out, all year round, over the chainlink followed by a couple of hours of fabulous riding in the purbecks. My theory about sandbanks is the paranoid richies feel safe cos any burglars have only got one long straight road to escape on. But yep, it’s nothing special.

Bugger Sandbanks! Given that sort of money, I’d have this house, which I believe the current owner paid around £2.5 million for, with 17 acres, around twenty years ago:

This is looking roughly North, it’s the further of the two buildings, and it has its own small beach and boathouse:

Looking in the opposite direction, the furthest point is Start Point, the second most southerly point in the British Isles:

Fairly private, East Prawle, Salcombe and Kingsbridge are all fairly close, but not too close…
Frankly, it makes Sandbanks look a tawdry mess.