Part 2: Sir Roger De Haan – Is he or isn’t he gentrifying Folkestone?
When we left part 1, HS1 had arrived (2009). But before moving forward in time, we must go back in time to 2007, when Sir Roger’s company Folkestone Harbour Nominee (1) Ltd purchased the Rotunda site for from Jimmy Godden for £21,339,500, according to the land registry. Folkestone Harbour Nominee (1) and (2) Ltd are dormant companies.
Since then the Company has acquired more land and property and is set out below.
Where there is a zero in the price paid column, this denotes this was part of a purchase. For example, the Marina, The Marina Gardens etc, show as zero as they were part of the overall purchase.
We estimate that property and land purchased by Sir Roger’s companies, (including demolition and refurb) and the The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust exceeds £100m.
Folkestone Harbour Company Ltd (previously Folkestone Properties Ltd) paid £11m for the Harbour, and Folkestone Harbour Nominees (1) Ltd paid £27.2m for land around the Rotunda. Add in surveyors cost, legal costs, stamp duty, demolition costs of the buildings on the Harbour, plus its refurb these take costs over the £50m mark. Then add onto that the £48.4m of property purchased & refurbed by the RDHCT in the Old High Street & Tontine Street.
On the 15 March 2007, Sir Roger via common ownership of the companies involved incorporated Folkestone Harbour Limited Partnership, (FHLP).
A Limited Partnership company like FHLP must have at least one general partner and at least one limited partner.
The general partner within FHLP was in 2007, according to Comapnies House, Folkestone Harbour (GP) Ltd.
The Limited Partners within FHLP was in 2007, according to Comapnies House, Folkestone Harbour (1) Ltd, Folkestone Harbour (2) Ltd, Folkestone Harbour (3) Ltd, Folkestone Harbour (4) Ltd.
The General Partner and Limited Partners in FHLP, all owned via shareholdings by Sir Roger, invested £50,344,834 in 2007. This can be seen on the documents lodged with Companies House in 2007.
So at the end of 2007, Sir Roger’s companies, and the RDHCT had purchased more than £40m of land and property and invested £26m cash into FHLP plus £24m in collateral. The value of the land held for development by Folkestone Harbour Limited Partnership in 2021 (latest information available) was £89,869,841.
In 2016, the Folkestone Seafront Development Project Full Business Case, and an article in The Guardian, made it clear that renovated pier costs, plus, plus the 1,000 homes, would cost £337m. This has no doubt risen due to inflationary costs being carried by the construction industry.
All of the money invested by the RDHCT has paid to purchase and renovate, the properties in Tontine Street and the Old High Street. The latest information makes it clear, this is £48.4m according to the latest set of accounts files (April 2022) with the Charity Commission (see pg 7).
It’s clear to us, the Harbour & Seafront development will cost more than £337m, as inflation affecting the construction industry has risen considerably. We foresee the costs to develop the Harbour and the 1,000 homes will be more than £400m. How much more, is hard to say, as interest rates look set to rise potentially to 6%, before falling in late 2024, early 2025.
So, Sir Roger is certainly a man who “puts his money where his mouth is.”, as Sir Paul Carter mentions in Part 1
Yes, HS1 has driven prices up in Folkestone, but then so has Sir Roger’s investments via his companies, along with the RDHCT. Lets not forget we have not included F51 or the Shepway Sports Trust; which adds even greater value to prices.
People who have moved into the area since 2000, have directly benefitted from Sir Roger’s investments via his companies and the RDHCT, as these have driven up house values, as have low interest rates and HS1.
If you are a homeowner, arrived here after 2000, then decrying the investments made by Sir Roger and the RDHCT, is hypocrisy, we personally believe.
In Part 3, we will look at the cries of gentrification made by various parts of the community, and the two planning applications which gave the go ahead for the seafront development.
As we said in Part 1, without Sir Roger’s significant investments, Folkestone would be a different place altogether. We can definitely say it would be a worse place, but thankfully that reality has not come to pass. Sir Roger as Peter Betley said, could have just walked away with his £1.5bn from Saga, “and run a million miles to the Cayman Islands.” but he didn’t. For that alone he should be applauded.
The Shepway Vox Team
Dissent is NOT a Crime
Why do you see Roger De Haan as some knight in shining armour who has come to save Folkestone ?
He may well spend £400 million on building 1000 flats but you can be assured he will get far more back from the sales .
And of the money spent in the ‘creative quarter ‘ well I’m afraid Tontine street looks no different to what it did many years ago .
Run down and empty shops everywhere.
Folkestone is and always will be Folkestone as they say “ you can’t polish a turd “.
@Kevin
I agree with your comments on Sir Roger, but to call Folkestone a ‘turd’ is wrong.
He is encouraging people with more money then sense.
Sir Roger De Haan to me is something of a Saviour. He didn’t have to invest a single penny into Folkestone, which, until then, could only bask in past glories.
His investments, although mostly Arts based, can do nothing but raise the profile of our Town. He is to be applauded, not derided, for his vision for the future.
I have encountered Sir Roger on a few occasions and found him to be an amiable and modest man.
Detractors should take the time to consider where our Town would be without benefactors the like of Sir Roger.
@Asial
He needs to know when to stop – and remember that Folkestone is a town for all.
@Asial
I don’t agree with everything he has done but I believe that he is trying to make folkestone a better place.
His foresight and long term investment in Folkestone will continue to enhance the town long after we have passed on.
The politics of envy are never constructive.