Part 3 – Land/Property Ownership by Companies & Organisations in Folkestone & Hythe District

Who owns the vast swathes of land and property in our district matters. It matters because land is a scarce resource – as Mark Twain put it, ‘they aren’t making it any more’ – and because ownership of it often confers wealth, power and influence. It matters because who owns land gets to choose how it’s used; and that has big implications for almost everything. Where we build our homes, how we grow our food, how we protect ourselves from flooding, how much space we set aside for wildlife – all this is hugely affected by who owns land.

All the data in this blog comes via the land registry and was published on the 3 January 2025. Any errors or inconsistencies in the data belongs to the land registry and not us, as it’s their data, which they’ve publicly published.  

All the data is set out in spreadsheets and can be downloaded for you to peruse at your leisure. Each spreadsheet gives the title deed number, if the land/property is owned freehold or leasehold, the price paid – in some cases, the company who owns the land, and when the date the land/property was purchased. The land/property ownership covers all parts of the Folkestone & Hythe District only.

SAGA own or lease little land in the Folkestone & Hythe District, it is a company that has seen its fortune rise and fall. In August 2020 Sir Roger De Haan (pictured) returned to SAGA taking up a stake of 20% in the company. “Sir Roger is the son of Saga’s founder Sidney De Haan. He joined the business in 1966, aged 17, as its 11th employee and worked here for 40 years. He became Managing Director in 1976 and Chairman and Chief Executive from 1984 until he sold the company in 2004. Sir Roger returned to the business as Non-Executive Chairman in 2020.” 

Land/Property owned or Leased by SAGA in Folkestone &Hythe District

SAGA own an offshore company based in Gibraltar which goes by  the name of Acromas Insurance Company Limited. There are those who say Gibraltar is “dodgy tax haven“. This company owns and/or leases property in the district.

SAGA first purchased Bouverie House (pictured) on 25 March 1986, for £1,250,000. Then Acromas purchased Bouverie House for £3,749,000, on 15 January 2013. Now after sitting empty for five years, Bouverie House has finally been sold, subject to contract, according to the Sibley Pares website.

Acromas also owns the Cheriton Parc which has planning permission and remains for sale, according to the Sibley Pares website 

Land/Property owned or leased by Acromas Insurance in Folkestone & Hythe District

Remaining with Sir Roger De Haan, who does NOT own the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust. The Trust was established in April 1978. It currently has four Trustees. The Trust owns property and land on the Old High Street and Tontine St, locally known as the Creative Quarter in Folkestone

According to the Trust’s latest set of accounts, it has spent £48.6 million in acquiring and refurbishing the properties in the Old High Street & Tontine Street, and as of 5 April 2024, the project was largely complete. But this is not the only thing the Trust does. For instance it has given £10m to date for HIV/Aids relief work in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. Since 2014, the Trust has made grants of £24.6 million to further the development of sport in Folkestone and the surrounding area. The Trust’s cumulative funding for the 5 Triennials since the event was first launched in 2008, has been £5.8 million. It too gave £5m to the Christchurch (New Zealand) Earthquake Fund, and £25,000 of funding to the British Red Cross toward the Morocco Earthquake Appeal, plus £50,000 to the British Red Cross for the Ukraine Appeal.

In total we can safely estimate, the Trust has donated more than a £165m to charitable causes locally, nationally and internationally since it was established in 1978.

Land & Property owned or leased by RDHCT in FHD

Much of the land/property owned by the RDHCT is leased back to Creative Folkestone, according to the land registry.

Land/Property Leased or owned by Creative Folkestone in FHD 

Then there is Sir Roger’s personal land and property holdings via his companies. In July 2004, Sir Roger purchased Folkestone Harbour for £11m. In the early noughties, Sir Roger purchased land and property from the Salbstein family. It is now an organic farm and currently has land holdings of approximately 1,500 acres. The land and farm were purchased for an unknown sum. Then in April 2007, Sir Roger purchased the Rotunda site for £21,339,500 from Jimmy Godden.

Land owned or leased by Folkestone Harbour Nominee (1) Ltd

Of course, the majority of the money which has purchased the land/property has come from the sale of SAGA in 2004, when Sir Roger received £1.35bn, in which he owned 70% of the shares outright with the balance held in family trusts.

Altogether we can safely estimate that either Sir Roger and/or the Charitable Trust has spent in excess of £225m. There are those who love him, and those who believe he “is trying to blackmail” residents over the controversial Harbour development.

Some claim Sir Roger is responsible for gentrifying Folkestone; which we wrote about:

Part 1- Sir Roger De Haan – Is he or isn’t he gentrifying Folkestone?

Part 2 – Sir Roger De Haan – Is he or isn’t he gentrifying Folkestone?

Part 3 – Sir Roger De Haan – Is he or isn’t he gentrifying Folkestone?

However, Sir Roger insists he is not gentrifying Folkestone, some might say otherwise. All we will say is, Folkestone would be a very different place without his personal investment and without the Trust’s investment.

But as always we’ll leave you to make up your own mind

The Shepway Vox Team

The Velvet Voices of Voxatiousness