It is our belief that there is a compelling investment case for residential property in Eastbourne, a coastal town in East Sussex, in the South-East of England.

Three factors underpin the investment case for the area:

• Savills, in their forecasts for house price growth by region, have the South-East of England as the region of the country they expect to appreciate most in value over the next 4 years – a predicted 21.6% (2016: 7%, 2017: 4%, 2018: 4%, 2019: 3%, 2020: 2%).
• Eastbourne is the second fastest-growing seaside town in the UK and is the economic driver of one of the fastest-growing counties in the country. Eastbourne has a broad economic base and is home to companies in a wide range of industries.
• The eye-catching seafront and the iconic cliff at Beachy Head has been used for many scenes in feature films and is an attractive location for families with many local amenities and parks.

With the support of extensive industry research, combined with the knowledge of our experienced property team, we believe investments in this region to be an attractive opportunity – and a chance to diversify from London.

The well-regarded research team at Savills have the South-East as the region they expect to be the highest-performing between 2016-2020. They forecast a predicted growth of 21.6% (2016: 7%, 2017: 4%, 2018: 4%, 2019: 3%, 2020: 2%).

With a population of 100,000 people, Eastbourne is the second fastest-growing seaside town in the UK and is the economic driver of one of the fastest-growing counties in the country. Eastbourne has a broad economic base and is home to companies in a wide range of industries.

The town is home to the largest book distributor in the UK, as well as to a number of specialist advanced manufacturing and engineering companies, many of which are based on industrial estates in and around the town. It is also the base for a growing number of successful e-commerce companies who distribute goods across the UK and throughout Europe. There is a high availability of affordable commercial property in Eastbourne and nearby Polegate, where a planned 700 new homes promise continued economic growth.

Development around Sovereign Harbour Marina, Britain’s largest composite marina, has created more than 3000 new luxury homes over the past 10 years and future plans include the construction of an innovation mall for small businesses and start-ups. The Eastbourne business community is well connected and mutually supportive. The Chamber of Commerce is strong with around 600 members and holds many networking events to facilitate local business-to-business (B2B) links. There are many business events for local entrepreneurs to promote their goods and services and a healthy ‘buy local’ ethic. Large revenues are generated through tourism and conference tourism with reports showing a £365 million revenue from visitors in 2010 and estimated to support 7,160 jobs. The council’s blueprint for future development in the town centre maps out a strategy for further boosting these numbers by attracting even more residents, shoppers and visitors to the town.

The South Downs dominate Eastbourne and can be seen from most of the town. A part of the South Downs, Willingdon Down is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. These were originally chalk deposits laid down under the sea during the Late Cretaceous and were later lifted by the same tectonic plate movements that formed the European Alps, during the middle Tertiary period. The chalk can be clearly seen along the eroded coastline to the west of the town, in the area known as Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters, where continuous erosion keeps the cliff edge vertical and white.

The seafront and the iconic cliff at Beachy Head has been used for many scenes in feature films, and the local council has set up a film liaison unit to encourage and facilitate the shooting of film sequences in and around the town.

Eastbourne also has numerous parks and gardens, such as Gildredge Park, which is a large open park located between the town centre and Old Town; it is very popular with families and has a children’s playground, cafe, tennis courts, disc golf course (target) and bowls lawns. It was relocated to a new, £8.6 million purpose-built facility adjacent to the Congress Theatre, Devonshire Park which opened on 4 April 2009.