Locals say wail from new flats will drive them out of Folkestone

Everyone wants to move! ‘Furious’ locals say the ear-piercing banshee-like wail from new £1.8m luxury seafront apartments built by Saga heir is enough to drive them out of Folkestone

• Locals say a high-pitched noise from a new block of flats is forcing them to leave
• Flats in the building start at prices of £430,000 and cost up to £1.8million each 

‘Furious’ locals have said an ear-piercing banshee-like wail from a new block of luxury flats on Folkestone’s seafront, built by the multi-millionaire heir to the Saga fortune, is making them want to leave the seaside town.

Angry residents said the high-pitched noise that emanates from the building which contains 84 individual properties – ranging in price from £430,000 to £1.8million each – has already driven people out of the Kent resort. 

Locals said ‘everyone thought it was just them’ when the tinnitus-like noise was first heard in the south coast town, as one resident even said their schizophrenic friend had started to think his medication had stopped working. 

Now, a furious row has broken out, with locals complaining the ‘awful’ noise from the luxury flats is driving them ‘insane’ and keeping them ‘awake at night’ – with some residents even saying their dogs have been impacted. 

Folkestone residents have complained the new block, which is set be part of a huge development to build 1,000 new homes along the seafront led by Saga millionaire Sir Roger De Haan, dominates the skyline of the seaside town while blaming the noise on the building’s balconies. 

A high-pitched banshee-like screech is being emitted from a block of flats in Folkestone

The block’s balconies have been blamed for the high-pitched noise which residents claim is driving people out of Folkestone

Katrina Harris, 72, said the noise from the balconies could put people off buying the flats

Jesus, 30, said he is ‘furious’ about the ‘awful’ noise as he called for something to be done 

Locals claim the noise first started happening when the balconies were first installed on the building, before the screech gradually got louder as more terraces were put up.

Jody, 22, and Jesus, 30, who have lived in Folkestone for a year, said they are ‘furious’ about the noise, as they called for someone to ‘to do something about it’. ‘I’ve been furious about it,’ Jesus said. ‘It’s awful. Someone absolutely needs to do something about it. It could upset the wildlife.’

Folkestone residents said the noise has already pushed people into leaving the Kent town, as one local said the sound has caused three people she knows to leave already.   

READ MORE: Could YOU put up with this noise? Furious neighbour row breaks out as homes near new £1.8m luxury seafront apartments built by Saga heir are haunted by a ‘tinnitus-inducing’ banshee-like screaming sound

Amanda, who has lived in Folkestone for six years, said that she was even considering leaving the seaside town herself because of the flats. 

‘I’m looking at moving away from here,’ she said. ‘There are three further people that have already gone because of the development.’ 

She explained that at first people were unsure where the noise was coming from and ‘everyone thought it was just them’. 

‘My friend lives down by the Grand Burstin area and he is schizophrenic and he thought his medication wasn’t working – and he is not the only one!’ she said.

But now she says people are complaining about the sound across Folkestone. ‘I’ve been in town and people are complaining over therem’ she said.

Katrina Harris, 72, said: ‘We’ve lived around here since 2007. I came out on the balcony, just to see watch the waves and everything and I suddenly kept on hearing these flashes of noise. 

‘I thought it was the builders at first. But then I wandered up the road and I kept hearing the sounds and I realised it was the building.’ 

Ms Harris said the noise could put off potential buyers from purchasing the flats, which sit in the first block to be built as part of Sir Roger De Haan’s plans to build 1,000 new homes after he bought Folkestone harbour for £11million in 2004. 

Folkestone local Hannah, 25, said she had been deterred from buying her own flat nearby, due to the noise being emitted from the building. ‘We were going to actually buy our flat because our owners were selling and the noise was the biggest thing that put us off,’ she said.  

Locals have complained the block of flats is emitting a high-pitched noise that is keeping Folkestone residents awake at night

Penthouse flats in Shoreline Crescent on Folkestone’s shoreline cost up to £1.8million each

The block is part of a major development containing a planned 1,000 homes being led by the heir to the Saga fortune, Sir Roger De Haan

Folkestone residents complained the high-pitched noise is keeping them awake all night

Locals said the ‘loud’ noise sound like a ‘harp crossed with a xylophone’ as they suggested the sound would drive them insane’

The new block of flats contains the most expensive apartments in Folkestone with prices starting at £430,000

Locals even said their dogs were being impacted by the noise. Amanda said: ‘It’s not just my dog. It’s all of them. You can see the dogs notice it and them they all start barking. All of them.’

Hannah also said the noise had upset her Italian greyhound, which she claims now has trouble walking along the seafront. 

READ MORE: Yabba daba don’t! ‘Horrified’ locals rebel over ‘Flintstones’ flat plan for Kent seafront by Saga heir Sir Roger De Haan – one of Britain’s richest men

‘The biggest inconvenience for us is the fact that we got our Italian Greyhound puppy in February, she said. ‘She’s grown up with the noise and she finds walking past towards the coastal park difficult. She hates the noise and there’s the higher range of hearing.’

Jody complained the building creates a wind tunnel that makes it difficult to walk along the coast as she also complained about the way the building impacts the view. 

‘The new building creates a wind tunnel. You turn the corner and you can’t even walk towards it sometimes. I don’t like it. The wind and the sounds and the way it blocks the view,’ she said.

The luxury block is part of a major development being built by former Saga chief Sir Roger De Haan, who is currently one of the richest people in Britain with an estimated net worth of around £900million.

The development project, which is being led by the multimillionaire businessman, is set to see 1,000 new properties built on Folkestone’s seafront, after De Haan bought the seaside town’s harbour for £11million in 2004. 

Videos show the new block – which is part of a development that locals previously compared to the house occupied by The Flintstones – emitting a whining noise which appears to be caused by the building’s balconies reverberating in the wind. 

The new block sits on the beach at Folkestone offering uninterrupted views of the sea

Sir Roger De Haan, the heir to the multi-million-pound Saga fortune, bought Folkestone harbour for £11million in 2004 with a view to regenerating the Kent seaside resort 

Locals said projected images that show what the 600-home development in Folkestone, Kent, might look like the Flintstones house

The luxury flats in Shoreline Crescent are advertised as offering ‘uninterrupted views of the sea’

The luxury flats, which are now by far the most expensive in Folkestone, are advertised as having been ‘carefully designed’ and ‘meticulously considered’. 

Locals have, however, slammed the development’s ‘fancy architecture’, as they complained about the haunting noise. 

READ MORE: Experts solve mystery of what causes ‘singing’ skyscrapers to whistle and hum in high winds

Saga which sells package holidays, insurance products, and financial services to the over-50s, was initially founded by Sir Roger’s father, Sidney De Haan, in Folkestone in 1951. 

The plans have seen the 73-year-old businessman set aside £3million to go towards schools in Folkestone, and an additional £1.2million for a new local GP surgery. 

Sir Roger ran Saga for two decades after inheriting the over-50s focused business from his father in 1984, during which period he launched a Saga radio station.

The businessman previously told KentLive he is not trying to ‘gentrify’ Folkestone – despite admitting the new flats ‘are going to be fairly pricey’.

The millionaire, however, claimed ‘the whole community’ will benefit from investment brought into Folkestone by the development and the people who move in. 

A sales brochure for flats in Shoreline Crescent boasts the properties offer ‘sprawling rooftop terraces’ with ‘uninterrupted views out to sea.’ 

The block, which is described in its brochure as ‘one of the finest beachside developments in the country,’ was designed by award-winning architecture practice AMCE, which has also led projects in destinations including London and Berlin.

The building has found itself at the centre of a furious row following complaints about a noise emitting from its balconies 

The multi-million-pound development is set to be built on top of the town’s current seaside car park

A single-bed flat is set to cost £430,000 while a two-bed unit will be £1.3million

A brochure for the flats in Folkestone lists them as having ‘sprawling rooftop terraces’

Locals slammed the building’s ‘fancy architecture’  as another warned ‘winter storms’ could make the problem worse

One local said they would be ‘insisting’ the problem be fixed if they owned one of the flats

Another resident said they’d noticed the ‘high-pitched hum’ as they speculated it was caused by wind blowing through the balcony railings

Why do some buildings hum in the wind?

In a mechanism similar to the same one heard if someone blows over a bottle, certain architectural features are known to ‘hum’ in the wind. 

The humming is caused by air moving over those architectural features and causing reverberations that, in turn, make noise.

The phenomenon has been noticed emanating out of buildings across the globe, including Manchester’s Beetham Tower, which is regularly heard howling on windy days.

Locals previously compared plans for the new flats on Folkestone’s shoreline to the rock house occupied by The Flintstones family in the 1960s cartoon.

Residents complained to The Guardian earlier this year that the new blocks are ‘out of scale and character’ with the rest of the town, as they argued the development would block the view of the sea. 

The development is advertised as being ‘carefully designed’ and ‘meticulously considered,’ as the brochure claims the block was ‘built to endure’. 

Folkestone residents have, however, slammed the building’s ‘fancy architecture’ following claims the ‘high pitched hum’ emanating from the block is keeping them awake when it’s windy. 

Locals said the the ‘loud’ noise, which appears to be being caused by wind blowing through the building’s balcony railings. sounds like a ‘harp crossed with a xylophone’. 

Residents suggested the building’s developer will be forced to fix the issue, as one local said the high-pitched noise would drive them ‘insane’. 

Another warned ‘winter storms’ could make the noise even worse, as one local said they would be ‘insisting’ the problem be fixed if they lived in the property. 

Shoreline Crescent and ACME were contacted by MailOnline for comment.  

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