It has been described as Britain’s only desert. A sparsely populated, shingly promontory that is home to a power station, a nature reserve and the cottage where the film-maker Derek Jarman spent his final years. And some of it, at least, could be yours for £1.5m.

Dungeness Estate, which has been in the hands of a family trust since it was established in 1964, is up for sale and it is hoped new owners could “breathe new life” into the barren spit of land on the south Kent coast.

But local residents said that they had been unaware of the proposed sale of the national nature reserve they live on, and have expressed concerns about what the consequences of it will be.

The remains of a wooden fishing boat punctuate the desolate landscape. Photograph: Alamy

The 468-acre estate is formed largely of a shingle beach that shields the low-lying land of Romney Marsh. The area has been designated as a site of special scientific interest due to its unusual shingle ridges and is home to 600 species of plants, a third of all types found in the UK, according to conservationists.

On the market with estate agents Strutt and Parker, it includes 22 properties that are mostly converted railway cottages, which are subject to 99-year leases. The deal does not, however, include the power station, pub, lighthouses and narrow-gauge railway.

The announcement of the sale took residents by surprise. Paul Schwartfeger, chair of the Dungeness residents’ association, said on Monday that inhabitants of the 99 homes on the estate were worried by the lack of consultation. “We are concerned that the sale could adversely affect the many human creatures who live on the estate too, to the detriment of their livelihoods and their peaceful enjoyment of their homes,” he said.

Schwartfeger added that businesses operating on the Dungeness Estate, including the pub, two lighthouses, several catering businesses and the local fishing fleet, would “all be affected by any sale”.

He said there had been a long-running discussion with the trust on maintenance of the roads, with residents having to patch them up themselves as vehicles were swerving past potholes and driving into the shingle – the resource that is meant to be under protection.



He also said that residents had opposed a quarry set up in the area near several homes over fears it would damage the environment.

As residents live in clutches of detached properties, they did do not appear to be “afforded such legal rights” as other leaseholders would usually have regarding the sale of the land, Schwartfeger said. “Indeed, we have to read about the potential sale of the land under our feet in the press,” he added.

Maurice Ede, one of the trustees, said he would speak to residents now that the details had been finalised and a press announcement made. “Most residents know today anyway,” he told the Guardian.

Ede said the area was covered by various laws and regulations as it was a site of special interest and run as a national nature reserve. “It shouldn’t affect the residents very much at all,” he said of the sale. “On top of that there are planning restrictions placed by the local authority which are very stringent. So there’s no way the local authority can come in and build houses all over it.”

Tourism has grown in the last decade, adding to the strain on the infrastructure of the area, Ede said. He added that the trust had applied for planning permission for a toll road.

He added that he felt “now is the right time to pass it on to someone who can breathe new life into Dungeness”.

In its brochure, Strutt and Parker describes the estate as a “shingly desert”. But the suggestion that the Met Office had bestowed Dungeness with the official title of a desert was scotched on Monday.



A spokesman said: “The standard definition of a desert is that it has very little rainfall and that can be for various reasons – such as being in an area of persistent high pressure. Another characteristic is that we see large differences between day and night temperatures. Neither of these apply to areas in the UK.”

The estate generates an annual income of more than £130,000 from ground rents of long-term residential leasehold properties, commercial fishing agreements and licences allowing the movement of shingle to protect the power station and nearby coasts.



Mark McAndrew, from Strutt and Parker, said: “Dungeness is one of Britain’s most important and spectacular landscapes. There is simply nothing like it. I can safely say, that in my 25-plus years at Strutt & Parker, I have never sold, or will ever sell, anything quite like the Dungeness Estate.”

The desolate landscape has become one of the country’s most recognisable landmarks and has become an unlikely tourist hotspot attracting around a million visitors each year.

The late film-maker Derek Jarman in his arid garden. Photograph: Geraint Lewis/Rex

Famous residents include Jarman, who lived in Prospect Cottage until his death in 1994. The property is now privately owned.

The barren backdrop of Dungeness also featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1981 album A Collection of Great Dance Songs, released a few weeks before bassist Roger Waters quit the band.

The arid area, marked with irregularly positioned shacks, also appeared in music videos for Lighthouse Family, the Thrills, the Prodigy, Athlete, Aled Jones and Turin Brakes, and in the cult 1981 film Time Bandits.

• This article was amended on 10 August 2015. An earlier version stated that Dungeness was “Britain’s only desert”. This was updated after clarification from the Met Office.