Sandbanks home 'dwarfed' by expensive new houses to be demolished

The property in Old Coastguard Road, Poole, could be knocked down and replaced with a “contemporary and elegant” three-storey house. 

Having previously been sold in 2018 for £2.2m, the existing property could fetch for nearly £4m at the high-end of estimations. 

The new design proposes five bedrooms, with lower ground-floor space to be used for home entertainment. 

Developers would lay a paved area at the rear which would lead to the lucky homeowner’s private jetty and beach. 

Meanwhile, there would be four parking spaces for cars along with a double garage.

The existing bungalow in Old Coastguard Road (Image: Google Maps)

“It is considered that the undeveloped nature of the Sandbanks beachline would be safeguarded,” a design and access statement said. 

“Whilst built form would be closer to the beach’s edge than is presently visible, it would nevertheless be a betterment compared with the fallback position and, in any event, commensurate with the surrounding building line.”

Read more: Pictures of inside the £13.5m bungalow on Sandbanks

Documents add that the current home, built in the 1930s, has no “architectural merit, adding: “Although it appears to be in a good state of repair, it is nevertheless not particularly energy efficient and is reaching the end of its useful life.  

“The local context has also moved on since its construction, with surrounding buildings changing the character and beginning to dwarf the application site.” 

3D image of proposed design (Image: rbstudio architects)

The applicants say the new design is more suitable for the contemporary row of houses currently in Old Coastguard Road. 

The design and access statement added: “The result is an elegant replacement building that is more in keeping with the emerging, contemporary character and grain of the street scene.

Read more: Siblings to sell £9million Sandbanks home bought for £7,000

“The character and appearance of the conservation area would be conserved and improved compared with the fallback position, whose design would not fit particularly well with today’s context. 

“Indeed, the extant rear garage outbuilding would be especially out of character, such that this fresh scheme presents a betterment.” 

Another bungalow in Sandbanks recently sold for £13.5 million and became, per square foot, the most expensive place to live in the world – beating New York, London and Hong Kong.

A decision on the application, which was submitted earlier this month, has yet to be made.