Entire Devon village goes on the market

An entire village in Devonshire has been put up for sale this week with an asking price of £11.5 million.

Evans Estate has solely owned Bantham for several generations but the popular coastal settlement is now all being sold. Residents of the village were told in November 2013 that the land and buildings would be going to a new owner and there has since been interest from around the world.

The Bantham plot cover 750 acres of lands and currently consists of 40 homes, a pub, a harbour and a shop. The potential buyers are thought to vary greatly in their ambition for the area, with fears circulating among the current community that it will be turned into cottages for holidaymakers.

The locals are hoping to protect Bantham against further development as it is thought the new owner will expand the plot with a range of new businesses. While the Evans family has said that it would like the idyllic “happy community” ethos of the south coast village to continue, the size of the investment means that it will primarily be of interest to large private investors that will look to monetise the assets.

The current policy in Bantham, which was first developed in the 1920s, prevents the letting out of cottages to holidaymakers and does not allow them to be used as second homes. To keep this tradition going, the residents have approached the National Trust to buy the village, something the organisation has said it is looking into.

Nevertheless, the newly marketed village will remain of significant interest to investors with a view to either building new commercial properties or turning the existing homes into tourist locations.