Three miles west of Bournemouth is leafy Canford Cliffs and arguably the most elite-ist and affluent playground Sandbanks! 

The gateway to the second largest Natural Harbour in the world and voted the second most desirable place to live in the UK, Sandbanks is a place where a beach hut you'll never own outright costs £100,000+ and as the properties become more and more audacious, ironically the peninsula becomes more attractive to buyers.  These people don't just have money they have wealth, the only 'Crunch' they seem to recognise is the grit from their Moules Marinière in their da Vinci-veneered perma grin.

So what is the big deal with this area anyway?  I mean contrary to popular belief everyone on and around the peninsula is not a champagne swilling capitalists - they're average like most, the majority are asset rather than cash rich, they sit in the middle of the peninsula whilst the developers squabble over the last remaining square-footage available with an eternal view, there are also only five shops - one of which is an estate agents, which gives you an estate agent saturation of 20%.  The main draw to the area i think is a 'Near Zero' crime rate and the easy commuting to and from London.  I cant recall the last time I heard of a crime happening here, it's so low that ironically criminals avoid it BECAUSE it's so low.  Maybe it's because the only way out of a property other than the entrance results in drowning - who knows but to be frank who cares?

In the summertime this playground becomes the hottest ticket for the wannabe rich - this is our Hamptons, people with 'Beer Money' and a £4.00 Ferrari Key-ring flash the cash and network with the 'Peninsula Aristocracy' at hotspots like Cafe Shore, they gravitate to the annual British Beach Polo Championships in the hope of being considered a 'Somebody' yet at the same time it doesn't feel claustrophobic.  That said, this is Winter and as such the only activity you will find here in winter is Wakeboarding and Windsurfing and funnily enough this is where Sandbanks wins again. 

The creative flair of most developers is dictated by geographical trends and this reassuring safety-net guarantees to keep the developer in Abercrombie and Fitch until the next recessionary cycle however this is far from being true here.  Sandbanks is a creative 'Free for all' where any property 'Art-deco' or otherwise will sell - it's location location location all the way.

Conclusions:

Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks are the ultimate dichotomy, on one hand arguably the most expensive and most beautiful of gems and on the other the most garish piece of real estate you could imagine.  Is this criticism, I don't think so, its far from it, I couldn't love this place more if I tried, if a few odd-ball properties are the only downside then it's in a good place.  If you want a view to die for then you simply cannot avoid Sandbanks, it's a no-brainer.

This eco-system of the rich is where newly rich and retired wealth merge and because most of us dream of living in such a post code, it merely adds to the appeal.  The lifestyle of the residents and the ambition of the developers may well contradict what the economy would dictate but as far as i'm concerned if this is what you get from Capitalism then god bless it!

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