Villagers are ‘forced’ into buying up grass verges and small pockets of land near their homes for thousands to stop traveller landgrabs

Villagers claim they are being ‘forced’ to buy up grass verges and small plots of land near their homes for thousands of pounds out of fear travelers will seize their land

Residents of St Augustine’s Estate in Chartham, near Canterbury, said they were now forced to buy some land near their homes.

The land owner is Rubislaw Estates Ltd. Among the areas auctioned by the company are the roadsides and small patches of grass between the houses on the land.

But although they are designated as open public spaces for the benefit of residents, they are advertised as ‘potentially suitable’ for a variety of uses.

Future Property Auctions state that these sites ‘could be a suitable location for a portable home, Bio-Net Gain Carbon capture, Forest school, allotments or perhaps a traveling community (subject to research and obtaining the necessary permits)’.

This language has since been described as ‘provocative’ by locals, who suggest it encouraged residents to purchase the plots because they feared possible consequences if someone else got there first.

This comes after locals discovered plots across the site were put up for sale in February 2025.

But more than a year later, those fears had dissipated until several lots on Beech Avenue appeared online, up for auction on June 4, 2026.

Residents say they felt compelled to buy land near their homes (pictured) because of the possibility of what might happen if someone else bought it

A woman who lives nearby in Little Copse Close said she was initially against buying the land outside her property but now feels she has little choice.

Although a recent sale of land outside his property had failed, nearby sites had already been fenced after it was sold, prompting him to intervene.

‘Other lands were also sold to neighbors. “Frankly, I’m pretty horrified by it all,” he said.

‘I think this is really sad; open space. We are currently in a situation where a few of us are forced to buy land and make sure no one else does.

‘We don’t want anyone to come and put up a fence and take away the open space.’

Meanwhile, another buyer claimed to have purchased a plot of land in the hope of building a holiday home, only to realize they had been ‘misled’ by the advertisements.

Canterbury City Council (CCC) has confirmed the parcels are protected open space, meaning applications for alternative uses are unlikely to be successful.

However, residents of the area say that the assurance given by the city council is not enough to reassure them.

‘What we don’t know right now is how much enforcement the council is willing to enforce or what they are willing to enforce,’ the resident said.

He added that local people believed the land should be ‘retained for public use’ and did not want the land.

‘[But] “I have to buy this place because we cannot get clear information from the council about what the obligations of landowners are,” he added.

CCC councilor Mike Sole, who also represents Canterbury South on Kent County Council, said it was important for the council to ‘start dealing with enforcement’ quickly.

Previous image of a lawn being offered for sale in Chartham, Kent, in 2025, much to the dismay of local residents

Land parcels are advertised by Future Property Auctions as described above. Residents had previously claimed the language was ‘provocative’

He also said the local authority should contact the sellers and instruct them to stop marketing the land for purposes for which it cannot be used.

‘This land should have been there with the protections that were put in place when the land was built, but it’s very, very worrying for people to see fences being removed, people cutting down trees and things like that,’ he said.

The land on the St Augustine estate, formerly the site of a former hospital, was originally owned by Growing Estates Ltd.

It was then sold to Scottish Property Development and Investment Firm Rubislaw Estates, who immediately began selling the land.

Previous emails from the company to Cllr Sole state that the firm plans to sell all its assets in Chartham and that there is no obligation to consult residents.

Commander Sole described the situation as a ‘scandal’ and said he could not understand why the land was not given to a management company owned by the residents from the beginning.

‘The only people profiting from this are the land sellers,’ he continued.

‘They’re either trying to find people willing to buy this land quite cheaply, thinking they can put a caravan or something on it, or they’re scaring residents into having to spend their own savings to protect something that should already be protected by planning conditions set 30 years ago.’

CCC spokesman Rob Davies said: ‘This site is protected open space and our Local Plan policies aim to protect this area for the benefit of local residents, so any application to change this is unlikely to be accepted.

‘We are aware of residents’ concerns and will continue to investigate any reports of breaches of planning legislation.’

No guide price is listed for today’s auction, but opening bids are set at £1,000.

More examples of land for sale on Beech Avenue in Chartham, Cantebury, causing panic among locals

The land owner is Rubislaw Estates Ltd. Among the areas auctioned by the company are the roadsides and small patches of grass between the houses on the land.

Another plot of land in Chartham to be auctioned on June 4

The Daily Mail has approached both Rubislaw Estates and Future Property Auctions for comment.

It comes after travelers carried out a spate of new land grabs over the May bank holiday weekend.

Rural areas in West Sussex, Kent and Lincolnshire have become the latest areas to be targeted by unscrupulous developers over the three-day holiday, much to the dismay of locals.

Work using heavy machinery began that weekend at a site in West Chiltington, West Sussex, near the world-famous British sparkling winery Nyetimber.

Aerial images revealed that much of the area was paved and there were numerous mobile homes apparently ready to move in.

This follows a trend where travelers buy land before unauthorized areas are established, often in lush parts of the Home Counties.

Planning permission is then sought retrospectively; Travelers are often granted permanent stays as there is an ‘unmet field need’.