Escape to the seaside: Kent's coastal towns offer bigger and better properties for less money within an hour's commute of London

Kent coastal towns stand out as good value compared with the Sussex seaside and the yachtie Solent. Equity-rich Londoners who quit The Smoke can buy a bigger or better home in an accessible town within an hour’s commute of the capital.

Hythe is one of the five historic Cinque Ports, occupying a key strategic location between Hastings and Dover, where a string of fortified Martello Towers were built as a defence against invasion by Napoleon.

Three of the towers survive at Hythe, and though the once-bustling harbour has disappeared due to silting, the town’s Royal Military Canal, also built to rebuff French armies, survives and gives the town its distinctive character.

Martello Lakes, a 1,000-home new waterside neighbourhood, is being built on the site of old quarries on the fringe of the town. Apartments priced from £199,995 are attracting weekenders as well as commuters, says developer Barratt. Four-bedroom detached houses start at £359,995. Call 0844 8549936.

Herne Bay, close to Canterbury and Whitstable, on the so-called “Kent Riviera”, is regaining some of the cachet it enjoyed during its Victorian heyday. Back then it was a fashionable resort, home to the world’s first freestanding clock tower and the UK’s longest pier.

Much of the town’s 19th-century seafront architecture is intact, and it boasts a two-mile shingle Blue Flag beach, while council-sponsored regeneration is helping to revive the town’s image.

The Fairways is a scheme of Arts & Crafts-style houses being built on a former golf course. Each home has either three or four bedrooms plus an integral or separate garage. Prices from £354,995. Call Redrow on 01227 213193.