£300,000 beach hut
No electricity, no loo and no shower … but this shack went for as much as a 5-bed house
IT’S a modest, slightly weathered wooden shack with no toilet, mains electricity or parking … and it has just sold for £300,000.
So what makes the country’s most expensive beach hut such a des res? It’s all down to that estate agents’ mantra: location, location, location.
And what a location it is too. Hut 475 is on the exclusive Mudeford Spit in Christchurch, Dorset, with stunning views over Christchurch Harbour on one side and Christchurch Bay and The Needles on the other.
Many of the 350 beach huts on the small strip of land have been in the same families for decades. When they do come on the market they’re snapped up, with previous ones selling for as much as £280,000.
Charlie Dancer, from Denisons estate agents, said: ‘The main attraction of the hut was that it is the last hut before the headland, so it’s got a nice bit of space beside it. The views from it are stunning and you can see all the way along the beach and towards the Isle of Wight.
‘This is the most expensive one we’ve sold. Huts continue to be really popular and we’ve got a database of people waiting for the right hut to come up.’
Hut 475 measures 18ft by 15ft and can sleep six people – two in the main room and four on a mezzanine level.
But the new owners can stay overnight in the hut only from March to October and there’s nowhere to park the car – so getting there involves a 20-minute walk, a novelty tourist train or a ferry. Lighting is provided by solar panels on the roof, the oven runs on gas bottles and the fridge is powered by a battery. The kitchen has a sink with a tap but the water comes via a pump. For shower and toilet facilities, there is a nearby communal block. The owners, who have not been named, will also have to pay annual rates and fees to the local council of about £3,000.
Estate agents say the popularity of staycations has seen beach hut prices shoot up by £100,000 in six years. Today there are about 20,000 privately owned beach huts, and celebrity fans include Rolling Stone Keith Richards, who has one in West Wittering, Sussex.