The Secret Landlord ‘How I fell in love with beach huts’

I’ve never really understood the appeal of a beach hut. To me, these sheds-by-the-sea are pretty on postcards, but pointless for anything else.

I therefore decided they were for other people.

So imagine my surprise when the allure to spend time in one intoxicated me so much, I found myself renting a hut for a month. Before I began exploring, I had assumed all huts were the same. That is incorrect. Choosing the right beach hut is like choosing the right house: location matters.

The beach hut I’ve rented on the Essex coast is basic. It has no electricity, no running water and you can’t sleep there – but it does have a mobile signal and an incredible view.

Now, the first thing to note is that not all views from beach huts are made equal. Each hut has its own unique angle on the world. It took me three days to find the perfect hut. That involved a lot of walking and talking and, quite frankly, was a task I thoroughly enjoyed.

Because I was planning to use the hut like my home office, I decided against one on the front nearest the sea. Despite my love of people watching, I didn’t want the distraction of too many people to look at and, crucially, I didn’t want too many people looking in.

The thing to understand about hut ‘Being next to the water tap is a bonus – it acts like a water cooler and gets me in on all the hut gossip’ culture is if people can see you, you’re game for conversation. Nobody, it would appear, comes to the beach to do work. Unless you are me. That is why I chose a second-row hut that has an elevated view and a huge veranda.

Like the huts, every veranda is different. Not only do you need to check the vista from inside, you also need to check the view from outside, both from a standing position and seated. Notwithstanding checking the safety and integrity of the structure, you also need to check how many sunshine hours you get on the veranda. The positioning and angle, along with the trajectory of the sun, will determine how long you get to sit outside before you begin to shiver.

Another critical thing to look out for is facilities. Most properties have running water and toilets, but this is not the case with huts. This means the proximity of these conveniences is paramount.

I have chosen a hut right next to the fresh water tap. This has two upsides: one, I am super- close to water (critical when making a brew); and two, it has the added bonus of acting like a water cooler and gets me in on all the hut gossip. As for toilet locations: unlike the tap, I don’t fancy being right next to such conveniences, but I also don’t want to be too far.

Finally, we come to the interior décor. Huts, like properties, come in an array of styles. I chose a twee affair (think plastic roses trailing the veranda, handmade themed curtains, matching cups etc) where the owner ( I felt) had taken great care of the details.

To keep the cost down, I only rented it from Monday to Friday and paid £325 a week. Normal peak price is £75 a day. So how is my beach hut home office experiment going? Well, I’m into my third week and I’m getting anxiety pangs about my leaving date. Every morning I toy with the idea of calling the owner to extend my time.

My other half has told me to buy one, the caveat being … it has to wash its face.

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