Luxury beach hut in Welsh seaside village goes on market for £250,000

2023-05-25

Luxury beach hut in Welsh seaside village goes on the market for £250,000 – £35,000 more than the cost of an average home in Wales

A beach hut up for sale in Abersoch, Gwynedd, could set a new record in Wales
On the market for £250,000, it trumps the average house sale in the country

A double-fronted beach hut in north Wales is tipped to break records after it went on the market for an ‘eye-watering’ £250,000.

The huts lining the bay in Abersoch, Gwynedd, are already known for their high sales prices – which easily trump those of the average house in the county.

One hut sold for £200,000 last year, a record which is likely to be beaten by the current hut up for sale, the BBC reports.

At £250,000, it outstrips not just the typical house sale in Gwynedd at £198,500 but the average across Wales, which stands at £214,000 according to the UK House Price Index.

The hut itself measures 8m by 3m (26ft by 10ft) and comes with the barest necessities.

Last April, one hut in the village was advertised with a rental price of £1,200 a week.

A double-fronted hut in Abersoch, Gwynedd, north Wales, looks set to smash records after going up for sale for £250,000

The double-fronted hut sits on the beach in the village of Abersoch which is dubbed Cheshire by the Sea

Like other timber sheds on the beach, it is not connected to the mains water and overnight stays are banned.

READ MORE: LUXURY BEACH HUT IN NORTH WALES UP FOR RENT AT £1,200 PER WEEK

Council tax is also charged at almost £800 per year.

Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd, said the soaring value of the huts is a ‘shameful situation’.

‘It’s a perfect example of how the property market lets Wales down if a shed goes for such a price,’ he said.

‘Young people have absolutely no chance of getting housing in their own communities.’

The timber shed is open to bidding offers until the end of June.

Visitors Alan and Heather Jenkins, from Mold, Flintshire, were shocked to learn of the sale price, which they said was ‘outrageous’ and ‘crazy’.

‘You could get a house, a plot of land and everything that went with it for that money,’ said Mr Jenkins.

But others were less surprised.

Grace Earnshaw, of Wilmslow in Cheshire, who was strolling on the beach with her two young daughters, said: ‘It’s in a good location. It’s probably going to go for a lot more than that.’

Residents of Abersoch have previously said families in the village, which has a population of around 700, have been priced out by people snapping up coastal properties for second homes.

The community has earned the nickname Cheshire-on-Sea, a reference to affluent Cheshire villages such as Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Prestbury – home to wealthy executives and football stars.

The seaside resort in Gwynedd, North Wales, is a popular holiday spot for celebrities including Coleen Rooney and Bear Grylls

Neighbouring huts on the beach have previously sold for £200,000 – but the latest luxury price-tag is set to break the record

Last April, this beach hut in Abersoch was advertised with a rental price of £1,200 per week

Residents of Abersoch have previously said families in the village, which has a population of around 700, have been priced out by people snapping up coastal properties for second homes

The community has earned the nickname Cheshire-on-Sea, a reference to affluent Cheshire villages such as Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Prestbury

Beach huts are fast becoming hot property in the UK, with holidaymakers fighting to secure their wooden getaways.

Last October, a beach hut on the exclusive Mudeford sandbank in Christchurch Harbour, Dorset, was sold for a staggering £450,000 – the same price as a five-bed house in some parts of the country.

The wooden cabin has no toilet or mains electricity, and has amazing sea views towards the Isle of Wight.

Cars are banned from the strip of land which is only accessible by a 20-minutes walk, a ride on a land train or a short ferry trip across the harbour.

Hut 297 has solar panels on the roof to provide some electricity and a full-sized cooker connected to a gas bottle.

There is also a 100-litre water tank with a heater for running water and it has double glazed doors and windows.

The buyers will have to share a communal toilet and shower block with other hut owners – but the estate agents expect it to get snapped up quickly.

A beach hut on Mudeford sandbank in Christchurch Harbour, Dorset, was sold for £450,000 last October

The wooden hut had no toilet or mains electricity – it did have a fully fitted kitchen however and a full-sized cooker connected to a gas bottle

The living room has a seating area which can be converted into extra beds and a mezzanine level that can sleep five – so altogether the hut can sleep up to eight

The wooden cabin is on the exclusive Mudeford sandbank in Christchurch Harbour, Dorset, and has amazing sea views

Cars are banned from the strip of land which is only accessible by a 20 minutes walk, a ride on a land train or a short ferry trip (Pictured: An arrow pointing to Hut 297)

Hut 297 was owned by the same family since they bought it from the local council in the 1970s or 80s for a four figure sum.

Since then prices for the 360 seaside cabins on the remote sandy peninsula have soared.

In 2002 they were selling for £70,000. By 2005 they were up to £135,000 and then £270,000 by 2014. In 2020 they were worth about £350,000.

‘Hutters’ who rent their sheds have fought in vain to get their local authority Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council in Dorset to reconsider the huge hikes in rates.

They say many tenants won’t be able to afford to keep their huts which will instead be snapped up by wealthy second home owners from London and the Home Counties.

And because they aren’t local they are likely to only visit the area a few times a year, leaving the huts empty most of the time and ‘destroying the close-knit community of hut owners.’

Property website OnTheMarket found estate agents have seen searches surge for beach huts

Prices to buy and rent the wooden shacks have rocketed despite most having few utilities and mainly being used for storage. Pictured: Mudeford in Dorset

Millions of pounds worth of beach huts will be left empty by rich out-of-towners as huge rent hikes force locals to give them up, it is feared

The gorgeous white hut on the sweeping Sussex coast was snapped up for an jaw-dropping £65,000 in less than 24 hours after it hit the market

There are also concerns wealthy out of towners could sub-let their huts like Airbnb when they are not there.

Under the new pricing scheme, tenants who currently pay £1,300 a year in rent will have to fork out £2,200 by 2027 and others who pay £770 will face an increase of £1,000 over the next five years.

The year-on-year rises would bring in an extra £10m a year for Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council.

Hutters say they are being used by the council as a ‘cash cow’ and with the cost of living crisis.

They feel the council think they must be wealthy because they can afford a beach hut, but many are pensioners who cannot afford a holiday abroad.

In December last year, cash-strapped Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council have announced plans to more than double the fees for local beach huts over the next five years.

Renters who currently pay as little as £770 a year in rent for the space their cabins sit on will have to pay an extra £1,000 by 2027, if plans go ahead.

People who buy their own beach hut in Mudeford, Christchurch, may reportedly expect to pay £25,000 in transfer fees in future, up from £7,000 – an increase of more than 250%.

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