(1888PressRelease)
August 11, 2007 - For the investor that is looking for a less traditional acquisition, few things could be more appropriate than a beach hut. These are available in all shapes and sizes, but usually have a few things in common. Aside from being located on or near beaches - as of course the name would suggest - they are also often made of wood or bamboo and lacking in basic facilities.
In fact, beach huts often represent nothing more than a bare room fronting on to a beach somewhere. Despite this, they often go for huge money. Even in the UK, where the weather would suggest we are more in need of igloos than beach huts he prices fetched are sometimes phenomenal.
In recent years, a hut on the beach near the popular town of Abersoch on the Llyn Peninsula in Wales went for £28,000. This is impressive enough, but when it is taken into consideration that the hut measured 8 feet by 8 feet and had no electricity or running water, it is clear that there is more to these huts than meets the eye.
For one thing, the sale above is not an isolated example. The BBC has reported several such sales since then. Two timber "huts" on Southwold seafront in Suffolk went for around £45,000 and £35,000 each, while a Dorset beach hut went on the market for £73,000. Last month, another Dorset beach hut - this one constructed out of brick but still with the dimensions of a large garden shed, went for… £95,000.
According to Barry Sprules, owner of BeachHutWorld.com, there are "a number of freehold and leasehold beach huts around the UK" which "attract huge premiums". However, he was keen to point out that most beach hut sales are a transfer of rights, rather than a transfer of freehold or leasehold.
"Over ninety per cent of them, I would suggest, are actually subject to an annual license … although they will go up in price," he explained. Not all beach huts come with a huge price tag. According to Mr Sprules, price "varies enormously".
"On the East coast, for instance, you've got Southwold where they are fifty, sixty thousand, and then you can go down to somewhere like Holland-on-Sea where actually there you can get a beach hut for about £5,000. But if you just go north of there, to Frinton-on-Sea, they can be double that."
"So it's kind of down to]location - and it depends on the popularity and the availability of the hut - some places there aren't many huts at all."
###
