A beach hut with no seaview, toilet, running water or mains electricity has been put on the market for a mind-boggling £480,000.
The green timber chalet is one of 360 colourful huts on the Mudeford sandbank in Christchurch, Dorset, which is home to Britain’s most expensive beach huts.
The owners have passed it down through several generations after buying it for a mere £400 in the 1950s but have now decided to sell it for 1,200 times what they paid for it.
Over the past 25 years the value of the 16ft by 13ft huts on the remote sandbank have skyrocketed in value – despite owners only being able to sleep in them for seven months of the year.
Hut 106 of 360 on Mudeford sandbank in Christchurch, Dorset is on the market for £480,000
Hut 106 can sleep up to eight people, has lighting and a fridge freezer powered by solar panels on the roof, a Calor gas cooker and a camping toilet
It doesn’t have the sea view that others on the sandbank have but it does overlook Christchurch harbour
Hut 106 comes with a council licence fee of £3,000 a year. The sellers will also have to pay a £25,000 transfer fee to the council
The Mudeford sandbank is so highly sought after because the demand far outweighs the supply.
The isolated location is appealing to people who want to escape the hustle and bustle of their regular lives in towns and cities.
Cars are banned from the strip of land and the only way to reach it is by a 20-minute walk, a short ferry trip or a novelty land train ride.
The huts have no running water or mains electricity, and toilets and washing facilities are in a communal block.
The Mudeford sandbank is so highly sought after because the demand far outweighs the supply
Cars are banned from the strip of land and the only way to reach it is by a 20-minute walk, a short ferry trip or a novelty land train ride
The view of Christchurch harbour from the £480,000 hut
Hut 106 can sleep up to eight people, has lighting and a fridge freezer powered by solar panels on the roof, a Calor gas cooker and a camping toilet.
It doesn’t have the sea view that others on the sandbank have but it does overlook Christchurch harbour.
Andy Denison, from Denisons estate agents, said: ‘This is a good-sized hut that fronts onto the harbour with a westerly aspect so you get the sunsets.
‘It’s a great spot to sit and watch the world go by, the boats going in and out of the harbour.
‘The harbour-side is also great for small children because you can keep an eye on them playing on the foreshore and if you’re into paddleboarding or windsurfing you can keep your equipment right in front of you and its more protected from the sea.
‘There are people who don’t think badly to paying £400,000 for a beach hut. The market has levelled since the times of Covid and staycations but people still like that lifestyle you get there.’
In 2002 beach huts at Mudeford sold for £73,000 but the following year one broke the six-figure mark for the first time. By 2014 they were selling for as much as £270,000 and four years later they hit the £300,000 mark.
The record price paid for one was £575,000 in September 2021, off the back of the Covid pandemic and the rise in staycationers.
The land the huts are on is owned by BCP Council and ‘hutters’ pay for the right to have a hut on a plot.
Hut 106 comes with a council licence fee of £3,000 a year. The sellers will also have to pay a £25,000 transfer fee to the council.