Sandbanks in Dorset is home to Harry Redknapp, Jamie Redknapp and Rick Stein, among other famous faces drawn by its beautiful Jurassic coastline, long sandy beaches and unique architecture.
Redknapp’s art-deco seafront home is worth a whopping £12,000,000 – but the high property prices don’t stop at brick and mortar builds in this UK seaside town – often dubbed one of the poshest in Britain.
A traditional-looking wooden beach hut on Mudeford Sandbank, covering 20m², has been sold by Denisons Estate Agents for an eyewatering £485,000 – and other, similar huts have been snapped up for around the same price, with two on the stretch of Dorset coast selling for above £400,000 earlier this year.
This hut does have more to offer than meets the eye, with its two-storey build, solar panel and inside toilet perhaps the reason why it was sold within 24 hours of going on the market. The majority of its counterparts don’t have running water, a toilet, or gas, after all.
While its pricetag might not seem quite so unreasonable given that homes in Sandbanks average £2,079,063 over the last 12 months, the modest hut is, shockingly, more expensive than a four-bedroom home in nearby Christchurch, which set buyers back around £450,024 last year.
In its defence, the £485k beach hut can sleep between six and eight people, according to Denisons, though how this would work logistically with one bed and minimal sofa space is left to the imagination.
And there’s another major catch – owners are only allowed to sleep in their beach huts for half the year and must provide Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council with a license if they want to stay over between March 1 and October 31.
Jamie Smith, 38, has been documenting the huts and says prices have skyrocketed since he moved to the area five years ago.
“They are just sheds, let’s be honest!” he said.
“The reason they are so popular is because of their location. Since I’ve lived here, the first sale was around £300k which I thought was ludicrous and they’ve just shot up.
“From what I’ve learned, this is one of the most expensive places to buy beach huts. They look all right on the inside but there’s always bits of paint missing and you have the saltwater, sea air and the wind.
“For these prices, you could get a lovely house in the Bournemouth and Poole area.”
The 38-year-old did, however, suggest that the wooden builts could be a good long-term investment if marketed as quirky Airbnbs.