British beach huts - 20th August 2021

Beach huts add a drop of colour to the British seaside. On sunny days, folks gather outside to enjoy sea views. When the weather is foul, there’s no better place to be but inside with a drink.

Chairperson of a beach hut owners’ association, Melanie Whitehead shows us round her beach hut.

Melanie Whitehead: "This is my beach hut. It’s a fairly standard beach hut. Most huts have a cooker for making the all important cup of tea. It comes into its own when it’s a horrible day because obviously I can put windows in, I’ve got spare jumpers and things. And I can, yep, snuggle in here, look at the view and forget about the world really."

Melanie believes Covid-19 has impacted the cost of beach huts. More people have been opting for staycations. Beach huts now fetch almost £40,000 whereas ten years ago, they cost just a quarter of that amount.

Melanie Whitehead: "So, the pandemic, this really is very unusual. I mean, we almost saw prices increasing, you know, week on week."

Sarah Stimson makes a living renting out beach huts. She offers holidaymakers an opportunity to experience this seaside tradition without having to break the bank. In her view, the cost could be attributed to something else.

Sarah Stimson : "But there is also an element that lots of people have beach huts in their families and then never sell them. So, the availability of beach huts is actually quite small. There’s much, much more demand than there is in terms of availability."

Sarah explains that these colourful, little dens by the sea are quite appealing. This could stem in part from fond memories of a childhood toy.

Sarah Stimson: "It’s a bit like having a grown-up Wendy house on the beach, isn’t it? So I think grown-ups quite like it for that reason."