A tiny beach hut has gone on sale for £450,000 in a seaside property hotspot – despite lacking mains electricity.
Mudeford Spit in Christchurch Harbour, Dorset, has emerged as one of the most desirable addresses for buyers seeking out picturesque coastal locations.
And despite the current wintry conditions – including storms which have ravaged parts of the country in recent weeks – the current owners hope to cash in on potential buyers already looking ahead to the summer.
The property’s starting price of £450,000 amounts to the same value of a typical five-bedroom detached house in some parts of Britain.
And yet Hut 295 has no mains electricity nor heating and the new owners will have to share a communal shower block for washing and toilet facilities.
Cars are also banned from the remote sandy spit which can only be reached by a 20-minute walk, a ride on a land train or a short ferry crossing.
But its exclusive and isolated location has been touted as helping make Mudeford so desirable to wealthy ‘hutters’.
This hut newly put on sale can sleep six people overnight from March to October.
This beach hut on Mudeford Spit in Christchurch, Dorset, has gone on sale for £450,000
Hut 295 has no mains electricity nor heating and the new owners will have to share a communal shower block for washing and toilet facilities – yet offers picturesque views
The property is being advertised for sale by Dorset estate agents Denisons
Mudeford Spit in Christchurch Harbour, Dorset, has emerged as one of the most desirable addresses for buyers seeking out picturesque coastal locations
The village of Mudeford in Dorset is about eight miles east along the coast from Bournemouth
And unlike most of the other 350 huts at Mudeford, it has insulated walls and double-glazed doors and windows to take off the chill in the winter months.
The hut was only built two years ago and has a fully-equipped kitchen with an oven and hot running water powered by gas bottles, as well as a fridge freezer and kettle run on solar panelling.
The lounge area doubles as a bedroom at night, while there is a set of steps leading to the loft space which offers two more beds.
The home has double doors that open out to the beach and give 180-degree views of Christchurch Bay and the Isle of Wight in the distance.
On top of the sale price – which must be paid up in full as it is not possible to take out a mortgage on a beach hut – the new owners must also fork out £4,000 a year in fees to the local council.
The hut is located in the middle of the spit and close to the land train station.
It is being sold by local estate agents Denisons, whose founder Andy Denison said: ‘Now Christmas is out of the way people are starting to think about their summer plans.
‘In that respect, now is a great time to be buying a selling a beach hut.
Unlike many of the other 350 huts at Mudeford, Hut 295 has insulated walls and double-glazed doors and windows to take off the chill in the winter months
The home has double doors that open out to the beach and give 180-degree views of Christchurch Bay and the Isle of Wight in the distance
The hut was only built two years ago and has a fully-equipped kitchen with an oven and hot running water powered by gas bottles, plus a fridge freezer and kettle run on solar panelling
‘Unlike buying a house, the transaction process doesn’t drag on for weeks – as soon as the funds are transferred the new owners can take it over.
‘It can be used as a day hut in the winter and it is great for sitting inside on a chilly day watching the world go by.
‘The hut has been owned by the same family for quite a few years and they had a new one built just two years ago.’
The new offer comes as research revealed coastal beach hut owners have seen the value of such investments multiply by as much as 1,400 per cent in recent years.
Families are now sitting on property ‘goldmines’ which have shot up in value from £50 to at least £70,000 – with some in the South going on the market for approaching half a million pounds.
Other huts listed on the Denisons website carry starting prices of up to £485,000.
Alternatively, owners can earn a tidy second income by renting their beach huts out to tourists for £85 a day – or up to £2,000 a week in some areas.
Five sought-after timber huts in Mudeford Spit went on sale around the same time in 2023, at a combined cost of £2.1milion – with two offered for £450,000 apiece and the other three for £440,000, £430,000 and £395,000.
Beach huts have become an icon of the British coast and are so beloved by Brits that some are willing to fork out hundreds of thousands of pounds just to own one
Beach hut owners such as those on Mudeford Spit (pictured) in Dorset are said to have seen the value of such investments multiply by as much as 1,400 per cent in recent years
Estate agents said of newly available Hut 295: ‘It can be used as a day hut in the winter and it is great for sitting inside on a chilly day watching the world go by’
There are 360 huts at Mudeford and the prices for the desirable holiday boltholes have increased rapidly in the past 20 years due to demand far outstripping supply.
Back in 2002, huts there would sell for just £73,000 but the following year one broke the six-figure mark for the first time.
By 2014 they were being bought for as much as £270,000 and four years later they hit the £300,000 mark.
The Covid pandemic saw demand surge to a new high as the inability to travel abroad meant people were prepared to pay a premium for staycations – helping push prices further towards £500,000.
And the record for most expensive purchase was set when one went for £575,000 in September 2021.
The cheapest Mudeford Spit beach hut currently on sale through Denisons has a guide price of £395,000, while the most expensive is offered for £485,000 upwards.
And owners have been singing the praises of the place and the huts themselves, with Tim Baber among those insisting the hefty prices are worthwhile.
He said: ‘The new owners are buying in to a family friendly place – there hasn’t been an arrest there for years whereas there are arrests at Bournemouth beach every year.
Millionaire’s Row: The prices of the timber cabins on the Mudeford Sandbank in Christchurch Harbour, Dorset, now stand at up to £485,000
Cars are banned on the isolated sandbank, and it can only be reached by a 20-minute walk, a ride on a novelty land train or a short ferry trip across Christchurch Harbour
‘The rates are really high – £4,500 and increasing – but there are people that will pay them.
‘I sold mine in 2005 for £120,000, when we thought prices couldn’t possibly go any higher and now they’re up to £400,000, which is absolutely bonkers.
‘The thing is, it is worth it. The memories you make there will last all your life.’
And Stephen Bath, who has owned a hut at Mudeford for many years, said: ‘The appeal of Mudeford is the island feeling – you can only get there by boat or a long walk so it’s like you are in a different world, away from it all.
‘There’s also the social aspect – there is a slight commune feel to it, you get to know your neighbours well because they aren’t on the other side of a fence or wall and you are all pretty happy there. It’s like an exclusive club.
‘I think there is also that feeling that you don’t really own one, merely look after it for the next generation – like the Patek Philippe watch advert.
‘A lot of people who have inherited them don’t feel they can cash it in as they owe it to pass it on to their children and grandchildren to treasure as much as they do.
‘People who have been brought up on Mudeford beach as children remember it as the most magical place in their lives.
‘For £400,000 you could buy a 60ft Sunseeker in pretty new condition with its own toilet, shower, main bedroom – that is an extravagant asset, but a beach hut at Mudeford is a way of life.’
One Mudeford beach hut sold for £485,000 last September within just 24 hours of being put up for grabs.
Hut 303’s selling points included its enviable position at the end of a row, having front and rear sea views and being above-average in size.
MailOnline has contacted Denisons for further comment.
