4 days ago
Dig this! Tiny beach hut buried deep into sand dune will set you back £150,000 - and you can't sleep there overnight
A tiny beach hut buried deep into a sand dune has been listed for an eye-watering £150,000 despite its new owners being unable to sleep there overnight.
The beach-side shelter is smaller than a standard parking space at just 10ft by 8ft and stands on stilts driven into the sand on Abersoch beach in North Wales.
With no running water, gas or electricity, the hut has no furniture inside and is surrounded by sand, with sturdy sleepers to the rear preventing it from being swallowed up entirely.
There are also no steps up to the tiny 'garden shed' meaning that the new owners will be forced to trudge up the sandbank in order to get to it after having a sea dip.
And sleepovers are also banned, meaning that its owners will be restricted to simply daytime use.
It does, however, offer stunning views of the seascape on the sandbanks, alongside the picturesque Cardigan Bay.
Described in the listing as offering 'beautiful panoramic views across the bay towards St Tudwals Islands and Machroes Beach', estate agents Beresford Adams, who are managing the sale, described it as a 'fantastic opportunity' for buyers.
They added: 'This is a modern constructed hut built some four years ago lying about 200 yards towards the Yacht club end of the beach from Footprints Cafe down Golf Road.
There are also no steps up to the tiny 'garden shed' meaning that the new owners will be forced to trudge up the sandbank in order to get to it after having a sea dip. It does, however, offer stunning views of the seascape on the sandbanks, alongside the picturesque Cardigan Bay
'The hut lies along the sand dunes just slightly set back from the front line huts, enjoying magnificent views across Cardigan Bay to the Moorings and the St Tudwals Islands.'
Alongside the asking price of £150,000 the new owners will have to pay £450 a year in rates to the local council.
While seemingly expensive, the cost appears to be just £8,000 less than the average cost of a terraced home in Gwynedd, according to figures by the Office of National Statistics.
Meanwhile, in 2023 a 8m by 3m hut long the same stretch of beach sold for £250k, valued at £50,000 more than the average house price in the country while also exceeding the average price for entirety of Wales.
The plot the small shack resides on has been owned by the same family for generations. It has been listed by the current owners, who have had it for 40 years, as they use it a limited amount.
Martin Lewthwaite, of Beresford Adams, described Aberscoch as an 'affluent area' comprising of several holiday homes by residents from Manchester and across Cheshire.
Its frequent visitors include the likes of Coleen Rooney who in October 2023 posted several pictures of both her and her children with the caption: 'Always the best time in Abersoch'.
Mr Lewthwaite added: 'There are about 150 huts on the beach and they are a bit like garden sheds.. You can't stay overnight in them so they are for storage really.
The plot the small shack resides on has been owned by the same family for generations. It has been listed by the current owners, who have had it for 40 years, as they use it a limited amount
'They are very accessible by car and this hut is about 200 yards from the car park.
'This hut is set back from the beach and built on stilts into the dunes.
'There are big sleepers behind it to keep the weight of sand back but with strong winds the sand can gather around the sides.
The hut was only built four years ago and comes with a timber balcony to the front.'
In May, a tiny patch of sand nestled between beach huts on Porth Mawr in Abersoch went on sale for £100,000, the price of a flat or even a small house in parts of the country.
The location had previously housed a wooden shack too but this was damaged in storms and pulled down by the owner.
Planning permission has been secured from Cyngor Gwynedd for a new beach hut despite it being branded an 'overdevelopment' by Llanengan Community Council.
The piece of land is on the market with Elvins Estate Agents who say it 'beautiful panoramic views across the bay towards St Tudwals Islands and Machroes Beach'.
In May, a tiny patch of sand nestled between beach huts on Porth Mawr in Abersoch went on sale for £100,000, the price of a flat or even a small house in parts of the country
They said: 'An exciting opportunity to acquire a beach hut plot on Abersoch main beach with planning permission to build a new hut.
'Benefit from owning your own part of Abersoch beach with the convenience of storage and shelter at the waters edge. Beautiful panoramic views across the bay towards St Tudwals Islands and Machroes Beach.'
Meanwhile just last year, one of Britain's most expensive beach huts sold for £485,000. The turquoise-coloured shed on Mudeford Sandbank in Christchurch, Dorset, measured just 215 sq ft.
This means the hut was worth £2,255.81 per sq ft. A square inch in the hut cost £15.60.
The average price in London's most expensive area, Knightsbridge, is £1,557 per sq ft, according to HM Land Registry.
The UK average is £300 per sq ft, meaning the Mudeford beach hut is 651 per cent more expensive than the average British home.
The beach hut's per-foot volume even beats the average in expensive cities globally, including Manhattan and Hong Kong. Per sq ft, the Dorset beach hut is worth almost double the Manhattan average of £1,100 and is more expensive than the Hong Kong average of £1,612.
'This is where it starts to become bonkers', says Marc von Grundherr, at London estate agent Benham & Reeves. 'We're talking about some of the most expensive property in the world.'
Increased demand for beach huts in areas such as Abersoch (pictured) is understood to be driving up the extortionate prices of the hut. In 2024 alone, the price of beach huts increased by 7.9 per cent
While it has the benefit of direct sea access, the hut's new owners will not have running water or gas in the huts.
'Beach huts are just wooden sheds, which wouldn't cost more than £2,000 or £3,000 to build,' says Bob May, of May's real estate agency in West Sussex. 'It's the location that gives it value.'
Increased demand is understood to be driving up the extortionate prices of the hut. In 2024 alone, the price of beach huts increased by 7.9 per cent.
The year before that the average price rose by 37.1 per cent, according to property firm eXp UK. By contrast, house prices saw an average 4.7 per cent rise last year.
Describing the huts as 'quintessentially English', Von Grundherr added that they often have 'long-term value because people want to own something by the sea'.
