Dorset beach hut with no bathroom on sale for £350,000

The hut sleeps up to six people, but there are no beds

Beach huts along the Mudeford sandbanks (Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock)

A beach hut with no bathroom and a limited electricity supply is on sale for almost £100,000 more than the average price of a house in England.

The £350,000 hut, situated along the Mudeford sandbanks in Christchurch, Dorset, promises its new owner “far-reaching views” of the Isle of Wight.

Set over two floors, it comes equipped with a small kitchen and can sleep up to six people. However, it does not have any beds.

Rather, it has four mattresses on the first-floor mezzanine and a day bed on the ground floor. Additional seating downstairs also doubles up as a sleeping space.

Despite its steep asking price – the average cost of a house in the UK is £255,000, as per the Office of National Statistics – the hut does not have a bathroom or a mains electricity supply.

According to the property listing by Denisons Estate Agents, the hut comes with solar panels to provide electricity and a water pump for the kitchen sink.

“Opening onto the beach the southeasterly aspect has far-reaching views to the Isle of Wight and Needles,” the listing added.

It is not the first time a Mudeford-based beach hut has gone on the market for a price above £300,000.

In February, a different hut that does not even have a sea view was listed for £325,000. The hut, which has since been sold, is located towards the rear of the beach and looks out over a lagoon.

One owner of a beach hut on the Mudeford sandbank told Metro that the high prices could be attributed to the limited number of huts available at the location.

“There have only been about 10 huts added to the spit in 60 years, so it is a question of supply, compared to Bournemouth where there are 1,500 huts and Brighton where there are 2,000,” owner Steven Bath said.

“These are enormous huts with amenities which you can live in for eight months of the year, and it is a beautiful, peaceful location with the sea on one side and the harbour on another.”

The sandbank also makes for a peaceful holiday home, as it is not accessible by car. Those visiting the beach must either walk 30 minutes from the nearest car park, take a short ferry across the Christchurch Harbour, or arrive by a local land train service.

Research published by the think tank Resolution Foundation in May, found that house prices in the least-densely populated areas of the UK had risen almost twice as much as prices in big cities.

Researchers said the cause of the change was a so-called “urban-flight”, in which people are opting to leave crowded areas in favour of more rural locations.

Cara Pacitti, an economist at the foundation, said a year of lockdowns and social restrictions has fuelled a desire for space, access to gardens and less crowding.

“House prices have risen throughout the UK during the pandemic, but prices in less densely populated areas have seen much bigger increases than those in dense urban areas. This suggests that workers are choosing to move away from crowded cities, and into more rural areas,” Pacitti said.

She added: “It’s too early to say whether this move away from cities will be a long-term trend. But for many families, escaping to the country is no more than a pipe dream, and the overcrowding that they have faced during the pandemic must be addressed.”