Why my £500k beach hut shouldn’t be slapped with an extra £750-a-year second home tax
“Hold on tight,” warns Stephen Bath as he slowly opens the throttle of his blue-and-white speedboat to send us gliding across the calm waters of Christchurch Harbour.
It’s a cold, foggy January morning, but a postcard view of dozens of colorful wooden beach huts perched on the sandy headland ahead quickly emerges.
This rapid arrival of sailors may seem unusual for a news job. But nothing is quite ordinary at Mudeford Sandbank, where cottages measuring just 150 square meters are for sale for up to £575,000.
Unlike other coastal spots with beach huts in the UK, here on the Dorset coast, on the edge of the sprawling Bournemouth Bay, the isolation and surrounding water views create a remote village-like community.
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The appearance of the huts varies greatly. Others are luxurious compared to some discolored, the wood clearly rotten; It’s outfitted with solar panels, new felt roofs and modern interiors worthy of a Chelsea loft.
And thanks in part to a Covid wave of seaside sun seekers, their appeal has seen prices soar from just a few thousand pounds in the 1980s to more than half a million pounds today.
But all is not well.
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“It’s so unfair that we’re being targeted,” says Mr Bath, on news that the cash-strapped local council is pushing ahead with plans to collect the full second home council tax from beach hut owners.
The professional photographer, whose family has owned beach huts since 1964, along with his 343 “cottage” friends, had been enjoying a 50 per cent tax break for years, but with Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch Council under financial pressure, bosses decided to take action. According to the 2025/26 tariffs, this means that council tax on cottages will increase from: £752 to £1,503 per year.
Councilor Mike Cox said: “This change provides fairness and consistency for all second homeowners in the area.”
But beach hut owners, who had no mains electricity or water connections and were unable to stay on their properties for four months from November to February, say the move is a step too far.
They claim they are already victims of increased license fees charged by the council to rent the area where the cottages are located, currently £3,400 a year but expected to rise next year.
Standing at the door of his £500,000 cottage, Mr Bath said: “This is very disappointing, we have paid for half the cottage since 1997. [second home] council tax as there is no electricity or toilets. It’s just a hut on the beach. And that seemed fair enough for the last 30 years, but now the council has put it at the same value as a one-bedroom house. “This is just an unfair money grab by a desperate council.”
Mr Bath’s cottage cost him £3,000 in 1982 before it was rebuilt at a cost of £8,500. Inside, there is a small kitchen with a sink and taps connected to a water tank and a solar panel-powered kettle. The kitchen opens into a living room with old family pictures at the beach on the walls. Above a wooden stairwell is a small second floor with two mattresses, enough to sleep six people.
“Many of us have stayed here as a family for generations and it is our second home,” Mr. Bath says. “Plain and simple, this is a cash grab by the council and will affect those like us who can’t afford the £100 a week rate and council tax. I think it’s clear we’ll see more people selling.”
Most of the 344 huts are laid out in regular lines along the beachfront, but some appear to be scattered in disarray, with almost every spot taken up by 15ft by 10ft buildings. However, despite concentration, it does not feel cramped. Not on a non-busy day in January anyway.
The huts are divided by a series of communal brick toilet blocks and tap facilities. At the heart of the community is a cafe that, despite being partially burnt down six years ago, still maintains its sheltered view. The service is a food van selling cans of beer from £5 and prawns and chips from £13.
Access to the sand strip is a 20-minute walk from the nearest car park or by ferry from Mudeford on the other side of Mudeford Quays.
For sale signs can be seen in the windows of nine cottages. Hayley Reynolds is selling a sea-facing cottage with solar panels and a tank for running water for £430,000. His parents bought the house for £4,000 in 1986, but a life-changing accident involving his brother left them needing cash for a home conversion.
But with the cottage on the market for more than a year, the 55-year-old, who lives in Oxfordshire, fears the council tax increase will only push interest rates back. His family will be faced with paying the bills unless the cottage is sold.
“The council realized there was wealth they could achieve,” he says. “But not everyone is in the same situation; some of us are very lucky to have a cottage and can no longer afford to buy one. The extra tax will only make it harder to sell and we want to rent the cottage to pay the extra bills.”
Mudeford Sandbanks Beach Cottage Association members opposed the council tax increase and also pointed out the state of the toilets. They also say they spend money on maintaining the huts, which increases their beauty for visitors.
But the local council, which claims around a third of the cottages are owned by residents, points out that they are being sold for more than the £313,000 average house price for a local authority home.
Councilor Cox said: “We recognize that this change may be disappointing for some property owners, but it is important that council tax policy is applied consistently and fairly across the council area.”
He added: “The council, like all local authorities in England, is facing an unprecedented, ongoing financial crisis and the latest government deal does not solve this problem. As a result of this serious financial pressure, the council is having to use all the tools at its disposal to raise funds to protect essential services that are important to our residents.”
