That's unusual:Beach huts are the ultimate seaside property

Fancy a bit of sand between your toes this summer? The traditional English beach hut can be cheap, charming and buckets of fun 

Sunshine, long weekends, picnics and sand between our toes - yes, the quintessential English holiday season is on us again. And so is the traditional beach hut story. But whereas the papers concentrate on the high cost of huts in a few parts of the country, the reality is that in most places they are cheap, charming and enormous fun.
“Mine has been in my family for three generations and I intend to pass it on to my children and theirs” says Sylvia Jones, who lives in Cardiff but has her hut at Dunster Beach, Somerset. “There is no way we could afford a second home but this is a low-cost way of having a retreat with the best sea view in the world. We come down on bright days during the winter, then stay overnight for weekends in the spring and summer. Lovely.”
Of course you can pay the earth. Back in 2001 artist Tracey Emin sold hers in Kent to advertising guru Charles Saatchi for £75,000 and at Mudeford Spit in Dorset some have changed hands for over £100,000. With celebrities like Suggs from Madness and the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards having huts, ownership may carry a certain cache.

Yet beach huts began as simple changing rooms on beach edges where nothing else could be built and even today plenty are, in the best sense of the word, cheap. Scour the internet for private sales or try seaside estate agents (Pittis on the Isle of Wight is selling one on Appoley Beach for £14,000.
Whatever your budget, follow these tips:
• Check local council 'occupation rules'. Some forbid overnight stays;
• Some huts have covenants that prohibit letting, although this is rare;
• Find out management fees and costs of security measures like CCTV, security lighting, or occasional security guard visits;
• If you cannot visit frequently, hire a 'carer' - they exist in most resorts and will do a weekly check for a nominal fee.
Annual costs include council tax or commercial rates, repainting and weather-protection. Insurance is about £100 per year and annual council licences are £125 to £1,500. You may also have to pay 20 per cent of your rental income to a lettings agent if you hire one.
 Have fun - and remember the sun tan lotion.

Five minutes of fame: Is Anglesey having a royal resurgence?

William and Kate have put The Isle of Anglesey on the property map by making it their post-wedding home. Nikki Sheehan investigates what this means for house hunters 

 

Fancy rubbing shoulders, or even fighting over the last steak in Waitrose with the nation’s favourite couple? Then move to Anglesey.
It may be home to the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, but this little gem, situated just across the Menai Strait from North Wales, with 125 miles of rugged coastline, and beaches to die for, is definitely not just for the ruling classes.
The couple reportedly pay £750 a month to rent their isolated four-bed farmhouse near William’s RAF Valley base. But if you want to buy, prices start at about £60,000 for a Victorian terrace.
"The island has always been popular, but this has really put it on the map," says Chris Dibb, sales director at Fine & Country.
"People are phoning and enquiring about the villages on the west coast, Trearddur Bay, Rhosneigr, and Rhoscolyn, because of the press coverages.
East of the island 
But for those with deeper pockets, the Menai Strait, to the east, is perennially fashionable. "We’ve got a succession of million-pound properties along there, a lot of them at the water’s edge.
"The town of Beaumaris is very historic, and very trendy. There’s the Royal Anglesey Yacht club and golf courses. And Menai Bridge is a lovely town. If you’re lucky you might bump into Kate in the Waitrose there."
If you can’t stretch to the Menai Strait Dibb suggests searching on the east coast.
Beautiful beach 
"Pentraeth has a beautiful beach. There are good pubs and some nice individual shops. We’re selling the Old Smithy there which overlooks Red Wharf Bay for £365k."

With a gulfstream-warmed climate, good surfing, and even locally-produced cheese, chocolate and wine, the attractions of Anglesey are obvious.
But do you need to speak Welsh? Kate Middleton singing the Welsh national anthem endeared her to locals, "but it’s not absolutely necessary", says Dibb. "Anglesey’s actually very cosmopolitan."

Britain’s most persistent first-time buyers: Loretta Carr

Loretta Carr went the extra mile – all 100 of them – after she and her partner decided to live far apart for three years so they could live with parents and save up a deposit for their first home

The course of true love rarely runs smooth and so it was for Loretta Carr and her partner Andrew Lobo. After both graduating from the University of Southampton the couple took the difficult decision to live 100 miles apart while they saved for their first home.

Carr moved in with her parents in Essex and Lobo moved to Gloucestershire where his family is from. “It was really difficult living apart for three years and having to travel back and forth, but we both knew it would be worth it, if we could save money to get our foot on the property ladder together.”

The 27-year-olds had long dreamed of living in their own home, but were concerned that rising prices would keep them in rented accommodation. “We didn’t want to rent, that was key,” Carr says. “We wanted to own our home because of what happened with all the property prices going up from 2002 onwards until the peak. We were just really mindful that if something happened again like that then we would never be able to get on the property ladder.”

Their foresight and sacrifice eventually paid off and the two recently moved into a two-bedroom two-storey home in the Grade II listed The Galleries development in Brentwood, Essex. “It’s an old Victorian mental home that’s been converted into flats and houses,” Carr says. “We both really like period features and because it’s an old conversion it’s got lots of Victorian character.”
“We have our own patio terrace that looks over a communal  garden, separate kitchen and a parking space too.”

The mid terrace home cost £330,000, which, Carr, says was at the top of their budget and actually wasn’t even in an area they were originally considering. The couple had already looked at, and made offers on, a few other non-new build properties, but had been gazumped twice and also had a bad survey result on one of the properties, which required renovations of at least £30,000.

Carr says the new build property appealed because of its pristine condition and the willingness of the developer, City & Country Group, to sell – they exchanged and completed in three weeks. “Our white goods and a fully fitted kitchen were all included and that saved us quite a lot of money. We also got a ten-year guarantee on anything that went wrong or needed to be touched up. It made good financial sense.”

Property exhibition to be launched by TV star

FindaProperty.com is co-sponsoring the new Homes and Property Show and Channel 4 TV presenter Jonnie Irwin is to open - and speak at - the two-day event, which is from September 10-11th in Loughborough, East Midlands.

Many view the East Midlands as the economic and manufacturing backbone of the British Isles, a region that takes large bites out of six counties including Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire as well as several of what were – and many cases remain – the UK’s engineering flagship cities.

So whether you are a local well acquainted with the region’s allures and want to move up the ladder or are considering a move there, we suggest you drop in to the East Midlands Homes & Property Show for some home moving ideas.

FindaProperty.com, in partnership with three of its leading local newspapers, is co-sponsoring the event which will take place at Loughborough University on the weekend of Saturday September 10^th (10am – 5pm) and 11^th 2011 (10am – 3pm) and on hand will be some of East Midlands’ leading property experts.

Free advice
They will be able to help you regardless of your budget or needs – so you will find estate agents, lettings agents, mortgage and legal experts, housing associations, interiors and home moving specialists and housing developers too.

But the star of the show will be Jonnie Irwin, presenter on Channel 4 TV’s A Place in the Sun: Home or Away  (he does the home bit) who is also a qualified surveyor and will be offering his advice about (and experience in) property.

Other experts will be on hand to offer advice too including FindaProperty.com property analyst Nigel Lewis so, whether you’re battling to get on the property ladder or just want to find out what the East Midlands property market has to offer, why not come along?

Entry if free as is the parking and there will be a cafe as well as a ‘family fun’ area to keep kids busy while you talk property – plus the show is hosting a mini-auction of 20 properties from around the region.

Where will it be?The East Midlands Homes U& Property Show is taking place at the Sir David Wallace Sport Hall within the Loughborough University campus. Download a map  of the campus or, for more information, call 0116 2616867.