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Beach huts

(28 Posts)
CanadianGran Fri 30-Apr-21 21:41:06

I'm curious about beach huts. We don't have them here so I am not familiar with them, but have seen so many quaint photos on instagram, etc.

What sort of amenities do they have, and who owns them? How are you allowed to put one on a beach?
plumbing (toilets)?
electricity /heating/small fridge?
can you stay overnight in them?

They look marvelous.

Tizliz Fri 30-Apr-21 21:44:21

No plumbing, no electricity and no over nighting. Always on the beach. Remember using one when I was a child, perhaps rented for the summer.

greenlady102 Fri 30-Apr-21 21:45:34

1. you aren't, you buy or rent existing ones
2. Nope, usually public ones nearby
2 very rare indeed, people use calor gas if its allowed
4 again very rare.

Shandy57 Fri 30-Apr-21 21:47:51

They are different in different counties, but in the main, just a pretty wooden shed.

My friend in Wells, in Norfolk, has a double decker beach hut and had it valued at £68,000 a few years ago.

Kamiso Fri 30-Apr-21 22:05:35

They vary and have become very trendy. Mr Murrel used to rent them out, along with deck chairs, presumably on some kind of contract with the East Sussex local council.

Some people would rent them for the whole summer, some for weeks or days. My older brother used to help set things up and collect money etc. then put the deckchairs back under cover. Mr Murrel also had a concession to sell ice cream etc.

Kamiso Fri 30-Apr-21 22:08:25

Mr Murrel were more like heavy duty tents than sheds. Sleeping in them was strictly forbidden!

MerylStreep Fri 30-Apr-21 22:15:24

My brother in law owns one. My daughter and family hire one for for a couple of weeks in the summer holidays. That’s good for us because we live near the beach huts so we can just pop down when we want and swim with the family. We often stay late in the evening.

BigBertha1 Fri 30-Apr-21 22:16:40

My husbands family had one in the 80s at Holland on sea price £60 per year. Lots of family fun heaven knows how much it would cost now. My MIL used to cook a full Sunday roast in there every summer sunday

Ellianne Fri 30-Apr-21 22:18:21

On our beach you rent the plot but own the beach hut. You have to take it down at the end of the season which means you have no rights over the plot.
People were putting their huts up this week on the beach. I saw someone moving in a kind of dresser wardrobe.

CanadianGran Fri 30-Apr-21 22:20:45

Hmmm, so basically a shed that you store beach chairs and cooler? Does it at least give you the rights to sit on the beach in front of it and not compete for space on a busy beach?

Shandy, if they are rented, how can it be valued as an asset?

I'm not understanding the appeal if you can't use toilet, cook or sleep in it.

Shandy57 Fri 30-Apr-21 22:24:34

My friend owns her beach hut CanadianGran, and doesn't rent it out. She bought it over thirty years ago as a basic shed and improved it over the years, building it up so it has a staircase to the first floor. She also had a bed in the roof, and her son occasionally slept there, strictly against the rules smile She let us use it once. It was marvellous being upstairs, cooking sausages on the little stove, my children thought it was magical. All the dogs looked up!

BlueBelle Fri 30-Apr-21 22:27:27

When my grandkids came to live in my town they’ve were 4 and 6 so I put my name on the waiting list for a beach hut to save taking all the paraphernalia backwards and forwards each time we visited the beach and to have somewhere to change in etc etc
Roll on 14 years and last year just as they are getting ready to leave home I was at last offered a beach hut and although
they re no longer interested in the beach .... I love it
You can buy your own and just rent the space you keep it on, or like me rent it annually and it stays in situ
It’s not only brilliant for keeping chairs, picnic table, coffee mugs, kettle etc etc but you make friends with other beach hut renters and it’s just lovely to be there with out carrying a days clutter with you

M0nica Fri 30-Apr-21 22:37:29

Most beach huts are permanent, they do not need to be removed in the winter.

They are usually at the top of the beach, in fact I haven't ever seen any that weren't, they would be in too much danger from high tides. Here is a link to a specification for a beach hut, presumably privately owned, for Tendring, a place on the Essex coast www.tendringdc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Standard%20Beach%20Hut%20Specification.pdf

MerylStreep Fri 30-Apr-21 22:46:30

Canadiangran
This is the the type that my daughter hires. A bit more than a shed. www.facebook.com/buttercupbeachhuthirethorpebay

CanadianGran Fri 30-Apr-21 22:47:47

Ah, I do understand. Yes, going to the beach with a family does involve a lot of equipment and having a handy spot would be nice. I guess also getting out of the sun for some, and a spot for little ones to nap.

Can you rent them by the day or week?

Shandy57 Fri 30-Apr-21 22:52:21

The best bit about a beach hut is having privacy for changing in/out of swimwear. As far as I know you can rent them for the day or week, does depend on area.

BlueBelle Fri 30-Apr-21 23:17:38

canadagran in my town a certain number of huts are kept for weekly, fortnightly, or monthly rental Not heard of daily though

CanadianGran Fri 30-Apr-21 23:51:27

Thanks - curiosity sated.

Any questions about ice fishing huts - just ask! Kidding - never actually have been in one or experienced ice fishing, although it is very popular.

Whitewavemark2 Sat 01-May-21 03:17:42

Saw ice fishing on Fraser.

Looked cold? couldn’t see the attraction really.

Ashcombe Sat 01-May-21 05:48:40

I spent a year in Michigan in the early seventies, when I was first married to my first husband and we saw ice huts in use by fishermen on the smaller lakes there. In the depths of Winter the ice is so thick that cars could be driven on to it! But with caution..... we saw one with its front end wedged in the ice!

BlueBelle Sat 01-May-21 06:45:38

Just to add I ve just seen an advert by our council and yes day rental is a thing, you live and learn

J52 Sat 01-May-21 06:59:52

CanadianGran beach huts are a bit like the fishing huts that we saw at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. Only smaller and brightly coloured. They originated in the mid 1800s and were on wheels. They were taken into the sea so that ladies could change into bathing costume and take a dip in the sea, in complete privacy.

Dorsetcupcake61 Sat 01-May-21 07:14:57

I live on South Coast in Dorset. Some people buy them,and the ones in pretty little areas can cost as much as a flat.! Still cant sleep in them though. You can rent them throughout the year and it used to be quite reasonable. When a friends sons were younger they used to rent one for three weeks during the summer holidays and have a lovely time learning about nature and of course playing in sea and on beach.
When I was a carer for my Dad the local council gave us 3 free days a year at a council owned one. It was beautifully situated with wheelchair access and with a disabled toilet minutes away. It came fully equipped with chairs,tables,cutlery,a kettle etc. We just took a tasty picnic. Dad loved it,such happy memories?

Oopsadaisy1 Sat 01-May-21 07:32:27

We often rented one for the day when we used to go down to our favourite beach, right next to a cafe and shop, just along the quay the children catch crabs, but the huts are prone to having shingle flung against them during the Winter and a couple of years ago there was a very bad storm and lots of them were flooded. Some are privately owned and some are rented out by the council, they contain 2 deckchairs and a dustpan and brush! But there is a built in table and some coat hooks.
Just across the spit there are some amazingly expensive ‘beach huts’ that go for approx £145,000.but they have basic plumbing and beds, so you can stay in them for a proper holiday.
We enquired about renting one for the Summer, but you have to queue in January, not sure what happened this year though, however we are getting a bit too old to keep driving 2 hours each way just for the day.
I’m sure that dorsetcupcake knows where I’m talking about.

TerriBull Sat 01-May-21 18:54:25

I love them, they have some beautiful ones in Bournemouth, in an array of pastel shades, (if I remember rightly) fronting on to the beach.

When I was a child my maternal grandparents moved down to the Sussex coast and they had friends who had a beach hut who often lent it to them. I spent many happy hours with grandparents, me playing house in beach hut imagining myself living in it. Tiny without any amenities, although I think I remember my grandparents having cups of tea in it, just how they produced those I have no idea, it all went over my head. I do believe many come well equipped these days and can change hands for a considerable amount of money shock