Shock for beach hut owners

BEACH hut owners can no longer cash in on the market demand.

Huts which are effectively no more than garden sheds have been selling for upwards of 5000.

Now Rother council has tightened its conditions to stop this trade spiralling and put the value back in their control.

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The huts affected are mainly along De La Warr Parade where the council issues yearly licences for "cabins" to be placed on designated sites.

The move was made earlier this year but has caused confusion among beach hut owners who claim they were not aware of the new rules.

And this week an owner admitted to having a lot of interest and an offer of 8,500 in response to a for sale notice placed on her beach hut.

When the Observer contacted the number and pointed out if she successfully made a sale the new owner would not be issued with a licence unless they were top of the council's waiting list, she said she had not realised that.

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Effectively this would mean a new owner could have shelled out thousands of pounds for a hut with nowhere to put it as a licence would not be automatically transferred by the council.

"Stopping people selling to someone not on their list, I think that's fair," she said.

Reading the council's conditions that state no placard, notice, sign or advertisement should be affixed to the cabin, she said she had not realised that and would go and remove the notice immediately. She declined to give her name.

Mrs Patricia Marketis, has owned her hut for about seven years.

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She and her husband got it from an elderly neighbour and it was in a poor state. Her husband spent time and money on repairing it but with the family grown up found they were using it less.

She went to local estate agent Findley and Son because she did not want the hassle of trying to sell it herself.

She said she was "gobsmacked" when she was told they had sold one recently for over 5000.

Later she was contacted by the agent to say they could not act for her as the rules had changed and she had to go through the council.

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She was quite happy to do that but said the person she spoke to at the Beeching Road offices was very offhand.

"I was told they didn't like people going to estate agents and that if I didn't want to keep my hut, I should let the licence run out, then remove my hut and put it in my garden."

She was told they had a waiting list but the first person on the list was not able to pay anything like 5000. I felt I got nowhere."

They had thought about giving up the site because it cost 100 a year for the licence which Rother council was proposing to hike by 50 per cent.

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But the officer she spoke to accused her of being "clairvoyant" she claimed because he said he set the licence fee and he had not thought of increasing it by that figure.

A notice outside the coastguard office at the Colonnade gave a list of proposed charges for 2005-2006 season and clearly states the figure is 150.

She said they were now going to continue with their licence until things had calmed down. "It leaves a bit of a nasty taste. We feel the council should have made the changes clearer."

Although owners feel their attention was not drawn to the new conditions introduced at the beginning of the year, an answer by Councillor Graham Gubby under the Ask the Leader section does.

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In a move to prevent profiteering of the council's beach sites, he said a new clause was included as part of this year's licence which prevented the licensee from transferring the licence to anyone other than the council, or without the council's permission.

"Rother was previously aware of the transfer of licences to a partner following the death of a licensee.

"It appears there have been four transfers to people not on our waiting list during 2004. The transfer / sale of the licence in these few cases was managed by estate agents or solicitors.

"Now any licence issued for a beach cabin or tent cannot be transferred without this council's prior consent.

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"Such consent will be to the next person on the waiting list and at the council's standard annual charge."

Although owners are at liberty to sell their huts to whomever they wish and at whatever price they can achieve, he states that it is "our absolute intention to issue vacant sites only to people on the waiting list and prevent the sale for profit of the council's beach sites.

However, the conditions of licence sent out with new licences for 2005 are unchanged from five years ago apart from the size restrictions are in metric.

One elderly owner who had her hut for 30 years said the council had allowed the licence to pass to her when her husband died a few years ago.

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She thought it had always been the case that you had to sell through the council.

She said you could buy a new hut for about 1600 but was aware that some people were selling for more. She had hoped to pass it down to her son but shrugged: "Rules are rules."

Another owner said she knew you had to live within Rother to hold a licence but thought the new conditions implied dictatorship.

"It's horrible if people are making a great big profit," said Valerie Lawrence. She has owned her hut for 12 years but hoped to pass it on to friends.

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Beach huts offered for seasonal hire by the two operators on West Parade and the Marina are a separate issue so remain unaffected.

But both operators reported demand was high although there had been some unpleasantness this year with people complaining about the huts obliterating the view.

Lori Doswell who operates the 50 huts by the sailing club with husband Kevin said: "It's a pleasurable thing having a beach hut but a few complaints are spoiling something which is tradition, a part of history."

Tony Stevens, Rother's technical services officer, confirmed the council had decided to enforce the condition that the licence should not be assigned, transferred or otherwise disposed of without its consent.

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He said pressure on the waiting list had been eased by the reinstatement of huts this year now that shingle levels were back.

A further stipulation is that all huts must be painted white with the eaves of the roof in dark green and the roof finished in mineral felt.

Some of the new huts are contravening this as they have blue trims and blue doors.

A spokeswoman at Findley and Son confirmed they had been contacted by the council and informed they should not sell huts on Rother operated sites.

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She said she thought it was a bit of a "jobsworth bloke" not to allow licensees to pass it on to their families.

Earlier this year William and Margaret Rendall, of Cantelupe Road, began a campaign to prevent beach huts "ruining views of the seafront" and confirmed they have been in contact with about 40 people who share their opinion.

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