Restrictions result in Hunstanton’s £7m high-end flat scheme failing to make a single sale
It was supposed to provide homes for people in a seaside town overrun by holiday lets - but it has failed to find any buyers after 18 months.
A £7million flagship scheme of high-end apartments along Hunstanton’s coastline now looks likely to become the very thing West Norfolk Council tried to avoid.
This week, councillors have voted to remove restrictions on the Styleman Court flats, which prevented people from buying them to be used as second homes or holiday lets.
Instead, they will be offered on the open market - and members admit, in all likelihood, the homes will be best suited as a holiday let investment.
The challenges faced by the authority come as villages across the North and West Norfolk coastline have voted to introduce similar measures to restrict new builds being bought as second homes.
But the challenges to sell the flats have cast doubt over the success of the policy, which may cause problems for the housing market.
FLAT FOLLY?
Plans for Styleman Court were given the go-ahead in 2021.
The scheme, which was funded by the council and built in partnership with housing firm Lovell, benefited from a £520,000 Homes England grant designed to accelerate its delivery.
The first of the 32 properties went on sale on Boxing Day back in 2023, promising to be a “high-quality development to meet the needs of people in Hunstanton”.
In the council’s promotional material released at the time, council leader Alistair Beales, who was then the cabinet member for business, said: “It’s important to note, we mean local people.”
However, buyers have failed to materialise, with councillors blaming the restrictions for the lack of interest.
Lenders have reportedly been reluctant to offer mortgages because of the risk of finding a buyer due to the agreement requiring the properties to be used as a main home.
According to Cllr Simon Ring, deputy leader of the council, this limits the number of potential buyers significantly in a town where “one in every three” properties are holiday lets.
“Our agent tried its hardest to sell these properties with the conditions, but they have not sold,” he said.
“These properties are in a fantastic condition, but people wanting to live in Hunstanton want a garden.
“However, they would be perfect as a holiday let.
“Building these homes was a decision made before my time, but we need to look at how and why these got built.
“Would they have been approved without these conditions in place? I don’t think I’d have supported them.”
A report commissioned by the council found that removing the restrictions on the properties would increase value as opposed to keeping them.
It is understood they would be marketed for about £240,000, and six of the flats will be offered as affordable social housing provided by the authority.
Removing the conditions is said to boost the value by an average of £39,500 per property – about £1,025,000 overall.
Cllr Ring added: “With the increase in capital receipt, we would be able to deliver a much more appropriate style and location of housing in Hunstanton for local use.”
Ward councillor Paul Beal believes it was a bad decision from the beginning.
“I was vehemently against them from the start, as they were being built in a car park in a tourist town with little parking,” he said.
“It lost a few hundred spaces.
“It is not a place where people want to live – a car park in the centre of the town? Come on. I think they will struggle to find buyers.
“But if a larger company took them on as holiday lets, they would be fantastic. You could earn a couple of hundred pounds a week at the height of summer.”
If the properties still do not sell, Cllr Ring said the council-owned property business, West Norfolk Housing Company, could buy the site and offer the flats as holiday lets.
When asked if the council will make a loss on the properties, he said: “We will have to wait and see”.
“It will all depend on the response from the market now that we have removed the conditions,” he added.
CLAMPDOWN IN TOURIST TOWN
There has been opposition to second homes and holiday lets in Hunstanton and the surrounding villages.
It has led some parishes like Burnham Market and Old Hunstanton to restrict who can buy new builds to those intending to live there permanently.
The policy is similar to the one used at Styleman Court, which appears to have had the effect of putting off buyers entirely.
A controversial new levy, which forces double the amount of council tax to be paid, has also come into force, but Cllr Beal believes the clampdown on second homes is short-sighted.
“In my 16 years being a councillor, voting for the second home tax is a decision I will regret the most,” he said.
“It was wrong and I apologise to the people who have been affected by it.
“Hunstanton was built for tourism - you cannot forget this.
“It is the biggest industry in West Norfolk and North Norfolk - let’s embrace that and work with it.”
