In 2015 the artist Banksy opened an installation called “Dismaland” at a disused lido in Weston-super-Mare.
The faux amusement park in Somerset was a commentary on the reality of British seaside towns versus the saccharine sweetness of Disneyland, and attracted 150,000 visitors over five weeks. It was the most action that Weston had seen in living memory.
Until very recently this faded seaside resort, its Victorian glory days long gone, was the almost-exclusive preserve of retirees, where they traditionally moved to live out their days.
But around the country, seaside towns and beauty spots that are havens for retirees are getting a fresh injection of youth. A new ripple of Generation Z and millennial buyers, who are untethered from city centres thanks to hybrid working and in search of good value, are discovering these areas.
We found the places once dominated by retirees where young people are now moving in droves.
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset
Last summer Emily Weeden, now 25, moved to Weston after spending 10 years living in Bristol.
After a stint living at home with her parents near Cheddar to save up for a deposit, Weeden, who works for an energy company, spent £120,000 on a one-bedroom flat. “In Bristol you couldn’t even get a parking space for that,” she said. “I didn’t even bother looking.”
Weeden now relishes the peace and quiet of her neighbourhood where she finds that elderly, long-time residents rub along well with young families and singles. “There is a lot to do in Weston, lovely places to walk, lots of restaurants, gyms,” she said. “You are never bored.”
Buying agent Andrew Cronan, of Recoco Property Search, said that demographics have been changing not only in Weston but in all the towns all along the Bristol Channel over the past few years. “Places like Portishead and Clevedon were almost exclusively a retirement market,” he said. “Weston was the slight exception, because although it attracted a lot of retirees, there were also investors buying HMOs in the town centre.”
During and after the pandemic Cronan has seen more first-time buyers and families moving in, with many of them priced out of Bristol like Weeden.
Value for money is driving the trend, said Cronan. “Weston is cheap, and that is always the main thing for young people. And the housing stock is good Victorian and Edwardian houses, which are appealing to buyers.”
These new, younger buyers are changing the feel of Weston. “Their leisure time is probably a bit more structured around going out and having fun, than doing the garden and washing the car,” said Cronan.
As a result new bars, cafes and restaurants are popping up, there are co-working spaces alongside pound shops in the town centre, and there are regeneration plans including the restoration of the stunning Birnbeck Pier. which has been out of commission for almost three decades.
“Weston is still edgy,” said Cronan, politely. “But it is improving. In a few years I can see it having a sort of Brighton vibe.”
According to research from Hamptons estate agents, average property prices across North Somerset currently stand at £206,000 for a flat, up almost 7pc in the past two years, and £414,000 for a house, up 13pc.
Office of National Statistics (ONS) migration data shows that during 2022, the most recent figures available, almost a quarter (23pc) of people moving to the area were in their 20s, with another 33pc in their 30s and 40s.
Ulverston, Cumbria
The Lake District is classic affluent retiree territory. In prime Lakeland villages, such as Windermere and Ambleside, most incomers are in their 50s and 60s and able to afford the premium prices which proximity to Lake Windermere commands, said Jack Irwin, of Fine & Country estate agents.
Ulverston, some 20 miles south and with better commuter links, is an increasingly popular option for 20- and 30-somethings. They still get easy access to some of the country’s most stunning countryside, while house prices are 20pc to 30pc lower.
“It is quite a vibrant town with a lot of shops and cafes, a secondary school, and recent new estates built, at all prices,” said Irwin, who estimates young buyers could pick up a two-bedroom flat for around £150,000 or a three-bedroom house for around £300,000.
Ulverston’s quaint Market Street is lined with independent cafes, and there are some hip hangouts such as the award winning Shed One distillery, where you can sample a range of gins, and attempt to make your own. The pub scene is lively and there are restaurants such as Base, established by Masterchef contestant and local lad Mark Satterthwaite in 2020.
Ulverston is a convenient spot for people who work at Sellafield, BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness, in hospitality around the Lakes, as well as hybrid workers who are not required daily at their offices in Manchester or Leeds.
Sale prices in South Lakeland have performed strongly over the past two years, with flats increasing by almost 9pc, to £223,000, and houses by almost 13pc, to £375,000, according to Hamptons.
Meanwhile the ONS reports that 23pc of people moving to the area were in their 20s, with another 26pc in their 30s and 40s.
Buxton, Derbyshire
For active retirees the Peak District has long been a mecca of long hill walks followed by big pub lunches – perhaps a round of golf in the afternoon.
But their numbers are being eroded by an influx of younger arrivals: the ONS found that a quarter of all incomers in 2022 were in their 20s, and another 31pc were under 50.
Buxton is one of the best known of the Peak District towns, but its reputation is very much one of tea shops and bracing country walks. On the streets, however, things are starting to feel more youthful. You can now enjoy a dirty chai latte or a salted caramel choux bun at artisanal bakery Pig and Pepper, and search for treasure at the monthly craft and vintage fair, while the annual Buxton Festival Fringe features contemporary art and street performers.
Buxton is hot on environmental issues too, and officially a plastic-free town. A growing University of Derby campus adds some Zoomer energy.
Rory Clarke, a partner at Bury & Hilton estate agents, said that Buxton is starting to see a revival following a long, slow period of decline from the 1950s, when staycationing fell out of favour with Britons seduced by cheap package holidays.
In 2020 a restoration of the council-owned Buxton Crescent, a grand arc of Georgian buildings modelled on Bath’s Royal Crescent, was completed and the site reopened as a grand spa hotel in 2020.
Younger buyers, said Clarke, often move to Buxton from Manchester. “There is a train service, but it is a very slow train,” he said. “It takes about an hour and it is only 20 miles. But Buxton is very quaint, the countryside around is lovely, and it is less expensive.”
He estimates that a two-bedroom flat in the town centre would cost around £120,000 to £130,000, while you could pick up a four-bedroom house for around £400,000.
This is good value compared to the rest of High Peak, the local authority area, particularly for smaller starter properties. Average flats sell for £167,000, up almost 14pc in two years, while houses are £295,000, up almost 12pc.
Dartmouth, Devon
When Tara Pitten moved to Dartmouth five years ago, the town had a reputation as a haven for seniors. The pandemic has changed that.
“From the buyers that we register, it is young families who can work from home,” said Pitten, who works at Marchand Petit estate agents. “Everyone is looking for homes with offices and playrooms for the kids. Five or six years ago there were far more retirees.” Most of these incomers are moving from Hampshire, Surrey, or Birmingham.
Pitten herself relocated to the South Hams from Surrey and, as a 30-year-old, finds plenty to keep her busy, from sports clubs, a summer music festival on the beach, film screenings at the Flavel Arts Cinema, beach cafes, and restaurants and bars such as The Sail Loft, a hip venue with a roster of guest chefs in a circa 500-year-old warehouse building.
Parts of South Hams are likely to be prohibitively expensive for young buyers – the average sale price in yachting hotspot Salcombe is well over £1m. But across the authority an average flat trades for £324,000, up 10pc in the past two years. Average houses sell for £497,900, up 6pc in the same period, found Hamptons.
And despite its relatively high average prices compared to the likes of Weston and Buxton, the South Hams is appealing to an increasing number of younger residents – 17pc of movers into the area were in their 20s, found the ONS, while around a third were in their 30s and 40s.
This far eclipses incomers in their 50s and 60s, who made up 22pc of movers in 2022.
Folkestone & Hythe, Kent
When Toby Melville-Brown’s father moved to Folkestone in 2007, he and his siblings were united in their disapproval. “We couldn’t understand why he’d want to be there,” he said.
But Melville-Brown senior had a canny eye for property, and could see that the windswept and faded south coast resort was on the up.
Ironically it was Roger De Haan – whose family made its fortune by founding the Saga group of pensioner-friendly companies – who kickstarted Folkestone’s renaissance. He has invested heavily in a new creative quarter with affordable spaces for artists and makers, and also owns a swathe of the seafront, which he plans to redevelop.
Melville-Brown junior, 35, is an artist and illustrator, and was living in Pimlico in London before taking on an artists’ residency in Istanbul. His father had died shortly beforehand, and when he returned to the UK in May 2022 he started thinking hard about where to go next. Folkestone, with its relatively affordable housing, thrumming artistic scene, and outside space, appealed.
“I really appreciate the topographic drama of the cliffs, the sea, Romney Marsh,” he said. “And there is loads going on here – there are a huge number of studios, there are always exhibitions, and it is a great petri dish of ideas.”
His father’s estate is still being sorted out, but when he has his share he plans to buy a seafront apartment and settle down. “Folkestone is in a golden age,” he said.
He points out that not all of the regeneration being planned is aimed at the young – there are, for example, plans to reopen the Folkestone Leas Lift, a funicular railway between the seafront and the promenade which will make the town more walkable.
“I think there are older people who are excited about the regeneration, because they witnessed Folkestone when it was on its knees,” he said. “But there are some people who will feel disenfranchised by all the changes.”
Julien Hunt, of Savills, noticed younger buyers starting to arrive in Folkestone after the launch of high speed rail from Ashford to London in 2007, which cut journey times to just under an hour. Buyers in their 20s and 30s made up 36pc of new arrivals in 2022.
“A large number of my buyers come from London, and since Covid they only have to be in the office a couple of times a week,” he said. “You get a lot more value for money down here – if I was young and in London I would certainly be doing the same.”
Hunt agrees that, over time, price growth in Folkestone will inevitably level off. But he doesn’t think it has peaked just yet. “It is still young and trendy at the moment – it is doing a Whitstable thing,” he said.
Average house prices in Folkestone and Hythe have struggled over the past couple of years, inching up by a couple of per cent thanks to rising interest rates. But, over five years flat prices are up 19pc to an average £205,000, and houses are up 24pc, to £382,000.
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