Beach Hut Bonanza - West Sussex Gazette - Aug 2006
Its a beach hut bonanza writes Rob Shaw from the West Sussex Gazette. Demand for beach huts is booming along the West Sussex coast. Estate agents in the area say many huts are being snapped up within a few weeks of coming on to the market. Current hotspots include Rustington, West Wittering, Lancing, Ferring, Goring, Worthing and Littlehampton. West Sussex Gazette
PERHAPS falling from a palm tree an Fiji earlier this year has made Rolling Stone Keith Richards reflect on the dubious merits of foreign holidays - or perhaps not. But the 62-year-old guitarist known for his hard rockin lifestyle recently spent 60,000 on a beach hut near his house in West Wittering. And while this maybe small change to the multi-millionaire rocker, the huts, which appear to some as little more than garden sheds by the sea, pepper the West Sussex coast and are currently hot property.
Demand is high not just for the huts on the private estate at West Witterings sandy beach but also at other hotspots at Rustington, Worthing, Goring, Ferring, Lancing and Littlehampton. Barry Sprules runs the family business Castletor, which owns the 100 or so beach huts at the bottom of Sea Avenue in Rustington and is also responsible for a beach hut information web-site (www.beachhutworld.com).
Huts on this stretch of beach vary in price from between 12,000 and 17,500 depending on size and condition, and range in size from 6ft square to 8ft square with a 4ft veranda. There are two which date from the 40s and also, a number of new-builds painted in pastel colours with treated timber and stainless steel fittings.
"Its just a fabulous escape - why would you want to queue for hours at an airport to go to the Mediterranean when you can come to Rustington on a day like today", said Mr Sprules standing, outside some of the war time huts on Rustington beach. "I learned to swim here - it represents the simple life", he added.
Jonathon Holmes is a partner in Holmes and Co, estate agents in Angmering, and sells beach huts at Rustington. His family also own and regularly use a beach hut at Mr Sprules site themselves. He agreed with Mr Sprules that part of the appeal of beach huts was the return to a less complicated way of life. And its not just in the summer that they use the hut. "In some ways the best days there are the quiet winter days", Mr Holmes, "it feels like a step back in time and is so peaceful."
His wife Nicola, 37, likes to enjoy the hut with. family and friends. She said: "It gives the children something of the sense of freedom that I grew up with - they go crabbing and swimming depending on the tide. "And my friends from London love coming down,"
The appeal of beach huts extends to young and old alike, just a few huts down from the Holmes family hut is another owned by the Collard family.
Ann and Bob Collard live in Rustington and use their hut very regularly "We are known for it", said 77-year-old, Mrs 
Collard, "I go swimming most days and I will be changing soon and going in - its so relaxing." Husband Bob, a retired civil engineer aged 80, is equally enthusiastic although nowadays he was happy just to sit and relax at the hut. The couple were often joined by son Michael, 42, a barrister from London who also enjoys the peaceful environment.
John Chapman, 52, from East Preston is another who works in London and finds the escape offered at Rustington beach appealing. "The sun, fishing and peace attracted me, I have owned the hut for about 6 months and it gives me a place to store everything", he said.
Robin Bracken, branch manager at King and Chasemore estate agents In Goring-by-Sea; knows only too well how sought after the little huts are. He said: We have only had two over the last six months, and both sold within two or three weeks; the summer is a good time of year to sell one." The agent said they had recently sold one in Goring for a little under 12,000.
Oliver and Saunders, estate agents in Worthing is one of the biggest sellers of beach huts in the area and even has a special website (www.beachutsuk.com) dedicated to this area of the market. Partner, Mark Oliver said: "We say this is the must-have summer accessory. I am not surprised at all that Keith Richards bought one - they are a quintessentially English thing." Oliver felt that beach huts can be seasonal, in that people tend to want them for the summer but believes once bought, they are often kept for a long time. He said: "The huts can stay in families for generations; people just like to sit in them and look at the sea."
Keith Richards 12ft by 8ft beach hut can be found off Nab Walk in West Wittering. It is made of timber and felt, and is one of 27 along this stretch of much-sought-after coastline. His sealed bid for the hut, which has no electricity or water supply, saw off more than 20 potential buyers most of whom are believed to have bid between 25,000 - 40,000.
Although the beach huts at Rustington, Goring, Ferring, Lancing and Littlehampton tend to sell for less than this, depending on condition, they still make between 10,000-20,000 and have no shortage of buyers.