Coastal homes worth £600m at risk of collapsing into sea according to climate action group - but is your area at risk?
31 January 2023, 10:23 | Updated: 31 January 2023, 10:27
A new study conducted by a climate action group has revealed coastal homes in England totalling almost £600 million could be lost to the sea by 2100.
Climate group One Home identified the 21 most at-risk villages where coastal erosion is concerned, estimating the staggering total cost.
The study, which crunched data from property site Rightmove, found that the value of property damage along England's coastlines could total an estimated £584m within 80 years.
Coastal erosion is a natural phenomenon brought about by the ocean repeatedly hitting the shoreline, displacing rock and soil and causing cliffs to crumble.
It means many homes that were once a significant distance from the ocean are now perilously close to encroaching waters.
Angela Terry, chief executive of One Home, said: "Sea levels are rising as global temperatures soar and so larger waves batter our coast during severe storms.
"These irreversible changes mean some cliff faces are crumbling fast.
"We can't turn the tide or build a wall around the entire coast so we urgently need to help seaside communities to prepare for the damage that will come."
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“Shoreline management plans are publicly available documents but most people are unaware of their existence.
“Many homeowners don’t know their properties are at risk or that decisions have been made about whether to protect them or not.
According to the research, the counties most at risk in England are:
• Cornwall
• Cumbria
• Dorset
• East Yorkshire
• Essex
• The Isle of Wight
• Kent
• Northumberland
• Norfolk
• Sussex
Campaigners continue to push the fact shoreline management plans are available to the public but most people are not aware of them or their details.
One such local, TV producer Lucy Ansbro, told the Indipendent she had spent £500,000 protecting her home from coastal erosion in Thorpeness, Suffolk.
According to the 54-year-old, her neighbour’s mansion, once worth £2 million, was demolished in October 2022 as the cliffs continued to recede.
“Owners need to know how quickly change can happen if you live on vulnerable parts of the coast,” she said.
“Surveys and solicitors’ checks don’t include erosion but I was aware there was a threat of erosion when I bought this house in 2009.
“However, I never dreamed it would be this severe.
“No research I did suggested it would ever happen this quickly.
“The worst-case scenario predicted losing five metres to the sea within 50 years but, in fact, I lost five metres in 2020 alone.
“Houses behind mine, less than 50m from the clifftop, have recently sold for close to £1 million."
