Hove in the Past: Hove Beach Huts

Judy Middleton (2015 revised 2023)

In 1923 Matthew Hatton of 32A Brunswick Square suggested to Hove Council that facilities for sea bathing would be greatly improved if the Council were to erect twenty wooden bathing chalets and a pay-box on the beach between the Coastguard Station (south east of Hove Street) and Carlisle Road. He thought the chalets should be leased out for periods of seven, fourteen or twenty-one years at a yearly rent of £75. The idea was not taken up at the time but by 1930 it was definitely on the agenda.

Bathing machines had once been popular and their heyday at Hove was in 1884 when there were forty-six bathing machines designated for female use and twelve machines reserved for men. Segregated bathing was the rule at Hove and the town was slow to leave the strictures of the Victorian era. Although mixed bathing was permitted at Brighton from July 1901, Hove had to wait until 1905 for mixed bathing provision and only in designated areas. These were the beach west of the wooden groyne opposite Westbourne Villas (eleven bathing machines) the beach opposite numbers 1 to 7 Queen’s Gardens (eleven bathing machines) the beach south west of Medina Terrace and the first wooden groyne (seven bathing machines) and the beach 65 yards west of the outfall sewer then in the course of construction.

In 1925 the Council asked proprietors of bathing machines to fit them with low wheels, half to be done that year and the other half by 1926. But the machines were already losing out to tents because although there were still 54 machines, there were 94 tents. Some of the old proprietors rented out both tents and machines but others like Frederick Port in 1922 had tents only. By 1927 the number of machines had dropped to twenty-five (no doubt their decline was hastened by the new rules as to wheel size) while there were 132 tents.

copyright © J.Middleton
The bathing tents look somewhat incongruous against the classical backdrop of Brunswick Terrace.

Bathing tents were first mentioned in 1907 when it was stated that mixed bathing from tents was to be allowed on the beach from the groyne east of Langdale Road to the next groyne on the west. In 1912 the Watch Committee produced regulations for mixed bathing from tents. You were allowed to pitch your tent free of charge on the beach opposite Langdale Gardens and extending west to the next groyne but east of Langdale Road to Carlisle Road there was a fee ranging from 10/- for the whole summer or 1/6d per week. All tents had to be taken down and furled not later than one hour after sunset.

Harry Woolgar, born in the 1880s, lived right near the sea in Beach Cottages (long since gone) and hired out bathing machines (with large wheels) and a double row of bathing tents on the promenade south of Hove Lawns. The bathing tents in the back row were marked ‘Strictly Private’ and Harry warned his grandson, young Bill Woolgar, never to disturb the occupants; this was because courting couples used to hire the tents for the afternoon.

Bathing tents did not find favour with everyone and many people thought the rows of flapping canvas was both untidy and unsightly. The more solid construction of a wooden chalet or hut quickly became popular and by 1936 there were no less than 290 of them situated on the promenade from Hove Lagoon to Wish Road, near the newly constructed sea-wall and steps. It is interesting to note that although today there is a standardised design of hut, it was different in the 1930s with the ones on Western Esplanade displaying a delightful little pinnacle and four squares of glass in the doors.

We are so used to seeing huts on the north side of the promenade that it comes as something of a surprise to discover that originally at Hove Lawns they were placed on the south side of the promenade, thus blocking the sea view from people strolling along the seafront. Moreover, in some parts there was a double row and not a single one as at present. In 1937 the ones at the front commanded a better view and a more expensive price costing £8 to hire for the season while the ones in the second row could be yours for £6-10s. Evidently, Hove residents considered these prices a bit steep and the following year the rate dropped to £7 and £5-10s respectively. By 1939 there were 473 huts on the promenade and because the esplanade at the western end had recently been widened, it was expected there would be enough space to accommodate another 227 huts.

The Second World War put paid to lazy days on the beach and all the equipment including bathing machines, tents and floats were cleared away and stored in garages in Namrick Mews. In modern parlance you could say parts of Hove were in lockdown. The Army and Naval authorities commandeered many private properties and private schools such as Hove College, Mowden and Cottesmore while the newly-built municipal swimming baths became HMS King Alfred and was responsible for training 22,500 RNVR officers; armed guards were on duty. Grand Avenue was cordoned off by barbed wire with sentries patrolling the confines. Tank traps were dug on the promenade, which was a mass of barbed wire anyhow, beaches were mined and the two Brighton piers had central sections cut out to prevent the enemy landing; Hove Lagoon was used for military manoeuvres.

After the war when normal conditions returned to the seafront, it was optimistically stated there would be 700 huts eventually. It seems this number was never achieved and of course there was a chronic shortage of building materials in the aftermath of war. The bathing machines were sold off to Lytham St Anne’s.

There were many more people wishing to hire huts than there were huts available and so Hove Council hit upon the idea that the fairest way to allocate them was by having a lucky dip system. This began in 1947 and lasted a surprisingly long time.

By 1963 there were 446 huts and the lucky dip system still prevailed. In August 1982 Hove Council invited tenants to buy them at a cost of £100 plus the annual ground rent of £25. But it seems clear some huts were already privately owned. For example Peter Taylor purchased his hut in 1980 for £105 while in May 2011 it was stated Callways had recently sold a hut that had been in the same family for 50 years and originally cost £75. The beach hut was of course nothing but a basic wooden structure with no plumbing or electricity laid on. There were also stringent conditions; you were not allowed to sleep there, run a business or keep animals and if you played music you must not let it be too loud. You must not make any alterations to the exterior although you could paint the doors uniformly in any colour you fancied OR EVEN IN STRIPES.

The great gale of 16/17 October 1987 wrecked havoc amongst Hove beach huts. A memorable aerial photograph appeared in the local Press showing Hove Lawns strewn with the wreckage. Seventy per cent of the huts were destroyed or damaged. The situation posed something of a dilemma for Hove Council because as they were no longer the owners, they could not clear up the debris at once. By law they had to allow the owners six months to clear the site themselves and so timber was left stacked on the promenade. After six months had expired, Hove Council served a statutory fourteen days’ notice that on 27 May 1988 the seafront would be cleared from end to end.

In October 1991 it was stated that hut owners were holding a public meeting to discuss the next move in their fight against new rate charges. The District Valuer had written to all 400 owners telling them they are liable for bills of £77-20p; they were already paying £80 a year in ground rent. Hove Council supported the owners. The precedent was set when rates were imposed on Worthing beach huts and the owners lost their appeal.

In 1993 beach hut owners were involved in another campaign – this time against Hove Council who wanted to charge them a business rate on their huts although it was forbidden to run a business from them. By November 1993 hut owners were jubilant to have achieved their goal. The Tribunal decided that although the huts could not be classed as domestic premises and therefore the Council was correct to rate them as a business, the rate was far too high. The tribunal directed Hove Council to lower the rateable value to £86 instead of the £200 they wanted to charge.

By April 1992 Bernie Foster had been looking after the beach huts for seven years. It was an all-the-year-round job and every day he carried out an early morning inspection. He painted them when needed and could build a new one within four weeks.

In August 1992 it was stated that beach huts were selling for between £350 and £850, depending on the location. In 1998 there was a revival of interest in the huts; usually there were around twenty-five on the market but in September 1998 there were only five. The cost was still between £650 and £750.

But vandalism was a big problem. In both 1992 and 1993 some 108 huts were damaged. On the night of 3 October 1997 vandals targeted 32 huts. Doors were kicked in and contents strewn over the esplanade. The damage was estimated at £3,000. On 4 November 1997 at around 8 p.m. two other huts were set on fire, causing £2,000 worth of damage. Mr and Mrs Paddy Collins of Burgess Hill owned one of the burnt-out huts and had paid £450 for it two years previously. The fire destroyed chairs, paint, tools, tea-making equipment and a little radio purchased in 1970 shortly after their marriage. Seafront Office Charlie King said the vandalism was the worst he had seen in four years.

In July 2004 estate agents Callaways announced they had four beach huts for sale at prices varying from £6,500 to £8,500 while the annual ground rent, insurance and maintenance totalled £500. By this time Hove Council was no more and Brighton & Hove City Council was in charge.

Interest in the huts continued to grow and in 2010 the council decided to build seventeen new huts at Hove Lagoon. They went on sale in the summer of that year and as soon as they were advertised estate agents Parsons, Son & Basley received more than 100 enquiries. The huts were all sold within the space of three weeks at a price of £12,000 each. One of the new happy owners was Kate Silverton, a BBC news presenter.

A new version of Brighton Rock was released on 4 February 2011 although many people felt that the definitive film would always be the old one starring Richard Attenborough. Graham Greene (1904-1991) was the author of Brighton Rock published in 1938. The new version was set at Brighton in 1964 and starred Helen Mirren, John Hurt, Sam Ridley and Andrea Risborough; Rowan Jaffé was the director. In the summer of 2010 the film-makers descended on Hove seafront because the famous beach huts were to appear in the background of one scene. But first of all the area had to resemble the 1960s and the modern litter-bins were tucked away out of sight. Although there is only a passing glimpse in the finished film, the beach huts have become such an iconic symbol of Hove that the location was instantly recognisable. Indeed, the beach huts have also appeared in advertisements – such as a backdrop for luxury cars for instance.

copyright © J.Middleton
This photograph was taken on 21 January 2009 after a downpour provided a puddle to reflect the beach huts.

Brighton & Hove City Council endeavour to ensure the huts are sold only to people living in the locality. As part of this process, early in 2011 hut owners received a request for them to update their licences, which by this time cost £283-33 and covered the ground rent too; there were said to be 450 huts. But some people were upset by the new rules and there was a change of heart that meant people with longstanding licences did not have to sell them to city residents. Peter Taylor, aged 65 and a semi-retired civil servant, was one of those upset by the new regulations. He had purchased his hut in 1980 for £105 when he and his family lived in Wish Road. Since then they had moved to Maidstone, Kent but he and his wife Jacqui and friends paid regular visits. He said ‘Our beach hut is our little piece of the city and we have many happy memories of spending time there with family and friends.’

In June 2011 Jeff Allen, aged 67, was going away to attend a wedding and asked a friend to paint his beach hut for him; he left the choice of colour to his friend. When he came back Mr Allen was amazed to find that instead of the standard one colour, his friend had decorated his hut with masses of circles in different colours and sizes. The Press dubbed it the psychedelic hut and passers-by stood next to it for photographs. Mr Allen rather liked the effect but the Council was not amused – after all it was against the rules. They ordered him to paint over the bright circles. But Mr Allen could not bear to do that and instead he took the hut apart and said he would sell it at a car boot sale; he ordered a new hut to replace it. Meanwhile the ground rent had grown to £295-15s a year. In November 2011 two new huts were for sale at Western Esplanade for £10, 500 each.

The Daily Mail of 13 August 2011 printed a two-page article written by Nicola Gane on the joys of owning a beach hut on Hove’s seafront, accompanied by a large photograph of her happy family group.

By 2013 the price of beach huts had risen again. In August 2013 one was on sale for £14,000. It was in a prime spot south of King’s House and Hove Lawns but as the Argus pointed out for the same price you could buy a two-bedroom house in a village near Newcastle.

On 15 October 2013 two friends of mine kindly undertook the heroic task of walking the length of Hove seafront in order to count the beach huts for me. Here are the results:

Wooden beach huts 514

Brick-built huts 12

Concrete huts 10 Grand Total 536

*(Please note there are many gaps along Hove seafront where beach huts have been removed, if all these gaps were filled there would be over 550 beach huts.)

The winter of 2013 / 2014 was one of gales and torrential rain. The beach huts were subjected to a battering especially during the Valentine's Day storm, which also coincided with a high tide. A group of around ten beach huts were blown against the wall between the promenade and the pitch and putt green and when the wall gave way, they went crashing down, scattering wreckage over the grass.

copyright © J.Middleton
The aftermath of the Valentine's Day storm. Note the abundance of shingle on what should be a smooth stretch of promenade.

Advent Calendar

The Revd Martin Poole was behind the concept of creating a life-size Advent Calendar in individual beach huts along Hove seafront. He masterminded the first event in December 2008 and hoped to bring home to people the true meaning of Advent and Christmas while at the same time showcasing local talent.

Beach hut owner Martin Poole founded the Brighton-based Beyond Church Group and they took over twenty-four huts to create the living Advent Calendar. Every evening from 1 December to Christmas Eve and between 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. a different hut door would open to reveal an artistic surprise. On 1 December 2009 around 100 people came to watch the first door opened to show a tableau depicting God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen. On the second evening the tableau was in Poole’s own hut and showed a nativity scene cocooned in a block of ice and lit by lasers.

In December 2011 some beach huts were again involved in becoming a 3-D Advent Calendar. The first door to be opened was at hut 311 and showed the choir of St Christopher’s School in full song plus some of their artwork. The year’s theme was Las Posados after the Mexican tradition of many characters being involved in the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.

In December 2013 one of the twenty-four huts involved in the Hove Beach Hut Advent Calendar hosted a tribute to Janette Tozer, a local artist, who died in July 2013. She had been associated with the event since it began.

In 2014 the Advent Calendar displayed children’s artwork, Morris dancers plus a mini-pub called appropriately enough The Holly and the Ivy.

Recently, it was announced that Prime Minister David Cameron has praised the priest responsible for organising the Advent Calendar on Hove seafront. Revd Martin Poole, aged 55, is the priest at St Luke’s Church, Prestonville. David Cameron gave him a Point of Light award. This award recognises outstanding individual volunteers ‘who are making a change in their community and inspiring others.’

In November 2018 it was announced that the small Christian group Beyond Church would no longer be running the Advent Calendar, which over the years has drawn hundreds of people to the seafront on dark December nights. It was hoped that another group would take up the challenge. Revd Martin Poole said the Hove project had ‘inspired others to develop their own versions using beach huts in other towns, garages inland and even using sheds and horse boxes in churchyards so that people are able to say something about God bringing light into darkness.’ Argus (30 November 2018)

A shock from the council

In January 2018 Brighton & Hove City Council decided to increase the sales tax payable when a beach hut changes hands. Councillor Robert Nemeth, whose ward contains the largest number of beach huts, managed to stop the rise from being implemented this year because the council had not sent out the requisite notices in time.

By June 2018 there was a full-blown row over the matter. Councillor Nemeth said, 'I am disgusted at the Labour administration's latest attack on Hove, which will see beach hut owners threatened with revenge evictions if they don’t sign up to a new contract that contains a 3,000 per cent increase in the beach hut sales tax. We are seeing beach hut owners told to remove their huts if they don’t sign up on the dotted line. This jealousy tax relies on Labour's back story of beach hut owners being super wealthy when, in reality, they are just normal people enjoying the seafront with their families.’

Councillor Alan Robins, chairman of the tourism, development and culture committee, said the value of beach huts had risen dramatically in recent years, and the council was bringing Brighton and Hove in line with other authorities.

The amount charged for a licence would change from £367.30 to £400, while the transfer tax would change from £82 to three times the licence fee, or 10 per cent of the sales price, whichever was greater.

On 22 June 2018 Green and Conservative councillors agreed with Councillor Nemeth that there had not been sufficient consultation, and that the matter should be discussed next September. When it came to the vote, there were five councillors for the move, while two Labour councillors abstained.

The small, wooden beach huts on Hove seafront, stated to number 459, now sell for an average of £25,000. But owners claim that beside the two council taxes, their insurance policies were very expensive because the huts were so vulnerable with no police patrols to be seen. For example, in April 2018 youths broke into no less than 66 huts, causing much damage. Councillor Garry Peltzer Dunn was one of those hit by the vandalism, and he has owned his beach hut for fifteen years. He said, ‘To me, it is clearly deliberate because you would need an angle grinder to wrench the locks apart.’

Transfer fees in other authorities are as follows:

Arun - £500

Hastings - £120

Rother – 10% of the hut's value

Seaford - £25

Worthing – 10% of the hut’s value

(Argus 9/4/18 / 16/6/18 / 23/6/18

Brighton & Hove Independent 22/6/18)

In January 2019 It was announced that Brighton & Hove City Council had decided not to implement controversial new charges, and that beach hut owners could keep their current licences. Councillor Robert Nemeth remarked wryly that the best thing to come out of the furore was the formation of the Hove Beach Hut Owners Association and their support. After all, he stated, the beach huts were icons of Hove ‘and their future is inextricably linked to that of the seafront.’

However, the council did agree that the annual cost of the beach hut licence would rise from £367 to £404, which was still cheaper than the cost in the Adur District and in Seaford. It was also in line with other price rises for sports and leisure facilities. (Argus (21 January 2019)

The Price of a Beach Hut

It is inevitable that as house values increase, so too does the price of a beach hut, although the cost can vary according to location. In 2010 a beach hut sold for £12,000, while in 2014 another one sold for £14,000.

Beach Hut Prices in November 2019

Hut 115 – Adjacent to Hove Lawns & Fourth Avenue, £22,000

Hut 123 – Close to Courtney Terrace & Third Avenue, £25,000

Hut 154 – King’s Esplanade, close to the King Alfred, £22,000

Hut 165 – Close to the King Alfred, £22,000

Hut 344 – Close to Grand Avenue, £18,750

Hut 426 – Close to Hove Lagoon, £18,000

Hut 444 – Close to Hove Lagoon & Westbourne Villas, £17,500

Hut 449 – Close to Hove Lagoon £23,000

It is highly unusual for eight beach huts to be on sale at the same time. Formerly, a beach hut changing hands was as rare as hen’s teeth, and when one appeared on an estate agent’s books, it was quickly snapped up. (Argus 18 November 2019)

New Anguish

In January 2023 beach-hut owners were horrified to learn that Brighton & Hove City Council had further plans to wring extra revenue from them. Words such as ‘outrageous’ ‘indefensible’ and ‘bullying’ were bandied about.

The Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture Committee was being asked to approve a proposal whereby any owner, upon selling their beach hut, would be obliged to pay the council ten per cent of the overall price. This could lead to the council being paid as much as £3,650, or to put it another way that sounds more horrifying – an average transfer fee of more than 3,500 per cent. Not bad for a council that does little to enhance Hove seafront, but happens to own the land on which the beach huts stand.

Robert Nemeth, councillor for Wish Ward, who founded the Hove Beach Hut Association in 2018, raised a pertinent point when he stated ‘There is no provision in the licence agreement for a sales tax.’ He even went so far as to say that it smacked of ‘revenge eviction’ should owners face eviction if they did not agree to the new transfer fee. He urged members of the association to write to the council expressing their views.

There seems to be a general assumption by some councillors that people who own beach huts are all tremendously wealthy – the term ‘cash cow’ comes to mind. But Martin Osborne, committee chairman, spoke about the difficulty of balancing the books, and said that price rises were inevitable because of government cutbacks.

In the event, the proposal never even reached the council chamber to be discussed. This was because of a little matter of law – in other words ‘You just can’t do that without any notice.’ Naturally, the council stated that the hold-up was to allow for more consultations when in fact there had been none, and then there was the unseemly rush to get it passed before people had time to sit up and take notice. In reality, there had been a proper legal challenge. Make no mistake, the council will come back with the measure, but to be fore-warned is to be fore-armed. (Argus 12/1/23 14/1/23)

Here We Go Again

In October 2023 it was clear that Brighton & Hove City Council were eager to collect more revenue from hut-owners. At present the licence fee for 2023 to 2024 is £503.60 including VAT, and when a hut changes hands the hut-owner must pay £85 as an administration fee. However, now the council is hoping to levy a ten per cent transfer fee. If it is agreed it is hoped that it will be implemented from next spring.

A council spokesman responded to criticism with the information that other councils charged more for the annual licence fee than Brighton and Hove, as the table below demonstrates:

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council - £1,090

Rother District Council - £650

Worthing and Adur Council - £612

But Cathy Biggs, chairwoman of Hove Beach Hut Association, is not impressed, reminding the council that the hut owners have to maintain the huts, take out insurance, and keep their piece of promenade tidy. Besides, like the general property market, the price of beach huts has come down. But ten per cent of £25,000 comes to £2,500, which is quite a hefty rise from £85. She was also not impressed that the consultation period runs out on 19 October when some hut owners have not even received the crucial letter yet. (Argus 3/10/23 / 4/10/23)

A Hefty Charge

The news that hut-owners were dreading arrived in early November 2023 – you could say it put a rocket through their hopes. Yes, the charges were going up – and how! It seems the law is on the side of the council because Elizabeth Culbert, head of law, stated that beach huts were not a statutory service, but just a commercial service, and because the council were the freeholders they were at liberty to charge whatever they liked. Moreover, the new charges are being imposed together with a new licence which hut-owners must agree to by March 2023. If any beach hut remained on site after 1 April and the owner had not agreed to the new licence, then the beach hut would have to be removed.

But the council has the mistaken belief that a Hove beach hut could be sold for up to £35,000, whereas in reality the price has come down of late and the actual price would be something in the region of £22,000. It seems the transfer fee could rise from the present £82 to £1,600 at least, and quite likely up to £3,500. Surely such a rise would put off new owners, and considering that the beach huts are such iconic images along Hove seafront and are kept in good condition, more consideration should have been given to a potential disaster.

When compared to the charges set by other authorities, a Hove beach hut does seem a bargain. But how could you compare it properly when other authorities provide electricity and water while the wooden beach huts at Hove have no such amenities? (Argus 11/11/23)

Sources

Argus
Brighton & Hove Independent (2 January 2014)
Middleton, J Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

12 January 2016

Hove Beach Huts