Agenda item

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The Assistant Director of Property and Projects presented the report.

The Chair invited questions and comments from the Panel.

The Chair commented that the Panel had received a significant amount of correspondence from tenants on this and as the Ward Member for Heacham he was not formally consulted and more consultation with tenants and groups was needed. He added if the site was sold were rents going to be put up further and result in locals having to sell their beach huts. He highlighted the beach was unsatisfactory and therefore unable to bathe in. He sought clarification that if the beach hut was to be sold outside the family, then three times the lease value had to be paid to the Borough Council

The Assistant Director of Property and Projects confirmed the condition of sale outside of the family was correct but advised there was £100 fee if the beach hut was sold to immediate family.

Councillor Bone agreed with the Chairs comments on who was to buy the unsuccessful site. He questioned how much land the Council was planning on selling and asked if a map could be provided to members so they could pre-warn residents and suggested this as an item for the Panel. He commented there was issues when selling land through auctions.

The Assistant Director of Property and Projects explained reviewing the Council’s portfolio was an ongoing process and a further report would be available in due course. He explained this current report had been put forward at pace due to the leases expiring at the end of March 2026. He highlighted to the Panel the site had not been managed properly due to lack of resource within the team.

Councillor Ratcliffe commented she appreciated the factual detail however the leisure and wellbeing point of the beach huts had been missed. She added if there was issues with the site being maintained the Council needed to invest into the site rather than sell the site as it would not be profitable.

Councillor Colwell commented he had also received emails with concerns from residents and therefore there was an impact on the wider Borough. He highlighted to the Panel there was an online petition and questioned how much rent which was charged by local private landlords for similar sites.

Under Standing Order 34, Councillor Long declared an interest that a family member was a landlord of a local private beach hut site.

Councillor Ryves commented it was not going to cost the suggested amount to renew the leases and advised the average rental income of a beach hut in North Norfolk was £900. He commented there was confusion with the financial figures and rate of return. He commented the income of the site was around £80,000 with 105 beach huts at £800 rent per year. He added further this asset with a rate of return, the value with interest rates of 10% would be around £800,000. He summarised this sale of land would impact the Council’s reputation.

Councillor Bubb suggested the lease to be extended for a year to give time to find a satisfactory solution. He added in the meantime this was an income for the Borough.

Councillor Hodson commented extending the lease for a year was a reasonable suggestion and the site to then be managed properly.

Councillor Ryves commented nothing was to be achieved by the lease being extended for a year and tenants needed certainty. He commented unless a valuation in excess of £1.5 million then he suggested this was a economically financial asset for the Council.

The Assistant Director of Property and Projects explained the lease could be extended for a year however this would incur a cost, and the Council would still own an asset with poor return.

The Chair highlighted to the Panel an email which had been received from a tenant.

Councillor Ryves commented the price at auction could be too low and proposed the beach huts were renewed on a ten-year lease. Councillor Ratcliffe seconded the proposal.

RESOLVED: The Panel did not support the Cabinet Recommendation and make the following counter recommendation to Cabinet:

That leases on the beach huts are renewed for a further 10 years from when they are currently due to expire.