Advice on buying a beach hut

[Derbybound2022]

My family love the sea and I have long been thinking of buying a beach hut somewhere in Kent or East Sussex. Does anyone own a beach hut and can advice on how much upkeep/costs they have? Ideally, I'd like to let it but would be happy to keep just for family use. We are definitely looking at a cheaper hut as I know they can be ridiculously expensive.

I’ve just watched a TT video someone posted about their beach hut in Essex, maybe you could post in the comments & ask if they’d mind you messaging some questions?
vm.tiktok.com/ZMNvasCuY/

Thank you

Beach huts are brilliant. Some areas have restrictions on ownership if you don’t live in the borough, so be careful about that. I know this applies in Brighton and Hove.
You can also get council lease beach huts in some areas. These are great value compared to purchasing and you have no external maintenance costs, but there’s obviously no element of the investment rising if that’s something you’re bothered about. There’s also a waiting list (in our case it was 4 years).
Check proximity to facilities. Ours has a toilet block nearby that has drinking water taps and even a separate washing up sink. Really handy.

In terms of costs, on top of the lease we pay just over £100 for contents insurance. We have had one break in, but nothing was taken.
You may also be liable for small business rates, but if you only use one non-residential property, you’ll be exempt. For us, it would have been about £350/year if we were eligible to claim. For a private hut, there’ll be a ground lease fee to pay every year which will depend on the council.