Beadnell: The coastal idyll with a lack of affordable housing

With its luscious landscape and stunning sea views, there's not a lot not to like about Beadnell.

The Northumberland coastal village has been picked out by The Times for being one of the coolest places to move to - but only if you can afford to.

For some locals the issue around affordable housing has been heating up for years.

Demand for homes is sky high due to second property owners and holiday lets springing up, taking advantage of the harbour sunsets and sprawling Beadnell Bay.

And while tourism plays a major part in the economy during the summer, through the winter there's a limited number of lights on, with would-be home owners priced out of the market.

Working behind the bar at historic village pub - the Craster Arms - is 22-year-old Lacey-Mae Gerrard.

She dreams of owning her own home but admits "it's extremely difficult" to be able to stay.

"There's nowhere for people to live," she said.

"I had a place in Seahouses before but then the landlord decided to turn it into a holiday let, so I had a few months to leave.

"I have found a place thankfully but for people wanting to buy houses long-term it's pretty much impossible - the prices are just so unreasonable for the area."

Colleague Wayne Johnson says the village can turn into a "complete ghost town" during the winter.

"You can't just rely on one person to come and prop the bar up - you need a community," he said.

"During the summer months when the whole place is booming it's great for trade. In the winter when those people decide to go away then there is that decline in trade for the small businesses, so it's striking that fine balance."

Mum-of-two Laura Keen lives in the centre of the village with husband Michael and her 10-year-old twins Oliver and Scarlett-Rose.

The 29-year-old, who works as a higher level teaching assistant, has lived in her rented housing association home for a decade.

She says she had been lucky to continue living where she grew up and to secure a property that was built as affordable housing.

Now she wants to buy her own home, which in turn would release her current house to another family - but to do that she knows she will likely have to move.

"There's no next step," she said.

"We want to stay but we can't afford any houses that are coming up on the market here.

"My mum is here, we are quite involved in the community, in the parish, the children go to school here, we have all of our network here."

Mrs Keen knows of three other families who have had to move to urban areas like Newcastle and Gateshead in order to be able to buy.

She wants Northumberland County Council to build more affordable homes and has helped organise a campaign.

"I can understand why people fall in love with it here, but we also need to look after our own and our own family and our own community - whereas we feel like we are getting pushed out," she said.

"In the winter you can go from one side to the other and not bump into anyone - in the summer we have had people park in our drive.

"You can understand why the owners want them as a holiday home - they can get £800 a week, instead of £800 a month."

Fellow campaigner Rachel Douglas, who lives in nearby Seahouses, manages a holiday-let housekeeping business - some of the owners live as far away as Dubai and Australia.

This weekend she says about 15% of her properties are occupied by visitors - that's more than double on previous years, she says.

But the "staycation boom" is making it difficult to find staff who live nearby, with some travelling from Blyth or Morpeth where they can afford to live.

"It's about balancing that see-saw - we welcome tourists, we need tourists, but we also need our community and we also need to support our community as well," she added.

Estate agent Helen Kelly said she recently sold a compact one-bedroom flat for more than £150,000, and all too typically to someone from outside the area.

She said in 2021 for every house on the market there were at least 20 to 30 viewers lined up.

"Within 48 hours of viewings going ahead we were having offers coming in left, right and centre," she said.

"We have seen a massive increase in interest, especially over the last two years with the Covid pandemic."

She said some homes are being snapped up for up to £20,000 more than residents can afford.

A petition demanding affordable homes has called on Northumberland County Council to take "urgent action" to increase housing stock available only to people with "true links" to the area. It is set to be discussed at a council meeting later this month.

The council says it has committed £48m over the next five years to tackle affordable housing across the county - and a number of affordable homes have been built or are being planned, including some in and around Beadnell and nearby North Sunderland.

There is already a ban on new-build properties becoming second homes.

Conservative council leader Glen Sanderson admitted the housing issue was not easy but said the council was determined to play its part "to get this put right".

It is finalising its Local Plan - a legal document setting out its vision for housing, which will need government approval.

"We do understand why it's really important that local people should be able to live where they have grown up or where they have got work or nearer families," he said.

"We have heard recently that in Alnmouth, for example, houses are going completely off the register in terms of price, making it completely impossible for almost anyone to afford to buy one," he said.

He says the area has had a "huge increase" in visitors who have experienced what Northumberland has to offer and wanted to buy property there.

"I am very pleased they do, but it mustn't be at the expensive of the social and economic balance that we need to have in these places - so that we don't get places like Beadnell and Craster effectively empty during the winter."

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