Cost of a seaside home has 'more than doubled'

Padstow in Cornwall is the second most expensive place in which to buy a seaside home

The cost of owning a home by the sea has more that doubled over the past decade, the Halifax bank has said.

It also found that property prices in seven out of 10 seaside towns in England and Wales have seen greater increases than the national average since 2001.

Wadebridge in Cornwall, a few miles inland from the coast, saw the biggest rise in average house prices.

Prices in the town have risen from £100,406 to £370,902.

It is followed by Maryport in the Lake District, and Tenby in west Wales.

The Halifax found that six of the 10 seaside towns that have seen the biggest rise in prices since 2001 are in the north of England or Wales, with three in the south west of England, and one in East Anglia.

However, the 10 most expensive seaside towns remain in the south west of England, with property in Sandbanks in Dorset being the most expensive, followed by Padstow in Cornwall.

The average price of a house in Sandbanks is now £532,652, while in Padstow it is £381,916.

Outside of England, the Mumbles in Swansea has the highest average house prices, at £263,494.

Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Halifax, said: "Seaside towns have always been popular places to live, but they have perhaps become even more so in recent years.

"This is certainly true if we take house prices as an indicator of desirability."

Yet not all seaside towns have high house prices.

At Withernsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the average cost of a home is £99,153.

Rhyl on the north Wales coast has the lowest seaside house prices in Wales, with an average of £121,838.