£600,000,000 homes ‘fall into sea’ due to coastal erosion

This map shows where homes are most at risk of falling into the sea as campaigners warn nearly £600million worth could be lost by 2100.

About 21 villages and hamlets on the English coast have been identified as vulnerable.

Climate change group One Home used data from the Environment Agency’s National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping (NCERM) dataset with a 5% confidence level, indicating a less than 5% chance of the coast eroding further inland than the estimate.

The value of property damage on land that could be affected by coastal erosion by 2100 has been estimated at £584m using average local authority values ​​or Rightmove site specific values.

The group has put together a map showing what coastal management plans are in place in different coastal areas and the level of protection.

The coastal communities identified by One Home that could lose the most homes are in Cornwall, Cumbria, Dorset, East Yorkshire, Essex, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Northumberland, Norfolk and Sussex.

Angela Terry, Chief Executive of One Home, said: “Sea levels are rising as global temperatures rise and bigger waves hit our shores during severe storms.

“These irreversible changes mean that some cliffs are crumbling quickly.

“We cannot turn the tide or build a wall around the entire coast, so we urgently need to help coastal communities prepare for the damage to come.

“Coastal management plans are publicly available documents, but most people are unaware of their existence.

“Many homeowners are unaware that their properties are at risk or that decisions have been made about whether or not to protect them.

“SMPs are not required by law, so new developments can continue.

“Funding is not guaranteed so even where communities are to be saved the money may not be there, giving people false hope that their homes will be protected in the long term.

“One Home’s goal with this map is to explain SMPs in an easy-to-understand way so homeowners are sufficiently informed to make timely decisions about their properties to reduce future damage.

“Currently there is no compensation system for vulnerable houses.

“Owners could be asked to pay for their homes to be demolished at the same time as paying their mortgage.”

Ian Brennan, chairman of the Norfolk charity Save Hemsby Coastline, said more than 90 homes in Hemsby are at risk of going into the sea over the next 25 years if nothing is done.

Retired telecoms executive 63 said Save Hemsby Coastline was formed 10 years ago when several houses were destroyed during a storm surge and is urging coastal defence.

“People here are very nervous,” he said.

“Anytime there’s a storm, those who live within sight and earshot of the sea fear it will be the one that means they lose their homes.

“It’s taking a huge toll on her mental health.”

Meanwhile, TV producer Lucy Ansbro said she spent £500,000 to protect her home in Thorpeness, Suffolk, from coastal erosion.

The 54-year-old said her neighbor’s mansion, which was once worth £2million, was demolished in October 2022 as receding cliffs made it unsafe.

“Owners need to understand how quickly things can change when you live on vulnerable stretches of coastline,” she said.

“Appraisals and bar exams don’t include erosion, but when I bought this home in 2009, I knew there was a risk of erosion.

“However, I never thought it would be this bad. None of my research indicated it would ever happen that soon.

“The worst case scenario predicted that I would lose five meters to the sea within 50 years, but in fact I lost five meters in 2020 alone.

“Houses behind mine, less than 50m from the cliff, have recently sold for almost £1million.

“Nobody takes this seriously or accepts that communities are at serious risk.”

More than a third of England’s coastline is marked as “no active intervention”, One Home said, meaning nothing is being done.

The other two layers of protection in SMPs are ‘line holding’, meaning defenses are maintained and improved if funding is found, and ‘controlled realignment’, where the shoreline can be moved or withdrawn in a controlled manner.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “We know the devastating effects that flooding and coastal changes can have, which is why improving the resilience of people and communities is our top priority.

“From 2015 to 2021 we have invested £1.2 billion to better protect around 200,000 homes from coastal erosion and sea flooding.

“However, climate change means our coastline is changing at an accelerated rate, which means we and coastal authorities in some places need to help local communities adapt and move away from the current coastline.

“We work closely with communities and local authorities to provide support and guidance, including through the Coastal Accelerator Transition Programme.

“Anyone living, visiting or working along the coast can already find out about coastal risks, current and proposed coastal management at gov.uk.”

Click here to view the One Home map.

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