Agenda item

To consider an annual review of the Beach Huts and Chalets service, for a 12-month period between 2023/24 and 2024/25. 

Proposed time 45 minutes

Councillor Bailey commented that there was a proposed increase in charges for leased beach huts and chalets that averaged 5% and there was an increasing number of people on the waiting list. In a commercial business the response to that level of demand would be to increase the leased charges, to get a better throughput of people on the list and to test the market to understand what people would be prepared to pay.

Councillor Bailey added that it would be good to have people not waiting so long on the waiting list and it might encourage people to hand back unused huts rather than hanging on to them.

Councillor Bailey stated that the average booking for the weekly lets was 46% but that was skewered by the winter bookings and that meant only about 25% bookings during the summer.

Councillor Bailey suggested that the long term lets could be increased by £60, £70 or £80 which would be about 14% which would cover the costs of maintenance in the winter. The Council could move approximately 50% of its weekly huts into long term huts.

Councillor Shires commented on what that might mean for staff costs and maintenance as well as the public expectation for some people as their sense of wellbeing as being by the coast. There could be a reputational damage if the Council went quickly towards a commercial approach.

Councillor Bailey commented that those who would lose out would be the casual users, but the figures suggested that there weren’t many and those people who regularly used the huts could continue to do so. It wasn’t a necessity to have a beach hut and increasing charges could help fund essential Council services. Added to this, the decision to use a management company could be deferred until the council understood the market level price point.

Councillor Cushing commented that the council earned £41,000 from the weekly lets. It was unclear what the net annual figure was although it looked like 50% of that was spent on the costs. That seemed a small figure when there is such a long waiting list. People were also paying to be on the waiting list and getting nothing for it.

Councillor Boyle stated it was likely that a commercial organisation would increase the prices anyhow and that if it was not a commercial success the council would then have to pick up a failed service.

Councillor Heinrich asked about the comparison with other authorities and how they ran the service and how did the charges compare. It did seem that the service needed to be run on more of a commercial basis and it was unclear whether that was better run by the council or by a commercial operator. However, option D within the report did have some attraction which would allow huts to be sublet by companies. It could also be possible to hold back some units for people who needed them for health reasons.

The Estates and Asset Strategy Manager advised that any assessment of rents would involve comparable information from other areas and that was undertaken for all of the council’s assets. That information could be provided. 

Councillor Hankins commented that the market was informing the Council with the growing waiting list that there was something wrong with the pricing and there was a need to increase the charges.

Councillor Shires advised that the estates team had managed good lease agreements in the past and would have every faith in getting a good deal on a commercial agreement with an external operator.

Recommended that – (A) the conversion of weekly lets to long term lets be explored with 50% of the huts being converted this year and then being reviewed on whether a further 50% increase was a good idea,

(B) the charges for lets of the long-leased huts be increased by 14% this year,

(C) the risks to Option E - lease of both weekly lets and leased units to one commercial operator or create 4 smaller location-based opportunities be fully investigated, and

(D) Options D Lease all weekly lets commercially, allowing the tenant to hire their unit and Option E be further explored for the future of the Beach Huts and Chalets Service.