The British population has always been drawn to the coast, perhaps because we are an island, never more than 70 miles from the sea.

Traditionally, the Victorians would holiday at seaside resorts. Having been in decline for many years, there are signs that some of these are witnessing the beginnings of a renaissance.

However, it is typically other, smaller micro-markets that have secured the status of a prime location over the past few decades, by attracting demand from increasing numbers of people who want to own their own home by the sea.

Premium Living

In our survey of people looking to move home last year, we found that the view from a property is the most valued attribute that buyers are looking for and, for many, a view of the sea is as good as it gets. This means living by the sea comes at a cost. There is a clear price premium for proximity to the coast. Our analysis shows that on average prices within 100m of the coastline of Great Britain are 12.4% higher than those within 1km, although there is substantial variation between different locations

Geographical Variation

The coastal premium is highest in England at 18.7%, compared to 16.6% in Wales and just 1.2% in Scotland where the coastline is vast and complex.

Scotland, including the islands, accounts for more than half of the coastline and the remoteness of some locations, especially in the North and North West, drives the average coastal premium down north of the border. Golfing and sailing hotspots nonetheless play a key role in driving the demand for housing in locations such as Fife, home to St Andrews Golf Course, where coastal properties are over 50% more expensive than those further inland.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, the highest coastal premiums in England occur in the north of the country. Merseyside has the highest premium of all the British counties, with properties near the sea selling for an average of £357k, 87% higher than those inland.

However, the most expensive coastlines can be found in the south. The town of Heswall on the Wirral is the only coastal hotspot outside of the south to make our top 30 list.

Dorset has the most expensive coastline of any county with an average sale price of £393k for property within 100m of the coast. In part this reflects the very high prices in the long-established ultra prime coastal hotspots of Sandbanks and Canford Cliffs.

Though the seafront in Sandbanks still retains its crown as the most expensive in Britain, in the last year the average price in Salcombe was slightly higher than across Sandbanks and Canford Cliffs combined.

*Average sale price of property within 100m of the coast **Average premium to live within 100m of the coast. Source: Savills Research using Land Registry and Registers of Scotland. NB: Based on the average sale price in 2014 of property within 100m from the coastline compared to 100m – 1km away

Mixed demand

The demand for prime coastal hotspots comes from a mix of sources. Very strong house price growth in the years leading up to 2007 reflected the strong demand from buyers coming from London – often with bonus money – looking for a holiday home.

This all changed when the credit crunch hit. Since then demand has reverted to a combination of local buyers, downsizers and those looking for a change of lifestyle. This generally resulted in prices being repegged to lower budgets, though the intermittent spikes in demand from second home buyers meant a lot of short term volatility.

Re-entering the market

By mid 2013 values reached their lowest levels since the downturn at -26% below their 2007 peak. However, over the past 18 months, the prime coastal property markets have seen evidence of discretionary second home buyers re-entering the market more consistently, meaning average values have increased by 12.7%.

This means that, despite the readjustments since the credit crunch, our list of the top 30 most expensive coastal locations has seen an average price increase of 38.5% over the past 10 years, outperforming the regions they sit in, which saw an average growth of 31%.

Source: Savills Research using Land Registry