Millport in Great Cumbrae named as UK's most affordable seaside town

All but two of the 15 most affordable seaside locations to live in the UK are in Scotland with Millport on the island of Great Cumbrae taking the top spot.

The average cost of buying a house in the town off the west coast of the country currently sits at around £80,000, which is £250,000 less than the UK average of just under £330,000.

Irvine in Ayrshire is the second most affordable at £98,000 with Girvan, £110,000 taking fourth place, behind Blackpool on the Lancashire coast in third, with Rothesay making up the top five with an average price of £112,000.

Around half of all the 41 coastal towns where the average cost of buying sits below the UK average are in Scotland, including Dunbar (£289,000), Helensburgh (£235,000), Ayr (£211,000), Saltcoats (£132,000) and Campbeltown (£119,000).

The cost in Millport is 71% below the UK average for a coastal town with Irvine, Girvan, Rothesay and Port Bannatyne all in excess of 60% lower.

At the other end of the table North Berwick is the only Scottish location among the top 50 most expensive coastal towns in the UK.

A house in the East Lothian town will set you back an average of £511,000 making it the eleventh most expensive seaside town in total.

However, it ranks top when it comes to house price performance in the last year, with property values up by a huge 38%.

Meanwhile homeowners in Stranraer have enjoyed a 31% jump in value with Campbeltown (19%) and Saltcoats (29%) among others to see a significant rise in house prices from 2021.

At -13%, Invergordon has seen the biggest drop in property values on an annual basis, with Burntisland (-7%), Girvan (-2%) the only other costal towns in Scotland to have seen a decline.

The most expensive coastal town in the UK is Salcombe in Devon with the average house costing more than £1m, almost double the amount of Padstow in Cornwall.

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented: “As an island nation, coastal towns have always been incredibly popular as locals and holiday makers alike search for that perfect piece of the property market complete with a sea view. However, it’s fair to say that the pandemic has helped to turbocharge house prices pretty much the length and breadth of the British coastline.

“Not only are the most desirable towns across the South West continuing to command incredibly high market values at present, but there has been some huge rates of house price growth in the last year alone.

“But while the pandemic may have helped drive this market performance to some extent, our obsession with being beside the sea is no short-term fad and so investing in a coastal property is always a smart move.”