Beachside bliss: spectacular coastal homes for sale this week 

Guide price: £2,250,000

Spectacular sea views on your doorstep? Check. Private mooring? Check. A perfectly formed 1.22-acre woodland bursting with seasonal bluebells and wildflowers? Check, check, check! 

If this idyllic description is ticking all of your good-life boxes, then you could do a lot worse than to up sticks and take up residence in Turnstones. That’s the name of this lovely five-bedroom, four-bathroom Cornish property, built in 2006 and on sale through Knight Frank.

Not only is this a seaside lovers’ paradise, it’s also great for motoring enthusiasts – so feel free to bring a few cars with you. You’ll need them for whizzing down your private driveway and to amply stock your five-car garage.

And the big-ticket sea view we mention? That would be of Loe beach – a stretch of family-friendly coastline between Falmouth and Truro. So if you can tear yourself away from lounging in one of your three sitting rooms or manicured garden, then all the riches of the south Cornish coast are your oyster. 

For a pleasant day’s jaunt, hop in your boat (you have a boathouse to keep it in) and sail off to the local watersports centre and beach café or the Pandora Inn. If you really feel like pushing the boat out, set sail to the beautiful cathedral city of Truro, 5 miles away, and enjoy a spot of boutique shopping.

Guide price: £800,000

If you enjoy the city life, it can be heart wrenching to abandon the addictive buzz, even for the pleasures of living close to the sea. 

The solution? Britain’s answer to Barcelona – Brighton. 

Regularly voted ‘The Happiest Capital in the UK’ you may not have much elbow room on Brighton beach when summer arrives – but then again, those blue health benefits are for sharing. 

Also, your perfectly appointed four-bed chalet bungalow is a stone’s throw away from Saltdean beach in Brighton’s namesake coastal village. It is to this beach we would retreat when the tourists start swarming around the main drag.

The four bedrooms and three bathrooms in your home will come in handy for hosting extended family on those sunny summer days (and evenings). As will the sleek kitchen, which opens into a spacious sitting room. Which brings us to the open-plan bungalow format of this property, which offers easy accessibility, making it the perfect ‘forever’ home. 

When you are all frolicked out on the beach, head for the hills. One of Saltdean’s beast features is the network of footpaths giving access to South Downs National Park. 

Benefiting from the modern touch of a local interior designer, the immaculately renovated, easy-living property is offered through King & Chasemore.  

Guide price: two-bedroom flats from £150,000

Why should you be forced to choose between the seaside and the forest? At the surprisingly pocket-friendly Millendreath Beach Resort, you don’t have to. With this holiday home retreat you can have one foot in the sea and another in 65 acres of woodland – all in the same morning. 

And if our pictures don’t have you scurrying to the nearest mortgage adviser, then the other amenities just might. Your two-bed holiday apartment gives you access to a private beach and a coastal path that takes you right into the heart of the quaint village of Looe, Cornwall, in 15 minutes. 

Unsurprisingly, these second-phase, limited–release flats are going, fast. Karl Hancock, estate agent at Stratton Creber, reveals that the properties are in high demand with all age ranges, but steadfast buyers tend to be in the 55+ age range. Hancock says: “This resort tends to attract older people who have the disposable income to purchase the properties. 

“This is the only park in the vicinity on the coast. There is a nice fish and ship shop called the Coddy Shack up the road and a nice restaurant called Little Barn.” 

The properties are only suitable for second-homers, as they cannot be used for residential accommodation full-time. Hancock says that the annual ground rent is £1,025 and there is a service charge of £400 per year.

Guide price: £1,595,000

According to the estate agent’s particulars, this house, known as ‘End of The Road’: “could be simply described as an extraordinary new home that has been designed, built and finished to a level that is rarely seen or appreciated in our region”.

The new contemporary home was designed by local, award-winning architects SMG of Sheringham and features a sleek German ‘Hacker’ kitchen with Miele appliances, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a vast open-plan living area.

There’s also an outdoor kitchen that makes the most of the breathtaking views, and a utility-cum-boot room that will be handy when you return from those brisk coastal walks.

The property is on sale through Sowersbys, Holt, and is just a stone’s throw from the resort town of Cromer, where you’ll find the National Trust Felbrigg Hall, stunning Victorian pier, the RNLI museum and lots of shops, pubs and restaurants. What’s not to love?

We spoke to Edward Church, head of the Strutt & Parker Canterbury office about the appeal of coastal living. He says: “It’s no secret that many people see retirement, and often the decision to downsize, as a chance to move to the coast – there’s great lure in the promise of fresh sea air, a quieter pace of life, and housing stock which lends itself well to older buyers.

“Our latest Housing Futures survey found that while only 4% of respondents aged over 66 years old currently live on the coast, 20% said they’d like to live by the coast within the next five years – this is something we find each year, which highlights that the appeal of this lifestyle is enduring.   

“With this heightened demand, it’s important to approach buying on the coast wisely.”