The community lost to the sea: Empty plots of land on Britain's most eroded coastline go on sale for up to £8,000 - as pensioners are told to sell their homes or pay to demolish them

By SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER Published: 01:24, 27 July 2026 | Updated: 01:26, 27 July 2026 Pensioners, widowers and hard-working homeowners living on Britain's most eroded coastline have been ordered to leave their homes – while some homeowners have listed empty plots of land for sale in a bid to recoup their losses.  Residents of the quiet village of Hemsby, Norfolk, have been forced to sell up and move out or watch on as huge chunks of land fell into the sea over the past three decades.  When Storm Goretti hit in January, many were ordered to evacuate clifftop homes after days of severe erosion left buildings teetering on the brink of collapse. In just a week, the storm stripped away another 30ft of land, with 14 residents served notices ordering them to move out. In total, some 36 properties have been lost or demolished since 2013. Now, the coastline has reached Fakes Road – a street left perilously on the edge with dozens of homes demolished this year alone.  One resident told us when he bought his house in 2010, surveyors assured him it would take 100 years for the coast to reach his home. But it took around five.  Some locals have accused the council of 'scaremongering' residents into knocking down their homes, while elderly couples told the Daily Mail they fear they will be left with nothing. Great Yarmouth Borough Council currently provides 'support' for Hemsby locals should they wish to demolish their home. However, if a Section 78 notice is served for an urgent demolition due to imminent danger, costs could fall on the owner. NOW: Homeowners living on Britain's 'most eroded coastline' face being left with nothing as properties are demolished amid council fears they could end up in the sea BEFORE: An aerial view of what Fakes Road previously looked like, positioned behind another street of houses Pictured: A view of one of the plots of land up for sale on the street, where a home was recently demolished Two plots of land on Fakes Road  are on auction, for £10,000 and £8,000, respectively, with both adverts suggesting it would be ideal for 'someone looking to park a mobile home/caravan' Meanwhile other residents have echoed his concerns that travellers may take up base on the empty stretches of land. Pictured: Empty plots on the coastline The listing for one plot of land going up for auction for £8,000 Your browser does not support iframes. And affected residents receive no compensation and also face paying the remainder of their mortgage when their property is rubble. They also have to foot the bill for any possible beach clean-up. Meanwhile, standard home insurance does not cover properties lost to coastal erosion, with previous residents who lost their properties having been denied payouts from insurers.   Two plots of land on the street are up for auction at £10,000 and £8,000, respectively, as their owners appear to try to recoup some of their financial losses. Both adverts suggest it would be ideal for 'someone looking to park a mobile home/caravan'.  But neighbours are concerned the plots could be bought by travellers who would pitch up caravans on the land.   David Martin, 72, told the Daily Mail: 'We're losing all these houses now, and then we're probably going to get a load of gypsies turn up. It's just getting ridiculous now. 'And if you've knocked the place down, why should they be able to sell it to someone to live on it when you've knocked their house down?' The former lorry driver, who has invested 35 years of time and money into his home, also accused the Government of declaring 'war' on the community through inaction.   'I'm 72, I have had a stroke and two heart attacks. What do I do when they knock my house down? Where are we going to go? We're not getting any money or anything,' he continued as he estimated that he has just three years left in his home.  'You live in the house, you don't want to decorate it, because you never know when it's going to be knocked down. 'You're just waiting to sort of die, as it were, really. You've got nothing left. And this council don't do anything.' He added: 'I should be spending my money on my retirement now and having a good life. 'But now I'm back to where I was when I first bought a house and trying to save enough money. To make for my family another home. I'm not gonna have a pension.' Insisting he has to stay in the area for his son's education, he said: 'We just have to stay here, or stay in caravans until we go in the sea. 'I'll probably die going into the sea anyway, because I didn't buy this to get kicked out like this.' Debbie Rees, 62, and her neighbour Richard, 53, have accused the council of placing pressure on homeowners to up and leave their cherished homes.   'They're just trying to scaremonger us really,' she said. 'There was an old lady up the road, and she lost her husband, then a week later they were saying she had to leave – but she had more room.'  Valerie Nash said locals are 'determined to fight the council' and stay where they are Ian Lawes, 62, who lost his wife Janice 18 months ago, similarly echoed that he felt residents were facing pressures to leave and demolish their homes Valerie, 82, and her son Paul, 62, voiced their disappointment with Great Yarmouth Borough Council, as they believe not enough is being done to help Hemsby survive  Residents Valerie and Angela Hammond overlook the coastline, which has edged significantly closer to them in recent years Debbie, who has lived on the street for five years, had a survey carried out on her home before she purchased it, which said it would last her 'lifetime'.  'But they want it to go back to nature, don't they? That's what it's all about,' her neighbour Richard said. 'The next thing that will happen is gypsies will move in on [the plots of land]... I hope. 'It's a beautiful place. It's not too bad for me, but most are old, and are scared into it. I have got other choices, but a lot of them haven't.' On one of the plots of land up for sale, Bob Walton, 84, said: 'If somebody buys it and puts a trailer on there, you [will] get a lot of gypsies come up here, won't we? 'Because you can't really do anything. It's kind of a useless plot of land.' Huge pools of water have emerged on one evacuated plot as the local water board failed to switch off the water to a demolished home on Fakes Road. Richard and Debbie claim the council was notified weeks ago.   'They just haven't bothered to switch the water,' Debbie said. 'Helps the erosion, doesn't it?' Ian Lawes, 62, who lost his wife just 18 months ago, explained that while he has not been told he has to leave yet, he has been warned about the possibility.  'I'm massively emotional,' he said of the home he owned with his late wife, Janice, for 16 years. 'I'm hoping that I've got another winter in it. I don't know if I'll get to pension age before it happens. 'As it is now, I'm going to have to buy another house. I'm in the fortunate position that I didn't, I'm 62, and I didn't expect to have another mortgage.  'I'm going to get no help because I'm single, I'm working, and I have some savings and a pension – all of which are going to get wiped out.  'The demolition is the biggest thing,' he added. 'You're faced with losing your home, and then you're faced with the possibility of a bill between £20,000 and £30,000 for the privilege of having it knocked down. It's going to scare a lot of people.' The widower added: 'Their preparedness plan, as they call it, prepares them for the demolition side of it but nothing else. There is no compensation.'  When he initially bought his home in 2010, surveyors assured him it would take 100 years for the coast to reach a certain point near his home, but it took around five. He also accused the council of changing their red 'danger' coastal erosion zone 'for whatever argument suits them at the time'. In coastal management risk mapping, red zones represent areas that face immediate threat of erosion within the next 20 years if No Active Intervention (NAI) is taken.  Properties or any outbuildings that are determined to be at high risk of becoming structurally unsound due to coastal erosion must be demolished. 'I've heard the comments, "You bought a house near the sea." I get that. But I think what people don't realise is we had searches done, and they said 100 years. 'And we said, you know, even if it hits in 50, it'll be a bit hard for the boys, inheritance will be gone, but we'll be okay, we'll be long gone.' Elsewhere, Valerie Nash, 82, was told she had around 50 to 75 years before anything would affect her property when she purchased it in 2017.  'I think most of the other people were told more or less the same sort of thing. They were never told that it was going to go like this,' the recently widowed woman explained.  'We're a bit disappointed with the council because every other person, every other village along the whole Norfolk coast is getting coastal defences apart from Hemsby. They won't do it for us.' She explained that she, alongside other locals, had been told by the council that they want the area to go 'back to nature'. To this, she raised questions as to why compensation schemes had not been set up for residents years ago.  'You're just left with a flat piece of land and nothing, and half the time they can't even rehouse you,' she said.  Cinder blocks have been placed along the coastline by residents in a bid to slow down further erosion Locals get no compensation when they lose their homes. Pictured: Another angle of an empty plot for sale While the council can order you to demolish your property, residents keep the land, hence some are selling in a bid to recoup some losses. 'We're all determined we're going to fight the council and we're not going to go,' the 82-year-old said. Her son Paul, 62, called out the lack of action to save the village, which according to the Save Hemsby Coastline Organisation, generates £80million of tourism revenue.  'You go further down the coast to somewhere like Sea Palling and Horsey – behind their sea wall there is nothing but scrubland.  'And yet they build a 20ft-high solid concrete wall just to save it.' The £2million project on the stretch of beach between Happisburgh and Winterton began in 2024. An Environment Agency report stated repairs to the wall would 'prevent damage to the Broads' and locals, the BBC reported. Paul added: 'Lots of people really just don't understand why or what they've got against Hemsby surviving.' Mother-of-one Karen, 46, who rents a home on the street slowly falling into the sea, said she felt 'sad' at the state of affairs.  'I know this is going to sound like a bit of a cliché, but I've never actually lived in a place that's as nice as this,' she said.  'A lot of people have said that it almost feels like they've been scaremongered out so that it can all be demolished in one go. 'I forget how many [homes] were in the plots, you know, when you drive past, and you see them there, and then one day they're all gone.' A stone's throw down the road, Daniel Hammond, 82, and his wife Angela, 79, rent a property overlooking the eroding coast. He said: 'There's no future in being here... because nobody knows what's happening.' His wife continued: 'It is really awful for everyone.'  An aerial view of water filling one empty plot of land which locals say was caused by a failure to switch the water off despite reports to the local authority A passerby walks past scattered cinder blocks used to slow down erosion on Hemsby's coast A Great Yarmouth Borough Council spokesperson said: 'It was an extremely difficult winter for our coastline with an unprecedented rate of coastal erosion.  'The dunes in Hemsby have seen about 50 per cent of the erosion predicted for the entirety of the next 30 years. More than 10 metres of land has been lost in just over 12 months. 'Council staff continue to liaise with people to make sure residents and the public are safe and we are working closely with those affected to offer support and advice and explain the options available. This has included drop-in sessions for residents and other activity. 'The coastal management team also continues to monitor the erosion closely, but precisely predicting the rate of erosion, climate change and the increasing number of named storms is impossible. 'Those affected are enduring an extremely difficult situation and the council has worked with – and is continuing to work with – residents who have lost their main residence and has assisted with alternative housing solutions.  'A number of affected households received housing advice but chose not to take up the support offered, but we continue to work with them should their circumstances change. 'Doing nothing is simply not an option along one of the fastest eroding coastlines in northern Europe, and there will inevitably be further loss of land. How we plan for that and provide information about the options available to people remains the primary focus. 'The council and others, including the MP, continue to press the Government for changes to legislation and funding that enable better support for people impacted by coastal erosion – something which is a national issue and affects many communities across the UK. 'The council cannot currently legally offer people compensation when a property is lost to coastal erosion.' The Daily Mail has approached the Environment Agency and Anglian Water for comment.