Data drawn from estate agents by Alto software has pinpointed the ten best places in the UK to invest in a seaside holiday home.
Heading the rankings was picturesque Southwold in Suffolk, where property values climbed 94% over the past ten years, from £231,236 to £448,106, far outperforming the wider market.
In second place came Sandbanks in Dorset, the millionaires’ playground, where a 93% surge took prices from £664,655 to £1,282,565.
North Yorkshire’s Saltburn-by-the-Sea took third spot, with a 75% increase lifting prices from £129,363 to £227,022.
Behind the figures is Alto, which supplies property management software and is connected to over 6,000 estate agents nationwide.
Every coastal hotspot popular with UK holiday home buyers was shortlisted, and the ten where values had climbed most quickly across the past decade were then singled out.
Across those ten locations, rents have grown at comparable rates.
Anyone wishing to see the methodology and data used to compile the list can find both on the Alto website.
Commenting on the findings, Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson, CEO of Alto, said: “Seaside holiday homes can still be a great investment if you pick the right place.
“The best reason to buy a seaside home is to have a wonderful place where you can relax with your loved ones and earn good rental returns when you are not there.
“They can be a fantastic investment if you look at the data carefully and pinpoint where prices and rental yields have grown most over the last decade.
“Southwold narrowly beat the more famous Sandbanks because its percentage rise was greater but all the locations in the top ten would make good investments and will provide a good return in the long-term.
“Prices shot up for seaside homes during Covid as people looked to escape cities for a simpler life.
“There was a correction after that and holiday home taxes in the form of punitive second home council tax charges in some popular areas have also affected the market.
“But global warming is making many parts of Europe too hot in the summer and British coastal resorts are an increasingly attractive option for many holidaymakers.
“Alto data allows agents to analyse long-term sales and rental data, going back decades, to highlight the very best holiday home investment opportunities.”
Estate and letting agents use Alto, the UK’s number one AI CRM software, which was built to handle lettings, sales, client accounting and property management through one platform.
The system is used by around 35% of estate agents in the UK, and it cuts the time users spend on paperwork by an average of 10 hours each week.
UK’s top performing seaside holiday locations over the last decade
- Southwold, Suffolk: up 94% from £231,236 in 2016 to £448,106 in 2026
- Sandbanks, Dorset: up 93% from £664,655 to £1,282,565
- Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire: up 75% from £129,363 to £227,022
- Croyde, Devon: up 68% from £439,975 to £740,747
- West Wittering, West Sussex: up 63% from £598,788 to £977,282
- Padstow, Cornwall: up 60% from £443,396 to £711,458
- Falmouth, Cornwall: up 59% from £226,217 to £360,332
- Burnham Market, Norfolk: up 56% from £457,050 to £715,452
- Margate, Kent: up 54% from £202,276 to £312,195
- Salcombe, Devon: up 53% from £539,950 to £828,630
