Asset 1

Living on the edge.

A house by the coast may sound like a dream, but the prospect of your home falling into the sea is a nightmare. And for some, it may soon be a reality. Coastal erosion threatens households, industries, and infrastructure in many places around the UK.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey stated: “One in six people in England are already living in properties at risk of flooding”. A combination of coastal erosion, rising sea levels and climate change all contribute to this nationwide issue.

Our map shows how some of the most at-risk places are set to be impacted by this creeping threat

You can also take a look at data for the 30 most at risk locations to see if your home is in trouble. Find out how your home’s location could affect your house insurance.

MOST AFFECTED REGION

DANGER BELOW
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10 of the most at-risk residential areas

We looked at 10 of the areas most at risk from coastal erosion according to data on England and Wales from the Environment Agency. Click on each area to find out how much the coast is set to erode in the future.

We’ll also tell you how many houses are in the area and what the average insurance premium is. You can even see how much land we could lose to the sea over the next 20, 50, and 100 years without intervention.

(Click the images below for more information)

1. Happisburgh, Norfolk
2. Kessingland, Suffolk
3. Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire
4. Withernsea, East Riding of Yorkshire
5. Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
6. Filey, North Yorkshire
7. Camber Sands, East Sussex
8. Pevensey Bay, East Sussex
9. Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex
10. Bognor Regis, West Sussex

Disclaimer: Coastal erosion estimates are based on data from the Environment Agency, which has predicted these figures based on a 50% confidence level if there is no active intervention. Average rebuild costs are based on Confused.com data from January to March in 2019. Rebuild costs not included in Confused.com data were based on propertydata.co.uk data. Average home insurance premiums, which are taken from Confused.com data from January to March in 2019, cover joint buildings policies and are based on yearly payments

Any claims made within this asset about specific buildings or sites being affected by erosion are purely speculative due to data being accurate to a post code level. Animations and claims do not take into consideration specific detailed council plans, and animations represent average erosion in that given post code.

TOWN

AREA

Happisburgh, a town just under 20 miles away from Norwich, is the most at-risk area of coastal erosion in the UK over the next 20 years. There are 10,377 houses in the NR12 postcode, which includes Happisburgh, Waxham, and the more inland towns of Coltishall, Stalham, and Wroxham. You’d pay an average of £295,182 for a property here. And the average home insurance premium (buildings and contents) is £170.02. Here the shoreline could erode back into the town. The figures below show how far back it’s expected to move.

This could mean that houses and holiday lets close to the shoreline could fall into the sea. If residents’ houses were destroyed beyond repair, the data shows that the average rebuild cost for houses in the postcode area is currently £229,816.

Up to 20 years: 97 m
Up to 50 years: 150 m
Up to 100 years: 200 m

Data Sources

England Coastal Risk Mapping - extent of potential coastal erosion based on confidence intervals and multiple time frames ? Last updated 10/09/2018 ? © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right ? https://data.gov.uk/dataset/7564fcf7-2dd2-4878-bfb9-11c5cf971cf9/national-coastal-erosion-risk-mapping-ncerm-national-2018-2021

National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping (NCERM) - SMP20 - Lavernock Point to St Ann’s Head ? Last updated 04/05/2018 ? © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right ? https://data.gov.uk/dataset/7564fcf7-2dd2-4878-bfb9-11c5cf971cf9/national-coastal-erosion-risk-mapping-ncerm-national-2018-2021

National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping (NCERM) - SMP21 - West of Wales St Ann’s Head to Great Orme ? Last updated 04/05/2018 ? © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right ? https://data.gov.uk/dataset/1da1a76b-c728-4223-9817-bd278f90111d/national-coastal-erosion-risk-mapping-ncerm-smp21-west-of-wales-st-ann-s-head-to-great-orme

The above links are the original data sources, some of which are no longer available to access. However, you can download the data in PDF format here.

Number of houses in each area gathered from Nomisweb, Office for National Statistics, and Census 2011 Data ? National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2019

Postcodes were provided by Search by LocationIQ.com

Insurance premiums were provided by Confused.com based on average quotes from January to March 2019.

House prices not included in Confused.com’s data gathered from propertydata.co.uk

Top 30 locations at risk

# Location 20 Years 50 Years 100 Years Houses at Risk Avg. Property Value Avg. Rebuild Cost
Hull (HU11)58m146m292m5,285£222,711£196,596
Shoreham-by-Sea (BN43)40m100m200m10,287£488,225£237,927
Lancing (BN15)40m100m200m12,533£324,082£210,459
Worthing (BN11)40m100m200m17,335£432,357£286,243
Liverpool (L37)40m100m200m10,143£335,750£226,339
Worthing (BN12)35m100m200m9,532£512,933£292,843
Bexhill-on-Sea (TN39)30m75m150m12,699£434,168£259,587
Pevensey (BN24)30m75m150m4,377£377,672£242,127
Eastbourne (BN22)30m75m150m14,317£284,705£228,349
Liverpool (L38)30m75m150m1,125£332,500£349,389
Bournemouth (BH6)29m75m150m10,682£418,791£261,142
Norwich (NR11)28m75m150m8,821£390,210£348,774
Winchelsea (TN36)24m100m200m1,332£305,000£175,200
Driffield (YO25)21m53.75m107.5m15,120£237,554£218,856
Seaham (SR7)15m38.75m77.5m13,919£214,775£173,748
Peterlee (SR8)15m37.5mm75m15,855£141,251£184,395
Rye (TN31)15m37.5m75m7,095£415,446£283,429
Hastings (TN35)15m37.5m75m7,724£338,249£278,729
Saint Leonards-on-sea (TN38)15m37.5m75m13,441£319,238£247,721
Eastbourne (BN23)15m60m150m13,341£268,048£196,232
Norwich (NR12)14m65m130m10,377£295,182£229,816
Folkestone (CT19)14m37.5m75m12,160£273,580£218,714
Eastbourne (BN20)13m37.5m75m10,061£433,788£263,394
Liverpool (L23)13m75m150m13,184£257,101£233,994
Hunstanton (PE36)11m37.5m75m5,894£311,667£258,222
Clacton-on-Sea (CO15)7m37.5m75m21,838£273,497£221,113
Newhaven (BN9)7m18.75m37.5m6,015£470,983£295,567
Cromer (NR27)6.5m75m150m6,529£300,900£259,800
Bamburgh (NE69)6m15m30m420--
Seahouses (NE68)6m15m30m1,341£248,000£193,000

Data for Bamburgh was not available. Data was ranked against the 20 year column