What about Lowestoft? I'm just reading W.G. Sebald's book The Rings of Saturn in which he recounts a visit to Lowestoft and he makes it sound spectacularly sad and awful. Naturally that piqued my interest so I looked at housing, and, as I expected, there are some bargains to be had! Flats in very nice Edwardian or Victorian buildings on the seafront, £140,000. Three bedroom, 2.5 bathroom modern detached house with garage and nice garden, £150,000. I've never been to Lowestoft, but the walking looks promising and it is well connected, with frequent trains to Norwich and (seemingly) good bus routes.

That's similar to what my husband says...if we move back home he wants to live by the sea in Devon or Cornwall. I'd prefer to move back to the area I know...Cheshire.

Speaking of that part of the world, what about Llandudno and Rhyl? I like places with long sandy beaches for walking .. although rocky coasts and cliffs are nice too!

Wales has now completed a coastal walking path around the whole country. Saw a prgramme on it recently and it looks fantastic.

We had 2 weeks in Cornwall this year, at the head of Fistral Beach, Newquay, and we really enjoyed the beaches and fantastic coastal paths in that area.

Rhyl is dire, but Llandudno is nice as are many other small towns nearby (Conwy, Deganwy Rhos on sea).
Cheaper too.

Hubby wouldn't consider Wales...south west England only.

My brother and his partner have a second home in Southwold, just down the coast from Lowestoft. Southwold is very trendy. The area doesn't appeal to me as a place to live: too flat, and rather dull, although there are some interesting gothic churches. I'm surprised Lowestoft is so cheap. Prices in Southwold are through the roof.

OP that was a good find on Lowestoft

Digging further, the rental market in and around Lowestoft to house prices is good for investors.

Just looked on the 'Rightmove UK' website at a 3 bedroom end terraced property on St. Margarets Road, Lowestoft selling for £90k that is currently renting for £550/mth. With £20k down & a £230/mth mortgage, its a sure winner.

Maybe just maybe prices are lower in certain areas in the SE due to the potential forthcoming problem with the new wave of EU migrants?

What about one of those year round 2 story chalets in Waterside park in Corton for ~£50k

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-39904675.html

I think the low prices in many seaside towns in Britain are a result of the long term oversupply of housing. That is, these towns grew and grew from the Victorian era through to the Second World War. Industry, fisheries, and the seaside holiday demand gradually shrunk or collapsed completely from 1970 on. So we are left with more supply of houses than there is demand. Some towns that fit this description are downright undesirable or depressing, others have a lot of potential. The only way to find out if such a town would be livable is to visit, preferably stay there for days or weeks.....

That doesn't look at all bad for the price. Note that you can live there twelve months, which is important. There is a very nice development of holiday chalets in Cromer, two bedroom chalets in a pleasant park, and there are always several for sale, £35,000 to £45,000. They are leasehold with quite a long term remaining. BUT, you are only permitted to occupy them between March and October, so obviously they can't be a primary home. Here's one;

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25160247.html


That place you linked to in Lowestoft, it is a leasehold but I didn't see in the listing how long remained on the lease. That's always something to beware of.

so true & as with any such move, further investigation is needed - a call or email to the real estate agent to find out what the ground rent is & any restrictions. A year round holiday home so cheap even with ground rent is not a bad way to go.

The house I mentioned for sale with 20% down then renting it that cash flowed approx £300/mth

I think doing a combination of buy to rent as well as owning another home to live in is a good idea.

Under the new government new buyer schemes there is an opportunity

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/help-to-buy.html

https://www.gov.uk/affordable-home-ownership-schemes

I think the low prices in the area are probably due to its inaccessibility and lack of jobs in the locality. It's 3 hours to London by train or car.

This is true. On the plus side, there are frequent trains to Norwich with a journey time of 35 to 45 minutes.

I lived in Suffolk, used to go out with a boy who lived in Lowestoft, and also visited a few times on the train each summer with another friend before that, and have another friend living there now. Given the choice, I wouldn't likely choose it, it can be a bit of a dump in some respects, and can feel a bit depressing, although I believe that the town centre is a lot better than it used to be. But then it depends what you're looking for in a seaside town? There are much prettier ones, but you pay for that. There are ones with much better amenities, but you pay for that also.

Yep, the train link to Norwich is good for better shopping, and from there you can get to quite a bit, including the airport.

if one is retired then peace & quiet (lights out by 10pm) with zero tourists would seem ideal.