THE cost of a beach hut licence in Hove has doubled in the last 7 years but the council purposes to increase it again by 10% to more than £500.

Apart from the license fee, hut insurance costs about £200 a year, and the regular maintenance and painting required (and insisted upon by BHCC) is also costly.

License holders were forbidden from using their huts for much of 2020, and part of 2021, but all the costs still needed to be paid as usual.

Most beach hut tenants and owners are local people, not especially

well-off, who abide by both the terms and the spirit of their licenses.

Many local families can access the seaside far more easily, often by bike or bus, because they keep much of their seaside kit in a beach hut.

READ MORE: Brighton beach hut owners warn of 'summer of mayhem'

Publicity, merchandise, and news reports about the city often feature beach huts: License Fee holders are in effect paying to look after an "icon" of the city.

At this rate, with all the other cost-of-living rises, some will have to

give up their huts. Does the council want beach huts to be the preserve of the wealthy ?

James Simister

Beach hut owner + volunteer litter-picker

Bates Road

Brighton