For sale: Exclusive detached bijou properties with unrivaled sea view backing on to a golf course.

The only drawback is that the properties on offer cannot be slept in and potential buyers must have an address in Brighton and Hove before being eligible to meet the £8,500 asking price.

As the property boom in the city continues, beach huts are the latest must-have for residents with a bit of spare cash and a liking for the finer things in life.

Callaways estate agents in Church Road, Hove, has managed to get four of the prized properties on their books in recent weeks, with prices ranging between £6,500 and £8,500.

Their value has increased several hundred per cent from just a few years ago, when buyers could snap up the huts for less than £1,000.

Private garages have gone the same way, with prices in Hove rocketing to more than £20,000 as residents use them as a way of beating the problems of parking on the street.

Danny Ross, partner at Callaways, said the beach hut boom had started at Christmas, when the firm had been trying to sell a house in Rutland Gardens, Hove, which was receiving less interest than expected.

Mr Ross said: "We were marketing it to London clients and the owner had a beach hut so we did a big thing about the house coming with a beach hut and we sold the house.

"It's your opportunity to buy your own detached seafront property backing on to a pleasant communal golf course - that's the pitch and putt."

The huts are mainly wooden and have no power or water. Buyers have to have a licence and pay annual ground rent, insurance and maintenance costs, which total about £500.

Although space is limited, Mr Ross said some owners had taken to trying out their interior design skills on the properties, with one featuring a Thai-themed interior.

The mini-boom in beach huts has come as people realise the value of the sought-after properties.

Mr Ross said: "They're little houses on the beach.

"People seem to be wanting to sell them to put money towards a new car or home and we get an awful lot of young families who want them in the lagoon area because the beach is quieter.

"They're excellent for people who live in flats without gardens."