Owners of 11 properties left teetering by cliff face resulting from fast coastal erosion at infamous magnificence spot warned their houses face demolition

Nearly a dozen homeowners at a coastal beauty spot notorious for dramatic erosion have been warned their properties face imminent demolition before they collapse over a cliff into the ground below.

A total of 11 properties have been left teetering on the edge of the precipice by strong winds and high tides, particularly those that have battered the area during powerful storms in recent years.

The distressed owners in Hemsby, Norfolk, have been issued with advisory letters from the local council, explaining they are on the verge of being forced to leave so the wood-built chalets can be razed to the ground before they put them or members of the public at risk. 

Occupants have criticised Great Yarmouth Borough Council, however, claiming more should have been done to slow the erosion of the sandy coastline.

Many have nowhere to go and will have to rely on social housing to have a roof over their heads.

Carol Boyes, 80, who moved into her chalet on The Marrams in the early 2000s, said: ‘When we arrived 23 years ago, we had a row of bungalows in front of us and some dunes.

‘Now there’s just a road. You come down my steps onto the concrete and then you have the sea. It’s about 15ft away. We may last until Christmas but I’m not banking on it.

‘The council did put some blocks down [to reduce the impact of waves] but they ran out of money and there was nothing they could do. They had plans but not the money.’

Eric Forbes, 59, a former second-hand car salesman who is living off savings after stopping work due to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and arthritis, complained: ‘I haven’t got a Plan B. 

‘Round here, monthly rent is about £1,400 and with council tax and all that it’s another £500. That’s a lot when you’ve already got something you’ve paid for.

‘I had quite a bit of savings but a lot of that is gone and I haven’t got a pension.’

Mr Forbes said he wanted to fight the looming eviction but added: ‘It’s hard to find a lawyer when you haven’t got any money.’

He also accused the council of failing to take sufficient action against erosion because it wants the chalet owners out.

‘They think the chalets are an eyesore and they want it to be a nice place for holidaymakers to use. The views are beautiful, so they want everybody out,’ he claimed.

‘They want to pay everyone between £5,000-10,000 to vacate their homes. They had a budget of £1.5 million to get rid of everybody but that’s mostly gone now.’

Another resident, Mark Alden, insisted his property was no more at risk than it had been two years ago when neighbours’ homes were torn down.

But he has started moving his possessions out and plans to sign the chalet over to the council, hoping he can secure land elsewhere in the area.

Simon Measures, the chairman of Save Hemsby Coastline, said the council’s handling of the matter had been ‘disgusting’, adding they had previously set up ‘long phone conversations [with owners] about a complicated situation’.

‘You can imagine the state of mind of people when you tell them of your imminent plans to demolish their homes,’ he said.

‘I think they should be taken to task for how they’ve handled this.’

Anti-erosion schemes in the area include granite blocks, as well as concrete ‘hexi blocks’ which Save the Hemsby Coastline (SHC) put in, Mr Measures said.

But he continued: ‘The council is talking about removing all the defences because they had a report from a company which said they were ineffective and had health and safety issues.

‘The hexi blocks have a tunnel through the middle of them. They’re saying a child could get in the end and, in theory, get trapped. We said we’d pay to move them into a safe configuration.

‘They cost about £250,000 with funds raised by SHC and the parish council.’

Startling photos taken 22 years apart, as revealed by the Mail earlier this year, exposed the dramatic effect of coastal erosion in Hemsby, which has about 3,000 residents.

During the period, it has lost as much as 1,000ft of coastline, with many properties abandoned as the cliffs slipped away.

Between 2013 and January this year, the village lost 25 houses, including five that were torn down in December 2023 following high tides and fierce winds.

That came after residents were forced to pack belongings and flee amid fears homes could topple into the sea during an overnight storm surge in March the same year.

Five years earlier, the so-called ‘Beast from the East’ storm saw the loss of 100ft of coastline and led to the demolition of seven homes on The Marrams.

Former soldier Lance Martin – one of the 11 facing formal Section 78 notification under the Building Act 1984, which grants local authorities emergency powers to demolish dangerous structures – has lost more than 120ft of his back garden since moving into his £95,000 coastal home in 2017.

The ex-Grenadier Guard has saved his chalet from the brink on two occasions, using heavy machinery to drag it to safer territory in expensive rescue operations.

More recently, he was considering an audacious airlift of the property, which would involve using ship-launching airbags to prop up the structure with steel joists slid below.

Mr Martin said previously: ‘I want to remain as close to Hemsby as possible.’

Earlier this month, local estate agents were criticised for not making it clearer that clifftop homes on sale at The Marrams for around £10,000 were at risk of being lost to the sea.

Natasha Hayes, the borough council’s executive director, claimed some were being bought for cash without surveys being carried out.

‘Homes are still being sold now. It’s awful for the people that are buying them,’ she said.

‘We do not advise people to purchase these properties. Local estate agents should have a moral duty.’

But Jamie Minors, founder of independent estate agents Minors and Brady, hit back, saying it was reassuring for current homeowners to know there was still some equity in their properties.

Purchasers were also happy to buy homes with a limited life-span in picturesque spots that were affordable due to ‘environmental challenges’, he added.

Hemsby locals complained in October 2023 that they had been abandoned by the then-Conservative government after it scrapped a sea wall defence scheme.

Officials estimated the cost had soared from £15million to £20million due to inflation, leading to an offer of financial support being withdrawn.

A Great Yarmouth Borough Council spokesman said: ‘Where possible, the council aims to remove any properties in a planned way to reduce the risk of buildings falling onto the beach, which causes environmental damage and danger from debris.

‘People are advised when their property is at imminent risk of being lost to erosion and we work with them to provide support and help them plan to move safely.

‘The damage caused by the recent Storm Amy and Storm Benjamin is a stark reminder of the importance of agreeing works with the community in a carefully planned and managed way to avoid last-minute evacuations.’