Beach hut information

We manage four sites with beach huts along the New Forest coast. These are at Calshot, Milford on Sea, Hordle Cliff, and Barton on Sea.

On this page:

Buying or selling a beach hut

If you're considering buying a beach hut, you should be aware that any beach hut site may be at risk of inundation by the sea, flooding, landsliding, beach erosion or storm damage. We do not undertake coastal protection works to protect beach hut sites.

As a prospective buyer you are advised to enquire with the seller to determine the history of the site. You are also advised to contact our coastal team, coastal.team@nfdc.gov.uk, to enquire about the history of the site, current and future risks as well as the shoreline management policy for the section of coast where the hut is located.

The coastal team will always be happy to provide information on the site. We cannot, however, provide any guidance on whether you should or should not make a purchase.

We do not get directly involved in the sale of beach huts, only in the transfer of the license.

If you decide to sell your beach hut, you must complete and return the form in the beach hut license conditions with the appropriate fee within 28 days of the sale. This will transfer the license agreement to the new owner.

You can view copies of the following:

Contact details

We are in regular contact with beach hut owners and may need to get hold of you at short notice in the event of reported damage to a beach hut. Please make sure we have your current address, email address and phone number.

Maintenance

Your beach hut should be kept in a good state of repair. Please ensure all rubbish and materials are removed from the site after maintenance work so the area is kept clean for all users.

Planning

A beach hut license holder wishing to replace a beach hut, undertake any alterations or maintenance work to a hut, decking or steps serving the hut must seek advice from the relevant Planning Authority to determine if planning approval is required for the proposed works.

This must be done prior to any works commencing.

Failure to do so could result in a planning breach and enforcement action being taken.

If you are a hut owner at Barton on Sea, Hordle Cliff or Milford on Sea please contact the Duty Planning Officer or call 023 80285345 (option 1).

If you are a Calshot owner, please contact the National Park Authority or call 01590 646615

Safety and Security

Incidents of criminal activity such as vandalism and anti social behaviour should be reported to the police.

If you experience or witness anti social behaviour or criminal activity you can report it in a number of ways:

in an emergency, where you or another are at immediate risk of harm, dial 999
for non emergency incidents such as vandalism to a beach hut, break ins and anti social behaviour please report the matter by calling Hampshire Police using the 101 service
you can also make an online report on the Hampshire Constabulary website

Use these postcodes to identify each beach location:

Barton on Sea BH25 7DU
Calshot SO45 1BR
Hordle Cliff SO41 0UX
Milford SO41 0PY

If you notice damage to or a security issue with a beach hut then please contact the Council to enable the owners to be informed as follows:

Call Customer Services on 023 8028 5000 (Monday to Friday 08:45 am to 4:45 pm) or email us at coastal.team@nfdc.gov.uk

Out of office hours, weekends and bank holidays you can contact NFDC on 023 8028 5250 or 07771 259 098 to report damage to a beach hut.

For further information on safety within the New Forest please visit Safer New Forest

Sub-letting your beach hut

The beach hut licence agreement does not allow you to sub-let or hire your beach hut out at any time.

Barton Gate

The gate at Barton will be opened between 8.30am and 3.30pm on the dates below:

2 Jan 2024
6 Feb 2024
5 Mar 2024
16 Apr 2024
7 May 2024
4 Jun 2024
2 Jul 2024
3 Sep 2024
1 Oct 2024
5 Nov 2024
3 Dec 2024
7 Jan 2025
4 Feb 2025
4 Mar 2025

Fees and charges

Our Fees and charges for beach huts cover annual licence fee and transfer fees.

New Forest Beach Hut Owners' Association (NFBHOA)

We work with the NFBHOA, who represent the views of beach hut owners in the New Forest.

Members of the Coastal Team attended the NFBHOA AGM on the 24 April 2024 to provide an update NFBHOA (PDF) [5MB] on coastal issues and works.