Top 10 Most Expensive Towns to Live by the Sea in the UK (2025)

Stretching approximately 11,000 miles, Britain’s coastline is a beautiful, bounding reminder that our island nation stands alone in an exceptional way.

From the sprawling sandy beaches of the Cornish and Devonshire coasts, to the rugged, windswept northernmost headlands of Scotland, and the micro ecosystems of Britishness in its surrounding islands, you’ll find the UK’s entire history lived out in any of its coastal areas.

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There’s little wonder why then, property on the coast commands large premiums, and the nation’s seaside towns, villages and cities become a primary destination for movers looking for a lifestyle that includes a bit of everything.

Or as Mary Lou-Press, the President of the National Association of Estate Agents Propertymark, puts it: “Huge social and economic changes over the past decade [mean] homeowners are looking for varying characteristics and locations, making rural, seaside and picturesque areas much more appealing.

“In particular, seaside locations are desirable for many people of all demographics, and with popularity comes heightened house prices, which can price many locals out of the housing market.”

And as data would suggest, the town of Poole in Dorset, is perhaps the most exclusive destination to move to in Britain, with its neighbourhoods of Sandbanks and Canford Cliffs being ranked as the top-priced coastal areas in a 2025 list put together by Rightmove.

According to Rightmove, who calculated their top 50 based on average asking prices, buyer demand for coastal property has risen by +8%. The average asking price in the coastal property market, meanwhile, has fallen by -1% – in line with a decrease in the overall UK residential property market – but still above the national average, reflecting buyer confidence in the coastal market.

Lou-Press concurs, adding: “Considering that the average house price of coastal homes has only slightly dipped, and buyer demand has increased, ongoing economic turbulence doesn’t seem to have overly affected the market or dented the confidence of buyers of coastal locations.” Sandbanks occupies first place in the top 10 for most expensive seaside destinations, with an average asking price of £1,282,565. This is the only area to average above £1m in Britain in 2025, but is a -3% dip on asking prices in 2024. An estimated 40 properties are on the market currently, many of which command huge premiums thanks to the exclusive status of this Dorset enclave. Property in sought-after Canford Cliffs, the suburb between Poole and Bournemouth, came second in Rightmove’s list, with an average property asking price of £974,635 – down -9% on 2024 prices. Two Hampshire towns, Milford-on-Sea (£728,460) and Lymington (639,316), take third and fourth spot in the list respectively, while the small seaside town of Budleigh Salterton (£535,761) – which is just 15 miles south-east of Exeter in Devon – occupies the last place in the list’s top five. The remaining five in the list’s top 10 are all southern coastal towns, including #6 St. Ives in Cornwall (£507,139), #7 Dartmouth (£500,006) and #8 Sidmouth (£494,811) in Devon, and #9 Whitstable (£469,586) and #10 Hythe (£466,898) – both in Kent. Commenting on the list, Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: “Sandbanks now stands out as the only seaside spot with an average asking price of over the million-pound mark. “By contrast, lower-priced seaside spots like Saltcoats (£122,208) in Ayrshire and Peterlee (£122,246) in Durham offer home-movers a sea view at a fraction of the price, with average asking prices over a quarter of a million pounds below the national average.” Read the full list with year-on-year (YoY) price differentials, below:

2025 Rank	Location	Average Asking Price	YoY % Change
1	Sandbanks, Poole	£1,282,565	-3%
2	Canford Cliffs, Poole	£974,635	-9%
3	Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire	£728,460	+1%
4	Lymington, Hampshire	£639,316	-2%
5	Budleigh Salterton, Devon	£535,761	0%
6	St. Ives, Cornwall	£507,139	-2%
7	Dartmouth, Devon	£500,006	+4%
8	Sidmouth, Devon	£494,811	-5%
9	Whitstable, Kent	£469,586	-2%
10	Hythe, Kent	£466,898	0%

Matthew McEvoy

is the Managing Editor of The Super Prime. Formerly Knight Frank’s global content lead, he brings over 15 years experience from national newsrooms, creative communications agencies and c-suite offices alike. He specialises in distilling complex economic data into actionable market intelligence, and compelling storytelling for real estate professionals.