Downsizers hear call of the coast

Demand for holiday homes at Britain's coastal hotspots is on hold because of disincentives such as double council tax, but that hasn't affected our appetite to live by the sea full time.

- Edited by DEBORAH STONE

Although demand for draughty chocolate box cottages with a sea view is on the wane, families and downsizers alike are attracted to new developments that provide future-proofed homes with easy access to coast and countryside.

Among them are Michael and Jane Nutt, aged 85 and 81, who recently moved to Martello Lakes at Hythe on the Kent coast when they finally decided their four-bedroom family home was becoming too difficult to maintain.

With increasing mobility problems they decided a single-floor apartment would suit them best and bought the development's two-bedroom show home for a stress-free new start.