Changes in property values on eroding coasts
A study to investigate how property values respond to coastal erosion as erosion progresses.
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Details
The objective of this study is to provide information and analysis that’ll help in the understanding of how coastal erosion affects local property values. In particular, it’s important to understand how property values change over time as erosion progresses. This means looking at properties that are brought closer to the edge of the cliff until they are no longer habitable.
The study considers two specific contexts where:
- there has never been a defence
- there has been a decision to withdraw public investment from publicly funded coast protection works
The aim of the study is to answer two key questions:
- how do asset values respond to coastal erosion risk?
- how do asset values in England respond to coastal erosion risk? In particular, how do they respond to a decision to withdraw investment in publicly funded coast protection works?
It’s difficult to define precisely how the erosion curve (the relationship between the at-risk property value and the remaining life of the property) may relate to a theoretical depreciation curve. Factors such as premiums paid for sea views may mask the effect of property value reductions, so the erosion curve could lie above the depreciation curve. This is more likely in a strong market. In a weak market, the erosion curve could lie significantly below the depreciation curve.
Overall, the results suggest that a decision to withdraw funding could result in a significant property price reduction (where the negative factors predominate).
This project was run during 2008 at a cost of £48,961.