More than £25million in Sussex homes could be lost at sea by 2100

One Home identified 21 vulnerable villages and hamlets and estimated how much coastline there could be lost assuming current policies of defending, withdrawing or abandoning stretches of coastline are followed.

Fairlight and Cliff End, two villages near Hastings, have been identified as some of the most vulnerable areas.

By the year 2100, up to 196 meters of coastline could fall victim to the sea.

One Home used data from the Environment Agency’s National Coast Erosion Risk Mapping (NCERM) dataset.

Guidelines on whether stretches of coastline should be defended, withdrawn or abandoned are contained in Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) developed by Coastal Groups with members of local councils and the Environment Agency.

The value of property damage on land that could be affected by coastal erosion by 2100 has been estimated at £584 million, using average local authority values ​​or Rightmove site-specific values, One Home said.

The group has put together a map showing what coastal management plans are in place in different coastal areas and the level of protection.

In Fairlight and Cliff End the estimated property damage is more than £26m by 2100. It is predicted that up to 43 plots of land in these villages could be lost to the sea.

“Sea levels are rising as global temperatures rise and larger waves batter our coasts during severe storms,” ​​said Angela Terry, chief executive officer of One Home.

“These irreversible changes mean that some cliffs are crumbling quickly.

“We cannot turn the tide or build a wall around the entire coast, so we urgently need to help coastal communities prepare for the damage to come.

“Coastal management plans are publicly available documents, but most people are unaware of their existence.

“Many homeowners are unaware that their properties are at risk or that decisions have been made about whether or not to protect them.

“SMPs are not required by law, so new developments can continue.

“Funding is not guaranteed so even where communities are to be saved the money may not be there, giving people false hope that their homes will be protected in the long term.

“The goal of One Home with this map is to explain SMPs in an easy-to-understand way so homeowners are sufficiently informed to make timely decisions about their properties and reduce future damage.

“Currently there is no compensation system for vulnerable homes.

“Owners could be asked to pay for their homes to be demolished at the same time as paying their mortgage.”

More than a third of England’s coastline is marked as “no active intervention”, One Home said, meaning nothing is being done.

The other two layers of protection in SMPs are ‘line holding’, meaning the defenses will be maintained and improved if funding is found, and ‘controlled realignment’, which involves moving the shoreline in a controlled manner or to withdraw.