The UK is very much an island nation, but some parts of its coastline are far more valuable than others – at least based on house prices.

Halifax Bank looked at property prices at 209 locations up and down the British coastline in the 12 months to December 2022, discovering the most expensive were along the southern coastline, areas traditionally popular with second homeowners.

Topping the price list is Salcombe in Devon where the average house price exceeds the million-pound mark (£1,244,025), overtaking 2021’s most expensive, Sandbanks in Dorset (£952,692), the Devonshire spot a popular tourist destination for visitors from across the UK and beyond.

Salcombe is in the south of the county and boasts a picture postcard estuary that offers an extensive waterfront, the area also popular with walkers attracted by the steep coastal paths – the town’s population increasing from around 2,000 to 23,000 during the summer months.

The only spot outside the south coast to make the top ten was Aldeburgh, the Suffolk town taking third spot with an average house price of £794,492.

As well as looking at the highest prices, Halifax produced a top ten of the least expensive coastal spots, nine of the ten on that list located in Scotland. Greenock, near Glasgow, topped that list with an average house price of £97,608.

Over a ten-year period, the results show the cost of coastal property in the UK has increased by 56 per cent – in 2012 the average house price in Salcombe was £558,538, half of what it is now.

Ten most expensive

1. Salcombe, Devon £1,244,025
2. Sandbanks, Dorset £952,692
3. Aldeburgh, Suffolk £794,492
4. Padstow, Cornwall £790,847
5. Lymington, Hampshire £663,474
6. Yarmouth, Isle of Wight £611,816
7. Dartmouth, Devon £567,985
8. Kingsbridge, Devon £556,659
9. Wadebridge, Cornwall £548,669
10. Budleigh Salterton, Devon £537,681

Ten least expensive

1. Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland £97,608
2. Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland £105,410
3. Millport, Ayrshire, Scotland £111,381
4. Invergordon, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland £114,962
5. Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland £116,414
6. Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland £117,663
7. Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland £117,884
8. Wick, Caithness, Scotland £124,857
9. Thurso, Caithness, Scotland £126,716
10. Campbelltown, Argyll and Bute, Scotland £129,348