The UK’s seaside towns are struggling, but perhaps that’s nothing new. The rise of cheap package holidays – which started in the 1950s and rapidly expanded through the ‘60s and ‘70s – opened affordable international travel. This was supercharged by the launch of budget airlines in the 1990s, which have continued to thrive ever since. Our coastal resorts, previously buoyed by day-trippers and ‘staycationers’, lost favour, and domestic seaside economies have taken hit after hit.
Political and economic change in seaside communities
Today, many of these places face significant challenges in supporting their highstreets or creating sufficient employment opportunities to sustain their communities. The resulting economic and physical disadvantage is felt deeply by coastal residents, some of whom feel the UK’s long-standing two-party political system no longer represents or cares enough about them. This is cited as one reason seaside towns – including Clacton and Skegness – and coastal councils – Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire – have recently voted in representatives from Reform UK. The party is certainly seeing a surge in seaside locations; polling by PoliMonitor suggests the next election could see Reform UK win nearly every coastal constituency on the English East coast.
This certainly resonates with my experience. I moved to Margate from Cambridge at the end of 2024, and soon felt right at home — falling in love with the lively community that has invested so much time and energy in the arts scene, independent businesses, and community assets. At the same time, a sense of discontent is not that far below the surface. I meet and see many people who are angry and disgruntled – particularly about immigration policy; flying union jacks on lampposts, displaying remembrance poppies year-round, or putting posters in their front windows about ’15-minute city prisons’ – sharing misinformation that initiatives intended to consult local residents about improving their access to local work, housing and amenities in their neighbourhood, in fact, restricts freedom of movement. Some families have lived here for generations and seen this seaside town transform from bustling holiday destination, to a decline that saw, in 2013, one in three shops on the high-street sitting vacant, and then ‘gentrification’, accelerated by the post-Covid rise of remote and flexible working. In coming election cycles, Margate is likely a toss-up between Reform UK and the Green Party.
Community innovation and coastal regeneration
Where there is consensus is on pride in our place; people in my community care deeply about what it means to live on the coast in the UK today. Just last week, a Seaside Summit in Ramsgate focused on coastal enterprise and revival. While Lord Steve Bassam, former Chair of the Regenerating Seaside Towns and Communities Committee, talked about the structural challenges of coastal towns’ physical, economic, and political distance from London and Westminster, the event also celebrated the impressive innovation both from new arrivals to the coast, and those that have been here a long time. Ramsgate Space, for example, matchmake businesses, community groups and creatives with vacant spaces. Unit by unit, they are taking on the high-street crisis, supporting people to make a living, and in turn improve the overall vibrancy of Ramsgate. Heritage Lab (CIC) has facilitated the redevelopment of an Old Wine Warehouse into a coffee shop, coworking space, and performance venue – successfully mobilising a combination of grants, loans, and support. It’s a complex project that has turned a neglected space into a community anchor. And all this energy and passion is captured in the work of resurgent hyperlocal journalism and newsletters. In my neighbourhood, outlets including Don’t Miss Margate and the Margate Mercury are important focal points for the community – letting people know what’s going on and building a sense of excitement and pride. This feeds the local economy. Data shared by GoDaddy shows that coastal towns are the fastest-growing areas for microbusiness density in the UK.
Anchor institutions – such as universities, hospitals, cultural organisations and public services – are important too, and can play a vital role in coastal regeneration by creating stable jobs, supporting local supply chains and investing in their communities. For Neil Brocklehurst, CEO of the Post Office, a reliable anchor on the high street is key to supporting community life. For the philanthropist Sir Roger de Haan, place-based investment has been a vehicle to creating new anchor institutions in the arts, sports, and education in Folkestone. Universities, too, bring thousands of students to coastal towns and cities. The University of Exeter in Falmouth, University of Coventry in Scarborough, and Brighton’s two major universities all attract people and spending.
How coastal communities can shape their future
How can local people shape what is happening in their coastal towns, so they are not just places to visit, but places to live; places with thriving and connected communities?
To achieve this requires basic infrastructure. This includes transport links that make it easy to get around locally, as well as long-distance connections to nearby and major cities. There is no doubt that Margate, Ramsgate and Folkestone have benefitted hugely from being on HS1 (the UK’s first and only high speed-trainline), and from improved telecommunications, too, as high-speed internet makes remote work and internet-based entrepreneurialism more accessible. But coastal towns also need social infrastructure, ensuring communities have places to spend time with one another and enjoy what’s going on locally. I can personally attest that such places – cafes, art and music venues, sports facilities – attract new residents to seaside towns, but they also provide reasons for existing residents to stay. It is much easier to build and sustain community, when there is an abundance of places to go together, and things to do together.
None of this is easy or cheap.
Place-based changes rely on very complex financial partnerships. Communities need support to navigate this. Tim Davies-Pugh, CEO of Power to Change, notes the need for long-term investment plans, and the incoming changes of the Community Right to Buy. While this legislation is important and potentially hugely beneficial, enabling local people to take collective ownership of otherwise vacant buildings, communities will need support to make the most of it; it is no mean feat to organise, raise, and secure the funds to purchase a facility listed as a community asset.
Coastal towns have long been places of creativity, resilience, and community pride. Supporting people to shape the future of their places – through participation, investment, social innovation and collaboration — will be key to ensuring seaside towns are not just places to visit, but places where people can build thriving lives. As Rob Kenyon, Founder of Heritage Labs, said last week: “Regeneration isn’t a project, it’s a long-term commitment to place”.
This article was written by Place Research and Impact Manager, Dr Jack Layton, and Director of Communications and External Affairs, Jessica Moore