Paul England with his daughter Beth England on the remains of her home at Eastern Bavents. Mr England has won a legal bid to relocate the property.

In October 2009 two homes on a piece of land called the Retreat at Easton Bavents, near Southold were just six metres from the clifftop.But the site of the homes is now teetering on the edge of the destruction.

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In just the space of four weeks a large part of the land belonging to the England family has crumbled away because of erosion caused by strong northerly winds.

Glancing at the latest photograph it could be easily concluded that the two homes, a chalet and mobile home, have fallen victim to erosion and plummeted off the cliff.

But in fact the homes off Easton Lane have been destroyed by human hands as part of a landmark agreement to help homeowners cope with losing their properties due to the long running and untlitmatley futile battle with Mother Nature.

The homes have been demolished after Paul England and several other villagers secured a lands right promise from Waveney District Council.

Mr England was acting on behalf of his two children, Charles and Beth, who owned the two homes.

Under the ground-breaking agreement the England family can move to safe land nearby and still keep residential land-use rights so he can build similar homes under planning law.

The agreement, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, was set up as it was feared the Englands would lose all their rights if the land vanished due to erosion over the winter.

Because of the agreement the Englands could go ahead with demolition of the homes as they knew when they purchased new land they could build similar ones again without any planning wrangles.

Yesterday Mr England, 64, and his daughter, Beth, surveyed the rapidly disappearing piece of land, which has been in his family for about 40 years.

Although he is sad to see the enormous scale of destruction, Mr England has some form of comfort as he begins to get excited about his family’s relocation plans after several months of deep discussion with the council.

They hope to buy some land and build a timber frame cabin similar to the chalet from the spring.

Mr England, who lives in Strickland Place, Southwold, said: “I feel like a boil has been lanced. I feel happy and contented.

“I feel like I am the driver now instead of the passenger.

“In the last month the scale of the erosion has been dramatic. It has never been so rapid.

“We are all in the hands of nature and no matter what we do, she will do what she wants.”

A total of nine letters were sent out granting residential land use rights to homeowners whose properties were at high risk of tumbling off the cliff tops.

The agreements were set up because it was feared the Englands and the other property owners would lose their homes before the council sets in stone in the new year a coastal erosion policy for Easton Bavents and Corton.

Through a £1.5m Pathfinder scheme the council will offer land rights to any home at serious risk of erosion once the policy is agreed by a planning inspector.

The council hopes it will preserve the character of the two villages by making it easier for property owners to relocate in the area.

Phil Ridley, Waveney District Council’s head of planning said: “As a council we are committed to maintaining and retaining these communities and will do all we can to help property owners stay in the area.”

The innovative transfer of land rights has been strongly supported by the groups Suffolk Coast Against Retreat and the Coastal Concern Action Group based at Happisburgh, near Cromer, which wants 100pc compensation for north Norfolk homes lost to erosion.

As part of the Waveney Pathfinder project the costs of clearing the beach at Easton Bavents of debris from a house which fell off the cliff 10 years ago and a study looking at solutions to stop surface water drainage eroding cliffs at Corton are being funded.