A council that sold only four beach huts is proposing more options for renting the units in a bid to drive up interest.

Eastern Daily Press: The beach huts along Gorleston on Sea. Picture: Jamie HoneywoodThe beach huts along Gorleston on Sea. Picture: Jamie Honeywood (Image: Jamie HoneywoodArchantNorwichNorfolk)

Fees and charges for the seafront huts in Gorleston will be aired on Tuesday (November 26) at a meeting of Great Yarmouth Borough Council's policy and resources committee.

Six of the huts were installed on the town's lower promenade in May and although twelve units had been put up for sale only four were sold.

In July, the council's deputy leader, Graham Plant, branded the lack of sales "embarrassing" and a month later Town Hall put a number of the beach huts up for rent.

The original scheme had allowed the opportunity to buy a hut on a 25-year-lease at a sale price of £16,500.

Eastern Daily Press: The new beach huts have been arriving in Gorleston. Picture: Steve Crane.The new beach huts have been arriving in Gorleston. Picture: Steve Crane. (Image: Archant)

A report to the committee is now proposing an optional shorter lease period of ten years, at a price of £9,000, to give purchasers additional options.

Also proposed is renting the huts on a weekly or monthly basis, with fees varying depending on the time of year.

The new fees would be:

Weekly

Low season (April, November to March) - £40 per week

Mid season (May, June, September, October) - £100 per week

High Season (July, August) - £150 per week

Monthly

Low season - £120 per month

Mid season £300 per month

High Season - £450 per month

MORE: 'It's like a second home' - see inside this couple's Gorleston beach hut

How do the proposed fees compare to other beach huts in the region?

North Norfolk District Council offers beach huts in Cromer for £210 a week during much of July and August while the price drops to £85 per week for May, June and September.

In Seaford, East Sussex, a weekly hire of a hut next to its pebble beach in July and August costs £150 while in May, June and September the price falls to £125.

Although East Suffolk Council does not offer a weekly hire, it is charging people £440 for a hut in Felixstowe from April 1 to March 31, 2020.

At Wells-Next_The-Sea, fees for renting a beach hut range from £105 to £420 per week.

In Lowestoft the prices climb from £40 per week to £150 per week while Southwold offers from £135 to £339.

The beach huts in Great Yarmouth have a veranda, two chairs and a table, plus access to a dedicated amenity block with wash basins and toilets.

The borough council already has planning permission for 70 huts close to the beach.