Property investors looking for new opportunities may want to consider a letting business in the coastal town of Withernsea, Lincolnshire as the local council looks to offer landlords in the town loans for improving properties.
The scheme is to be operated in five areas of the run down town and the council say there is up to £1 million up for grabs for property owners with an interest in landlord insurance. The project will offer homeowners and landlords low coast loans to improve their properties in a bid to create a new image for the old Victorian seaside resort, that everyone agrees has seen better days. In conjunction with the home loan scheme, the council plans to spend £600,000 on a new library and visitor centre as well as almost another £1 million on the main thoroughfare in the town. Queen Street will get a modern day makeover which will include a new block-paved pedestrian walkway, resurfacing to the existing carriageway and new traffic signs, road marking and street furniture.
Locals are not sure whether the plan to upgrade homes is the best way to spend money with Sarah Barnet, from the Southern Holderness Resource Centre, saying “There are better things to spend the money on than making houses pretty. Withernsea is a ghost town. We need to get the closed shops open and create a bit of employment in the town. There should also be a focus on some form of centre for young people in the town as well.”
However, chairman of the local chamber of trade, Paul Armstrong, was more optimistic about the plan, saying “Any investment from East Riding Council is welcomed with open arms. Looking at the picture nationally, I think Withernsea is doing OK and holding its own; yes we need to capitalise on what we already have on offer but we are a Victorian seaside town. We need to develop the town as a water sports area, offering visitors the chance to sail and jet ski. We could do with a marina. It isn’t all doom and gloom. If people get out of bed and knuckle down, potentially we can improve the town for the future.”