THE SUN is shining brightly in Hastings and Alison Nicholls should be serving up flocks of school children whose only tough decision is whether they want bubblegum ice cream or mint chocolate chip.
But instead – despite this being a half-year holiday – the owner of the ‘Queen of Donuts’ didn’t serve a single customer all day.
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Hastings Borough Council has warned it is on the brink of bankruptcyCredit: Chris Eades
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The trendy shopping area attracted throngs of touristsCredit: Chris Eades
She blames the cost of living crisis for making her £3 treats too expensive for most families and says last summer was the worst she’s ever seen.
A council leader is now warning that large numbers of people are no longer able to pay their rent, forcing more than 1,000 residents in the East Sussex seaside town to seek temporary accommodation.
More fortunate residents tell The Sun that their house prices have doubled in less than a decade as DFLers – meaning ‘Down from London’ – rush to snap up properties, either to live in or to rent out as Airbnbs.
Alison, 58, said: “Hastings is still a lovely old-school destination for families.
Read more about cities on the coast
“We have caravans at both ends of the beach and people will come here from far and wide to enjoy your quintessentially British holiday – and that’s the market we cater for.
“But this has been a bad summer for ice cream sellers. I’ve been doing this for four years and I’ve never seen it this bad.
“In June, people didn’t spend money because they didn’t have it. We kept saying ‘Don’t worry, it will be better in July’.
“But July and August were tough because the weather was so bad. “Now I haven’t sold a single ice cream all day, and the holidays are halfway through the semester.
“The cost of living crisis is acute. People come here, look at the prices and say, ‘£3 for an ice cream? How can you charge £3 for an ice cream?’
“Four years ago I was charging £1.80 for the same scoop but prices have gone up so much I should really be charging £3.50.
“I hate to raise prices – and it makes me angry when people complain – but what can you do?
“These are uncertain times we live in.”
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Alison Nicholls says traditional businesses like her ice cream stand are struggling Credit: Chris Eades
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The area has a problem with homelessness Credit: Chris Eades
Money is getting so tight here that more than 800 people have been kicked out of their homes after falling behind on their bills, according to Hastings City Council leader Paul Barnett.
He says the cost of finding new accommodation could force local authorities into bankruptcy by March next year.
Councilor Barnett is calling for central government intervention. As a stopgap measure, he asked locals to consider letting homeless people use their spare rooms.
A recent council report revealed that, “unless urgent action is taken”, all of its funds could be used up within seven months.
Councilor Barnett said: “Temporary accommodation disappeared two years ago with 170 people. Now there are more than 1000 people here. It’s a shock.
“We have more than 1,000 homeless people in a city of 90,000. That’s a huge percentage.
“We have to find them homes in Hastings. At the moment we can’t find them homes so they often end up anywhere in Kent or Sussex. It’s a disaster for them and a disaster for us.
“We are currently buying houses in Hastings to keep people close to our support networks to get them back on their feet and find long-term, secure accommodation.
“But we have to go faster and we need the government’s help to do that.
“This is a national issue that needs the support of the Government. It’s also a big local problem because of the huge rental market in Hastings.
“Other municipalities are not sending us people, this is a cost of living crisis unfolding before us.
“People can’t afford their homes. It doesn’t take much in terms of people losing some of their income and not being able to afford the rent.”
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Properties are being broken down and rented out as AirbnbsCredit: Alamy
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Lindsey Eriksson runs Nelly’s Café and says times are getting toughCredit: Chris Eades
Walking down Hastings’ seafront, it’s not hard to spot a number of scruffy individuals that now have nothing more than a thick blanket to house them.
Ice cream seller Alison is one of many to blame the influx of DFLs – which stands for Down From London – during the lockdown for making the average rental property unaffordable.
But she’s not a big fan of the municipality, which she says refuses to let her paint her store’s faded exterior pink to appeal to the Instagram generation.
She said: “They say they can only paint it gray because it’s a listed building, but imagine how much better this row of shops would look with a bit of paint? It’s so frustrating.
“Hastings is changing fast and you have to keep up with the times.
“Since the closure we’ve had a lot of Londoners move.
“It brought a lot of money into the area. But I feel sorry for the young people because the people who live here cannot afford to buy their own apartment.
“There are no more rental properties because they are all on Airbnb.
“We’re becoming one of those places where you walk down the street and it’s dark — all other homes and Airbnbs, and people only come for the weekend.
“I have a friend on the waiting list for a city property and he’s frustrated because he’s been on it for several years.”
Road to ruin
Local Liz Jeffries, 71, worries the streets of Hastings could be littered with rotting rubbish if the council fails.
She said: “If that happens we will be in trouble and it will probably affect services like rubbish collection.
“The roads here are in terrible condition anyway and they have to wait for the potholes to get really bad before something is done about it, because they don’t have the money to repair it.
“The council just doesn’t have enough money. So many people need temporary housing that it has become a bit of a concern.
“Hastings has always been an economically poor area. During Covid, when people were working from home, they thought, ‘Why live in London when we can move to Hastings and buy a huge house for a fraction of the price?’
“Brighton, down there, is also expensive now because it’s become a little London.
“The result is that we’ve had a large influx of people moving here and that’s driven up house prices.
“It’s preventing young people from finding a place to live, and nurses and others in low-paying jobs can’t afford to pay their bills.
“We call them DFL, which means Down From London, and we’ve also had our fair share of refugees who moved here.
“We want to contribute, but I don’t think we are given any extra money to take care of them, and you see a lot of people sleeping on park benches.
“The good thing is that people from London have brought a lot with them and now we have a nice, artsy scene down here.
“The whole city used to be a bit run down, but now you walk along the waterfront and you see that the buildings are beautifully painted.
“I’m DFL too because I moved here from Wimbledon 20 years ago and I’m very glad I am because we have a wonderful quality of life.
“But I don’t think central government has any idea what’s going on down here or how bad it’s gotten.”
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Local resident Liz Jeffries, 71, pictured with Gail Ashworth, 71, says the DFL – which stands for ‘Down from London’ – are the problemCredit: Chris Eades
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The historic city welcomes tourists all year roundCredit: Alamy
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House prices rose, outpacing domestic Credit: Chris Eades
Lindsey Eriksson runs Nelly’s Café on the promenade and is typical of the influx of young entrepreneurs changing the face of Hastings.
Coffees at her wooden kiosk cost north of £3 – so even more than an ice cream – but more affluent customers can afford such prices.
Lindsey, 33, said: “Our business is very dependent on the weather. If it’s sunny like today, people come out.
“This summer was good for us because we had some nice weeks. There were days when the entire beach was covered with people, and big buses kept arriving bringing more.
“But I know things are getting harder. We have a Sunday roast club where we try to find the best roast in town and a couple of people have given up saying they can’t afford it.”
Singing teacher Lindy Unlusan, 44, lives in Hastings with her maths teacher husband Alfie, 46. For them, the influx had the unexpected bonus of doubling the value of their property.
She said: “Hastings has had the biggest increase in house prices in the whole country.
“We are two lucky people because we bought our place seven years ago and since then its value has increased 100 percent.
“People realized this was the sunniest place in Britain. We also have a large and growing LGBTQ community.
“Our place is within walking distance of the beach and park and there’s a good sense of community and lots of quirky events like the annual carnival.
“There’s always been a homeless problem in Hastings, but we love living here.”
A spokesman for Hastings Borough Council said: “We are working closely with DLUCH and Homes England to bring in more social housing and have introduced measures such as buying properties for temporary accommodation and employing more housing officers to deal with the backlog.
“In 2019 we spent £730,000 on temporary accommodation. In 2022/23. we spent £4.5m, with a forecast of £5.6m for 2023/24.
“We are working to reduce the number of people in temporary housing in several ways, and those numbers are falling.
“In 2010/11 the council’s net budget was £22.9 million. Until 2022/2023. this fell by 28% to £16.5m. During this period, direct government support (grants) decreased from £15.9 million in 2010/11. to £1.5 million in 2022/23, a reduction of more than 90%.
Over the past 13 years, we have made prudent budget cuts to ensure we stay afloat, and we will continue to do so.
“To help us deal with the projected deficit, we are moving our budget discussions and consultations to November so that we can maximize any savings identified. We have also introduced spending caps on non-essential items until the end of this financial year.”
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education