THE SUN is shining brightly in Hastings and Alison Nicholls should be serving flocks of school children whose only tough decision is whether they want a bubble gum ice cream or the mint choc chip.
But instead – despite this being the half term holidays – the ‘Doughnut Queen’ owner has not served a single customer all day.
She blames the cost-of-living crisis for making her £3 treats too expensive for most families and says the past summer has been the worst she has ever seen.
The area’s council leader is now warning that huge numbers of people can no longer pay rent, forcing over 1,000 locals in the East Sussex seaside town to seek temporary accommodation.
More fortunate residents tell The Sun their house prices have doubled in less than a decade as DFLs – 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 bucket and spade destination for families.
“We have caravan parks at both ends of the beach and people will come here from far and wide to enjoy your quintessential British holiday – and that’s the market we cater for.
“But it’s been a bad summer for ice cream sellers. I’ve been doing this for four years and I’ve never seen it so bad.
“In June, people weren’t spending money because they didn’t have any. We kept saying, ‘Don’t worry it will be better in July.’
“But July and August were hard because the weather was so bad.
“Now I haven’t sold a single ice cream all day and it’s the half term holidays.
“The cost-of-living crisis is biting. 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 be charging £3.50 really.
“I hate putting prices up – and it upsets me when people complain – but what can you do?
“These are uncertain times we are living through.”
Read more: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/24530055/seaside-town-hastings-homeless-council-bankrupt-holiday/
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We’re in Hastings your quintessential Seaside town where families flock typically to enjoy Seaside rock with fish and chips by the pier right now Council says it is facing a looming crisis because of its homeless situation the council leader Paul Barnett says the number of homeless people residing here
Has increased fivefold in the last 2 years alone the Staggering 1,000 people now acquiring 10 re accommodation situation is so dire the Hasting council is asking for Urgent government intervention say simply cannot sustain this type of figure if action is not taken the repercussions people living here could be very severe
In that the council could simply go bust and go under by March 2024 the house prices have definitely gone up a lot over the last few years um I think it’s probably because a lot of people have moved down from London and put their prices up also so many
Properties have been made into Airbnb so there’s not not very many rentals now I think uh some of it is people coming down from London we welcome people coming down from London um but it it and I think Co had a lot to do with that
That people realize they could work in a much nicer environment by the Sea and still work and still have their London connections but it has meant that a lot of people who want hes here find it really difficult because the housing prices have gone up yeah well definitely
There definitely a lot of them a bit airbnbs now especially around the Oldtown area you can see that you know that I see the people coming and going there definitely a lot of homeless people people on the street yeah for sure the local business owners we’ve spoken to say that people simply can’t
Afford to go out anymore unless it’s a trip to McDonald’s where the food is much cheaper than average and that means means that your traditional local chippy like you see here that would have been full of people during your typical half-term holiday years ago is now shuttered and closed there just aren’t
Enough customers to go around people can’t even afford fre for an ice cream things have got that bad is it the case that some people simply can’t afford to pay their rent anymore because oh go yeah R are ridiculous now yeah yeah I’m pretty lucky because we been in ours a
While and it’s not gone up but yeah people the landlords definitely putting the rents up and but they’re changing them into way bnvs as well and get rid of them how will the council going bus affect people in hastening well it’s difficult to say but uh for example the
Roads around here if you’ve noticed they’re really bad at the moment there’s very little Improvement in those I mean some of them are quite damaging they have to wait till they get really really bad uh until they do something we know that there’s a problem with housing here
The council is obliged to find temporary housing for people and they simply don’t have the money but because they’re obliged to do that then that’s obviously going to have a knock on effect to for for other services that any sort of ter would expect really
22 Comments
You cannot just blame the Londoners, mostly they buy a property and live in it, paying council taxes, employing local tradesmen and frequent the better bars and restaurants. If it wasn’t for DFL’s Folkestone would be finished. They have had more economic impact there than the local robber barons.
My mum used to live near Dover. The unmentioned issue here is the amount of illegal aliens swamping services.
Some are in Napier Barracks down the coast, but details are hidden from the public. Another friend lives in Llyd and is now afraid to walk on the beach alone as so many men are being off loaded and travel in gangs through the area.
DFL ? Down from London simples
What happens in America first alway cross`s the Atlantic.
This is capitalism, no better system.. deal with it.
I refuse to pay £3 for an ice cream! It’s outrageous! Daylight robbery. It’s not even real ice cream most of the time.😊
£3 per scoop?
That's cold
Yet people still think that the government officials who did the coof lockdowns, no jab no job, trashed the economy, broke the borders, and ruined the schools and hospitals will “do something” to help. Amazing.
Fraud and mass corruption is "rampant" across national and local government.
EJ funded this joint – is what they showing here, then – iniiit..??..
He compost ?
Some 40% of the Councils costs are Pensions & Benefits for their employees, perhaps look closer to home if they're going bust.
Open up all the homes in foreclosure as well as shops and empty commercial buildings to house the homeless. There are empty buildings available everywhere in well to do towns the world over.
Dinghy divers are the PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me read Sun. Sport r troops. Foyrin peeple make me angry 😡
Its the same across the UK, it's deliberately done to demoralise and frighten people, so we are easier to govern
Found plenty places for them during covid
Renting has has neary doubled in 5 years in hastings and its got expensive to live here .ive never been able to get a councill house in hastings period and thats neary 17 years .they never build councill properties here its a joke .
house prices have gone up everywhere but alot of hastonions like blaming us people from london
Ive had such a tough year,Got that strong feeling we be facing even much tougher year by 2024,Cost of living going up,More Migrants coming over,Must admit,I really hate this world today,Years ago,Cost of living was no where near as bad as it is now days,I thought things where bad enough then,The UK nearly finished with,Unless if any thing can ever be done about it
A more amusing name for the DFLs is the FILTH, Failed In London Try Hastings.
The reality is though that Hastings has dramatically improved in many ways during the time the DFLs have made their way down, even if there are negatives too.
Many parts of Hastings that were dilapidated, often dangerous drug haunts are now vibrant and filled with – albeit fairly expensive – cafes, bars and restaurants, it's a huge improvement on what was there before, if not perfect, particularly for lower income residents.
Unfortunately councils across the country have been put in an impossible situation by years of failed Tory policy, while they've been getting their snouts well and truly deep into the public trough, services and council budgets have suffered immensely.
Business rates are obscenely high, as are rents for business locations and homes, with the SE of England being incredibly expensive to buy a home too of course – it's years of failed government policy (on both sides).
The reality missing here is that there are many seaside towns (some not far from Hastings) that haven't had the influx of DFLs and those are not just struggling with an affordability crisis but also lack the positive effects of "gentrification".
At the moment Hastings has a better balance than most places for a mix of cultures and wealth. It's somewhere actually worth visiting and feels much safer than it did in the past, again it's not perfect though.
Traditional events such as May Day, Bonfire Night along with new ones like Pirate Day see thousands flock to the town for good reason. It's a fun place to be or to visit.
The DFLs, wealthy arty farty types, immigrants, long term locals etc etc are all part of an interesting and relatively successful mix of people and cultures on a seaside town that was until fairly recently going backwards rather than forward as it is today.
Do some homework on your reporting. You stand outside Rainbow Restaurant saying it has closed down, It hasn't , its being refurbished because of a fire next door and will be opening up again next year.
The Rainbow closed due to the fire next door, and it wasn’t a ‘chippy’. Lots of homeless people also come from outside Hastings. There is also pressure on housing due to London councils selling off estates to developers and relocating people. Hastings also has to find homes for immigrants, but by far and away the biggest problem is the explosion in the number of Air BnB places – it’s destroyed the community in the centre of Rye and is doing the same in Hastings.
The DFLs have brought money, creativity and employment, but yes, a lot of them have bought 2nd homes to Air BnB which they then list as a business, claim it makes less than the business rate threshold and don’t pay council tax putting even more strain on resources.