There’s one place most of us want to be some time between now and September: the great British seaside. This summer, lured by cheerful weather forecasters, more of us are giving in to the irresistible combination of rock pools and crabbing nets, ice creams and deckchairs, barefoot strolls along the shore and the promise of a seafood supper as the sun goes down. The best of it is that the sea breeze on your face and the champagne air are the same whether you’ve stepped out of a multimillion-pound house in Sandbanks or a caravan in Clacton-on-Sea.

A couple of years ago, when the market was still booming, £200,000 wouldn’t get you much more than a beach hut across large swathes of the southern part of the country. Now, especially if you steer clear of the still comparatively expensive southwest, a house big enough to store the buckets and spades is once again affordable — at least if you know where to look.

The latest survey of house prices in seaside towns from the Halifax tells us that the most affordable spots are in the northwest, including Morecambe, on the Lancashire coast, and the northeast, such as Bridlington, in Yorkshire. No surprises there, but it’s useful to be reminded that both have huge sandy beaches and coastal property at prices well below those in the home counties.

Further south, the Halifax compares the most and least expensive spots region by region. Sandbanks (you guessed it) comes out at the opposite end of the southwest region’s price scale to regenerating Plymouth; in Wales, it’s Catherine Zeta-Jones’s Mumbles against never-mentioned Barry; and in the southeast, the yachtie favourite Milford, in Hampshire, has the highest average prices, while Bexhill-on-Sea, in East Sussex, has the lowest.

“It’s all about fashion,” says Michael Fiddes, head of the rural division at Strutt & Parker estate agency. “Certain places attract high prices because they are well known, but in the next county or on the same stretch of coast, you’ll find similar properties at lower prices.”

Rather than the north Norfolk coast, where you can pay £400,000 for a three-bedroom detached property, you could head southeast round the coast towards Clacton. It may not have the same cachet — or delis — but you can pick up a two-bedroom terraced cottage for about £100,000, while three- or four-bedroom houses with sea views sell for less than £300,000. Parker Gees estate agency has a three-bedroom detached house near the front for £199,995 (0845 307 2752, parkergees.com ).

Or, if you’re fixated on the southwest, Fiddes suggests alternatives to the high prices in south Devon and Cornwall, where two-bedroom cottages in the fashionable spots could easily fetch upwards of £250,000. On the north Devon coast, keep going east to Woolacombe and Ilfracombe, where two-bedroom seaside flats come onto the market for about £100,000. Turner-Carr has one in Ilfracombe for £108,500 (01271 866421, www.turner-carr.co.uk ).

Minehead, in north Somerset, is not on the “hot spot” list, but it has acres of golden sand — perfect for families — and two-bedroom flats from about £120,000. Webbers has a charming end-of-terrace period cottage with two bedrooms priced at £139,950 (01643 706917, webbers.co.uk ).

The same goes for south Wales, where two-bedroom cottages with sea views in high-priced Mumbles cost about £200,000; in Llandudno, north Wales, by contrast, starting prices dip below £100,000. A coastal cottage with sea views here is on the market with Peter Large for £119,950 (01492 879973, peterlarge.co.uk).

If your holiday fun includes going to chichi shops and restaurants, then buy near a stylish spot, but far enough away not to have to pay the high house prices. In Kent, Herne Bay (known unkindly to some as Hernia Bay, owing to the high number of retirees) is next to Whitstable, famous for its oyster restaurant and a magnet for celebrities, but retains old-fashioned prices.

Even in the same town, a few streets’ distance can make a big difference. Ann Roberts, 39, and her husband, Nigel, 44, bought a two-bedroom terrace in West Wittering, West Sussex, last October for £224,000, down from £240,000 earlier in the year. It has no sea view, but is just minutes’ walk from the front.

“At the ‘smart’ end of town,” Ann says, “you wouldn’t find anywhere for under £1.5m, but we all go to the same beach. Keith Richards has a home and a beach hut here, and the wife of a very well-known man recommended her cleaner when I was looking for someone. There is a wonderful community spirit here, which is one of the reasons we love it.”

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