THERE are even northerners who haven’t heard of Saltburn-by-the-Sea. If they had, they would be there looking for a bargain bolt hole. Prices are at least £50,000 cheaper than 20 miles down the coast in Whitby, where they have more than doubled in the past five years. A terraced house in Whitby now costs, on average, £177,000; in Saltburn it’s £98,000.

“Saltburn has been a bit of a well kept secret to the wider world,” says Adam Pomeroy, branch manager at Reeds Rains estate agents in the town. “It’s a little bit out on a limb. However, it has always been regarded as the ‘smart’ part of this coast, the place where people from grimy Middlesbrough aspired to live.” It takes only half an hour to drive north along the winding coast road from Whitby to Saltburn. But the landscape changes dramatically as fishing and farming give way to industry, and North Yorkshire turns into Cleveland and Teesside.

Many of Saltburn’s 5,900 residents are employed at the Corus steelworks, the Boulby potash mine, which is also the site of the UK’s particle physics research project, or at the chemical works 12 miles north in Middlesbrough.

There are no ancient fishermen’s cottages for weekenders to drool over in Saltburn, but 19th-century cliff-top terraces, named after jewels: Garnet Street, Pearl Street, Ruby Street, Coral Street etc. There are also striking hotels – including the Zetland, which has been converted into flats – eclectic shops, some still wearing their original canopies, including a deli and a chocolatier, a grand pub called The Victoria, an imposing railway station, a restored pier and a water-balanced cliff lift. If it looks like a child’s fantasy seaside town, that’s probably because it’s almost what it is. Saltburn was built as a model Victorian resort by Henry Pease, a local entrepreneur. In 1859 he took an evening walk to Saltburn, where “seated on the hillside he had seen, in a sort of prophetic vision, on the edge of the cliff before him, a town arise and the quiet unfrequented glen turned into a lovely garden”. Pease formed the Saltburn Improvement Company and employed George Dickinson of Darlington, surveyor and civil engineer, to build his dream. By 1870 Saltburn was a thriving resort.

BACKGROUND

• The cost of a sea view

• Bargains on the coast

• FOCUS ON . . . TRURO

• Do floods scupper sales?

• Once more unto the beach

Seaside house prices soar

City-dwellers driving up property prices by the sea

• The boom town rocks

BACKGROUND

• From winos to wine bars

BACKGROUND

• Ramsgate rules

• Shoreham gets trendy

• The coast’s next wave

• House Hunter: Sideways to Brighton

• A change in the tide

But in 1881 Henry Pease died, and his dream faltered with him. Although popular with NorthEast holidaymakers, Saltburn never became the rival to Scarborough its founder had imagined. It remains relatively undeveloped. Signs of the times are coming though. Last year the old ticket office for the miniature railway was turned into a cappuccino bar.

In the 1980s, like many fading seaside places, Saltburn suffered from unemployment, rising crime and the deterioration of its housing stock, especially in those lustrous-sounding “jewel streets”. Redcar and Cleveland council created a local plan to revive the area’s fortunes by improving infrastructure and encouraging tourism. The tide is definitely turning, but there is some way to go: decades of neglect have left many properties decidedly worse for wear.

Word-of-mouth recommendation about Saltburn’s special qualities has brought in new people to take on these old terraces. Surfers were among the first; the long, sandy beach is believed to boast some of the best waves on the North East coast. There is a surf-shop, surf lessons, surfing breaks and, increasingly, a surf-driven demand for flats. “We’re finding that one of the most popular properties are flats that can be let out to surfers,” says Pomeroy. “There is definitely a growing recognition that these are a good investment.” In the Zetland building there is a nicely modernised two-bedroom flat of about 850 sq ft for sale for £150,000, through Ingleby’s estate agents.

“It went through a very raggy period,” admits Sandra Hall, who moved to Saltburn in 2003 from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, when she married a local man. “But I can honestly say that the place is thriving. You’ve got lots of creative people moving into the ‘jewel streets’, and doing up the old houses, and such a wonderful buzz about the place.” Properties requiring work can be found around here from £170,000, such as the four-bedroom house that Reeds Rains is selling on Ruby Street for £175,000.

Saltburn appears to have found a true sense of community. It is proud of its unusual history and traditions, but unlike many seaside towns embraces the future with confidence. The internet café is the hub of the high street, local websites (and there are many) promise 139 events and activities between now and December, including the miniature railway’s 60th anniversary.

The latest news is that the Women’s Institute and Allotments Association is relaunching its craft and produce show, last held in 1953. It is aimed at children. “We felt this would be a good way of bringing back some of the old values and ways of life that youngsters just don’t see now,” says Ann Cowie, president of Saltburn WI.

You don’t get that in Brighton. Or Whitby, for that matter. “Saltburn’s unique atmosphere comes from its size,” says Stephanie French, of Agora, the business organisation that promotes the town. “There isn’t much space for new residential development. That helps to keep everyone’s energies focused on the town centre.” If you’re looking for the catch to Saltburn, then that is probably it. If you want a seaside home to hide from the world, then Saltburn would probably be hell. But if you’re after a little piece of seaside heaven for less than £100,000, hurry before everybody hears about it.

Reeds Rains, 0845-117 3366; Inglebys, 01287-623 648.

FACTFILE

The average price of a property in Saltburn is £127,732.

The most common properties are terraced houses; the average price of a terrace house has increased by a modest £35,000 since 2003.

The most expensive road in Saltburn, according to the property website www.mouseprice.co.uk, is Victoria Road, where a house costs, on average, £406,625.

The town has only 2,300 households.

Saltburn is one of eight pilot communities selected by Manchester Metropolitan University and the Association of Town Centre Management as part of the Agora project, which intends to reverse economic decline on the high street.

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