One thing puts many people off buying properties here
10:01, 10 Aug 2025Updated 10:05, 10 Aug 2025
Barrowcliff(Image: Yorkshire Live)
Despite the tempting prices of properties in one of the cheapest seaside towns in the UK, one thing is putting many people off.
Now residents living in the North Yorkshire town have revealed the reason why people leave and empty houses do not get bought. Scarborough is named as one of the cheapest seaside towns to live in the country by Rightmove, YorkshireLive reports.
According to the website, the average property prices are at an affordable price of £202,600 for a semi-detached house with at least two bedrooms. The average rent is £840 per calendar month which is affordable as it is house to price income of 8.76x.
Further down the coast but still remaining near Scarborough is Filey which Rightmove is the fifth most affordable town. The average property price is £213,669 – which is equivalent to 8.76 times the local average income.
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Despite Rightmove insisting that there has been an ‘increase in demand’ by 115% compared to pre-post pandemic levels, living in a seaside town is not all sunshine, beach and fun. As previously reported there is a dark side which sadly some local residents have fallen victim to and made house hunters feel unwanted or scared – leaving cheap properties up for sale for many months or years.
Locals in Barrowcliff, an estate in Scarborough have fallen out of love in the area as they see their beloved home become swarmed by drug addicts and ‘horrible teens addicted to crack putting residents’ windows in’ as police swarm the area to tackle the anti-social behaviour.
Grandad Mark Rewcroft, who is born and bred in Barrowcliff, has had a colourful past after spending much of his life in prison because of his former heroin addiction, but has cleaned up his act by being clean from drugs for 24 years.
Mark Rewcroft and Bill Whitehead, who live in Barrowcliff(Image: Yorkshire Live)
He said: “A lot of s*** goes on here, obviously, but everyone’s got each other’s backs. I’m talking a little bit old school, as that’s what it was like in the 80s and 90s. It was excellent but now it’s changed that much because kids just don’t come out anymore. They’re scared to come out.”
According to Mark, there is a ‘youth problem’ and also believes that strangers or new people are not welcome in the area – which could be a result of empty houses being continuously left for sale.
Mark said: “The teenagers are now either really nice or f****** horrible, and it’s a mixture of that. We were brought up with manners, to treat your elders with respect. But, these lot now are horrible. If they don’t like you and they don’t know you, they’ll start putting your windows in to get rid of you.”
Mark added they “wouldn’t f****** dare” target his house “as I’m from here, and that does count”. Marks says that he believes police have done a “good job” in the area which he says “means a lot, as I can’t f****** stand them”.
Dad-of-one and ex-council worker Bill Whitehead moved Into a flat in Barrowcliff after leaving his job as cleaner for North Yorkshire Council when he was diagnosed with blood-cancer.
North Yorkshire Police launched Operation Tornado, last year in March(Image: NYP)
Speaking of his own experiences, Bill said: “It’s usually people selling crack or hard drugs that get their windows put through by locals. You get to know about things going on. They want to get rid of it, it’s bad s*** on the streets, like hard stuff.
“Gone are the days that people would just light a spliff. Bring them days back. Going back 20 years, smoking weed or drinking, that’s what most people did. One or the other. It’s bad, it’s bad. It’s terrible seeing 15 to 17-year-olds on crack.”
But things are hopefully on the up for Barrowcliff as North Yorkshire Police launched Operation Tornado, last year in March. So far, this crime cracking scheme has helped to decrease 25 per cent of crime in the estate, with 284 incidents in total and incidents also decreasing by 9 per cent (840 in total).
Inspector Craig Regan, who leads the Scarborough Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “As well as focusing on serious and organised crime such as drug dealing, we are just as much concerned about anti-social behaviour and criminal damage which we know causes so much upset to residents but are often too afraid to report it to the police or the council.
“To reassure everyone living in Barrowcliff or anywhere else in our area, we want you to have confidence to pick up the phone and call 101 or make an online report via the North Yorkshire Police website. You can also inform the council or your housing provider, as they will let us know about any issues.
“We are tackling it, not tolerating it. We are making sure it does not become the new norm.”
Hopefully in the future house hunters can see the beauty of the area and live the coastal dream that they hoped for.