Coastal erosion in the UK is becoming so pronounced that the Environment Agency has warned that 800 properties in England and Wales will be lost over the next 20 years.
It further warned that that figure will rise to some 7,000 residential and commercial properties over the coming century.
Over the next 100 years, six local authorities - Great Yarmouth, Southampton, Cornwall, North Norfolk, East Riding and Scarborough - are expected to lose more than 200 homes each.
The Environment Agency estimates that more than £1bn worth of properties will disappear as a result of rising sea levels and more intense storms.
The cost of protecting all of these properties is considered to be too high. The government has also resisted calls for compensation to people who lose their property to the sea.
According to the Agency, a £2.3bn investment programme over the next six years will bolster erosion risk management, with 15,000 properties better protected from coastal erosion.
