A THREE-BED family home moments away from one of London’s busiest train stations has gone on the market – but there’s a huge catch.
The stunning Grade II-listed property, priced at just under £1million, lies in a row of terraced houses just a short walk from King’s Cross St Pancras.
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Despite its central location, the house stands in a quiet cobbled street with little traffic. It also has its own garden, a rarity in the capital.
But buyers with plenty of cash on their hands may want to pause before making an offer.
That’s because the home is in a state of total disrepair – and will need work costing tens of thousands more before the kids can move in.
The scale of the work needed to bring the house up to scratch becomes immediately obvious once the new owners get inside the front door.
Carpets have been torn up completely, leaving bare floorboards exposed.
In one room, a lone sink and cabinet stand alongside tatty blue walls.
Wooden panels on one wall have been repaired with brown duct tape.
But the effort seems wasted – as the adjacent wall has been partly torn away, exposing dingy building material below.
TOTAL DISREPAIR
In a bedroom, an old-fashioned heater and a sad-looking floral lampshade are the only remaining decorations.
The hallway is painted bright pink, with rickety stairs leading between floors.
A toilet and a shower, complete with dingy curtain, still stand in the bathroom.
And outside, weeds grow between concrete slabs in the courtyard garden, while untended flowerbeds are almost completely obscured by greenery.
Agents at Daniel Watney admit “extensive refurbishment” is needed.
However, they say the home, which was built in around 1850, will be an amazing purchase for an ambitious buyer.
“This attractive looking period property comprises some 1,097sq ft of space across the basement and three upper floors, the accommodation consisting of three bedrooms, double reception room, kitchen and bathroom,” they said.
‘A BLANK CANVAS’
“The garden faces south and contains storage sheds and an old WC.
“This freehold property has been stripped out presenting a blank canvas for anyone with a project in mind in a location that has benefitted from a fair amount of investment, close as it is to Kings Cross and St Pancras.”
Another home with a similar price tag offers the same challenges to would-be buyers.
The end-of-terrace property, just off Brick Lane in the East End, has been completely neglected over the years.
Dirty and uneven tiles line the floor, while the ceiling has started to sag and the walls are bare.
Agents at Winkworth say the house is “in need of complete modernisation” – but that it’s a “fantastic opportunity”.
And while a home in Plymouth, Devon is at the other end of the financial scale, there’s a completely different level of clearing out to be done.
The three-bed property, which will go under the hammer for £110,000, was owned by a hoarder.
Sad images show five-feet piles of junk that make the kitchen, living room and two of the bedrooms almost completely impassable.
Auctioneers say a team of six cleaners will spend a week clearing the home of the junk – which includes dozens of cider bottles filled with urine – before it’s sold.
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