A BROTHER and sister have inherited a huge farm from a relative they never knew existed – and it’s worth a small fortune.
Siblings Pam and Lawrence, from Durham, discovered a distant relative had died without leaving a will, meaning they became the owners of a sprawling Welsh farm.
6
6
6
They were initially wary it might be a scam but having confirmed it was genuine it was revealed they were the heirs to an 18th century farmhouse.
The moment they first got to view the run-down property was captured in a new Channel 4 property show called Key to a Fortune.
It is presented by A Place in the Sun host Jean Johansson.
The new show features a team of fortune-finding experts who track down unsuspecting heirs to abandoned properties.
Read More on Property
The second instalment featured Pam and Lawrence getting the keys to the farm and bans which were once home to Mary Stephenson, who died on August 3, 2021.
UNAWARE OF DISTANT RELATIVE
Pamela said: “When I picked up the phone I thought they’d got the wrong people, we’d never heard of Mary so we just thought it was a scam at first. It’s unbelievable really.”
Lawrence added: “We didn’t even know we had family in Wales.”
It was revealed Mary was related to the brother and sister through their great grandfather’s brother.
Most read in Money
Now the siblings have to decide what to do with the farmhouse in Carmarthenshire after they were given a tour of the property by Jean.
Pam and Lawrence’s first impressions of the dilapidated buildings weren’t too positive, with the brother saying: “Well, it needs a bit of work.”
I inherited a 97-year-old home that was demolished by mistake – we did everything we could to save it
He became more positive though, adding: “It’s not that bad really, you know it’s still standing, it’s got a roof on. It just wants a bit of care doesn’t it?”.
While it was clear the property needed some serious attention and work doing, they began to see what it could be like.
Along with the farmhouse and barns, the property also came with around 50 acres of land.
Pam said: “I’m just thinking about Mary, so sad for her, that she had to be on her own, I just hope she had some nice neighbours and friends that helped her out a little bit.”
WORTH AS MUCH AS £500,000
Property expert Kunie Barker estimate the house and buildings were valued at around £350,000 but added the entire estate could go for as much as £500,000.
Kunie also added that if they could get permission to turn the barn into a holiday property and added some camping spot, it could cost around £30,000 to plan but this would double the value of the property.
Another option would be to spend some £200,000 to repair all the buildings so it would be habitable.
However, things got more complicated as more family members were discovered who could also inherit with a total of 11 people who could get a share.
DECIDE WHAT TO DO
Which makes the decision of what to do with the property harder.
Lawrence said: “It’s not as easy as we thought it would be, trying to get everybody on the same page as well as getting in touch with everybody. But they’ve been very appreciative of it, thankful that we are doing the work.”
Pam added: “It’s really difficult with half of us thinking we should get the planning permission and thinking we should sell it after we get it the permission, and the other half thinking the opposite.”
Cousin Jo was all for keeping it, saying: “Yes, it could all be much quicker if we just get the planning permission, spend the money and sell on, but then we’ve got no guarantee that whoever buys it is going to care, I know we didn’t know about Mary but we now we care about her and I think that her inheritance should be spent wisely and that the land that she loved shouldn’t be spoilt too much by somebody who might over-develop.”
After discussing it within the family, they had three choices – either keep the property, make plans for it, or sell it as soon as possible.
Ultimately, they opted to sell it at auction quickly, with the hope they could get £500,000 as the people who will get the money are aged between 55 and 96.
Lawrence said: “That’s what the majority of people want to do now so it looks like we’re just going to go to auction and sell the property and the land.
“But it will still be interesting to find out what happens to the place afterwards. It has brought us a connection to Wales which we didn’t have before.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Pam added: “And we are very thankful to Mary, for what she’s done for us, this inheritance was a complete surprise.”
The second episode of Key to a Fortune is available to watch on Channel 4’s catch-up service.
6
6
6
