Earlier updates. Worth double-checking to see if there have been any price reductions over time…


Unique Property Bulletin – Earlier Update: 10th Feb 2020.

Windmill For Sale

Planning Permission To Convert This Old Chapel Into A Home

Guide: £399,995

Groes Onen Windmill, Pen y Maes Road, Holywell, Flintshire, CH8 7BB

This is a delightful renovation of a windmill. Though the owner has chosen a naff estate agent. The “NewHome4U” house sellers have put their distracting graffiti all over the interior photographs. Also, it is illiterate and double naff to use the number 4 and letter U in this manner. The biggest problem with GotHouses4U is the fact they use WIDE ANGLE lenses to make the rooms seem bigger than they actually are. This is the only photo from the estate agents we were willing to feature. The rest are from reputable sources such as Geograph.

Groes Onen Windmill, Pen y Maes Road, Holywell, Flintshire, CH8 7BB

We will park our Victor Meldrew grumble at this mediocre estate agency for now (we had trouble finding this windmill on the internet after spotting it several days ago). The actual building has had a great deal of work and TLC by the owners. 

Groes Onen Windmill, Pen y Maes Road, Holywell, Flintshire, CH8 7BB

It has come from this roofless ruin to a serviceable property…

Groes Onen Windmill, Pen y Maes Road, Holywell, Flintshire, CH8 7BB

Then had a lot of effort to restore it…

Groes Onen Windmill, Pen y Maes Road, Holywell, Flintshire, CH8 7BB

Photo Courtesy of Phil Williams.

Location of Groes Onen Windmill

Courtesy of Google Inc.

For further details telephone the estate agent 4U: 01352 385030.

Click Here For Further Information

Archived Details: Here

Unique Property Bulletin is a not-for-profit website. We are currently overhauling our organisation and shall be employing staff to reboot the service provided here during the course of 2020. More information about the new jobs: Click Here.


Unique Property Bulletin – Earlier Update: 24 Jan 20.

Old Chapel For Sale

Planning Permission To Convert This Old Chapel Into A Home

Guide: £120,000

Mount Gilead Chapel, Greenfield, Holywell, CH8 7QF

Details on this are a little scant. But it does have an interesting planning history. Flintshire Council Planning files: Click Here (ref: 057451).

Mount Gilead Chapel, Greenfield, Holywell, CH8 7QF

Mount Gilead Chapel, Greenfield, Holywell, CH8 7QF

Location of Mount Gilead Chapel, Greenfield, Holywell, CH8 7QF

Courtesy of Google Inc.

For further details telephone Hunters Estate Agents: 0151 339 2465.

Click Here For Further Information

Please mention you found this building in Unique Property Bulletin. We are a not-for-profit website and rely on the occasional donation from house sellers and estate agents to keep the unusual properties online. Thanks.


Unique Property Bulletin – Earlier Update: 20 Jan 20.

Island Barn For Sale

Planning Permission To Convert The Barn Into A Dwelling.

Guide: £85,000

St Johns Road, Wroxall, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 3EL. 

The Old Barn, St Johns Road, Wroxall, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 3EL.

The Old Barn, St Johns Road, Wroxall, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 3EL.

Getting to the Isle of Wight often has that exotic feel about it: when you need a ferry home…

Isle of Wight Ferry

You will be sailing to your new home here…

Location: The Old Barn, St Johns Road, Wroxall, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 3EL.

Map Courtesy of Google Inc.

The view from this piece of land with the prospective barn conversion…

The Old Barn, St Johns Road, Wroxall, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 3EL.

PLANNING CONSENT granted under Prior Approval (19/00043/3QPA) for change of use and alterations of two barns to form two residential dwellings. Conditions will need to be discharged by the purchaser. Further details available from the sales agents.

For further details telephone BCM Estate Agents: 01983 828 800.

Click Here For Full Detail

Please mention you found this building in Unique Property Bulletin. We are a not-for-profit website and rely on the occasional donation from house sellers and estate agents to keep the unusual properties online. Thanks.


Happy New Year

All the best for 2020 

Big Things Happening Offsite

We will be sparse on postings for the next few weeks. After 25 years of keeping this publication going, we are at a particularly sensitive phase.

December 2019 and most of January 2020 will be quiet hereabouts. Then we will be starting back afresh. Gently at first, but as we start contracting freelance journalist assistance and then part-time staff, with full-time the goal, this publication will be getting back to its old self. It’s your fault. We were okay with 2,000 to 3,000 readers, but when the numbers get above 70,000 with 180,000 peaks, the email traffic becomes challenging. Good, but the volume…

Click Here

For more news on the adventure of how we are going to make the Unique Property Bulletin free for you forever.

A great thanks to our new home at Noss Head Lighthouse Station.


Unique Property Bulletin – Earlier Update: 26th November 2019

Freedom To Holiday & Work In Europe?

This website is non political,

But as Brits, we would still like to holiday and work in Europe after Brexit.

We may have a solution for us and you too:-

Are You British & Wanting To Travel Freely On This Map After Brexit?

If you are a UK citizen/passport holder and worry a little about holidaying and/or working in Europe after Brexit, we may have a solution for you. First, you will need to secure a place to own in Europe. We have a unique spot picked out especially for you…

Owning A Residence In Europe Before Brexit Will Give UK Citizens Certain Extra Rights.

This little piece of Europe is unique + picturesque…

This Could Be Your View.

Unique Property Bulletin rarely feature homes outside the UK, but we have had several emails from readers worried about Brexit and whether this impacts on their EU home. We do get the occasional Spanish cave for sale, or French chateau being flogged and this adds to the flavour of our website. So in answer to one of our readers we had our resident law specialist dig deep into some of the rules governing Brits wishing to travel freely between the UK and Europe after Brexit.

To be clear, this website is non-political. But we are aware there is some anxiety and in an effort to ameliorate this we have compiled a dedicated feature article for those affected by Brexit to digest. The information may well help you to secure grandfather or grandmother rights for accessing the EU painlessly. It will certainly save you having to check whether you have far-flung relatives in the Republic of Ireland who may bestow an Eire + EU passport to you…

Life Will Go On After Brexit

Prior to Brexit day, if and/or when it arrives, it makes sense to see if there is anything you can do now to ensure your access to live + work + holiday in Europe and travel there from the UK that makes it easier for you before the Border Posts go back up.

First, we present a home for sale on the Dutch Canals and then work at ensuring you can travel there and back to Old Blighty with minimal hassle…

Click Here Two Part Details

Home in Europe & Easing The Travel

All the best from Unique Property Bulletin.

***********


Unique Property Bulletin – Latest Update: 18th November 2019

Failed To Sell At Auction

Former Lock Keeper’s Cottage For Sale, Buckinghamshire

Guide: £160,000. But PLEASE Check The Legal Pack.

Lock Cottage, Ship Lane, Marsworth, Tring, Buckinghamshire, HP23 4NA

Photo Courtesy of Shaun Ferguson 

One of this website’s favourite sources of unusual properties to buy with very good prices are those that have “Failed To Sell At Auction” (FTSAA). However, caution must be applied when buying as there are often very good reasons that a particular lot has been left on the shelf like a misbehaved seasonal elf.

Lock Cottage, Ship Lane, Marsworth, Tring, Buckinghamshire, HP23 4NA 

This interesting old lock keeper’s cottage is one such auction failure to sell. Will it be a great find or a money pit bind?

Just for starters, the invidious buyers premium will cost you over a grand. But that is small potatoes compared to the warning caveat alarm bells that sound with the description.

There is no access by the buyer nor auctioneer.

There are no interior photographs.

The property is leasehold.

There is a tenant in situ.

The guide price is remarkably low.

Even so, this is a solid-looking building and it cannot be denied, the location, with traffic passing at a sedate 4 miles per hour in picture-postcard style is beguiling.

Lock Cottage, Ship Lane, Marsworth, Tring, Buckinghamshire, HP23 4NA 

Please do your homework on the legal pack. Even better, have your solicitor purchase a tooth comb that is fine enough to cover the small print. After conducting thorough due diligence, you should have the grace to submit a bid in your good time and not under any auction house pressure.

You may well end up with a genuinely brilliant buy. But please tread cautiously.

Location Plan

Courtesy of Google Inc

Location Address…

122 Canal Street, Lock Cottage, Lock 38, Ship Lane, Marsworth, Tring, HP23 4NA

For further details and the full estate agent narrative

Click Here For Full Detail

All the best from Unique Property Bulletin.

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Unique Property Bulletin – Latest Update: 31st October 2019

Police Station With Planning Permission

From Police Cells To 10 Homes.    Joint Custody Purchase Venture Possible.

Currently Guided At: £300,000. Bought in 2016 For £84,000.

We detect an offer around £200,000 may well be courting some interest.

Effectively just £30,000 for each house building plot.

Former Police Station For Sale, Eaglesfield Street, Maryport, Cumbria, CA15 6HG

First of all, Russ McLean apologises sincerely for the pun-fest in today’s mangling of the English language…

Here at Unique Property Bulletin we love these old buildings. They are solid and built at a time when there were no power tools. Maybe think about that. The solid structure you see in the photographs are of a major mass and built by craftsmen and women from the Victorian era. By hand. A great amount of work and effort was expended in designing and constructing this old police station.

Former Police Station For Sale, Eaglesfield Street, Maryport, Cumbria, CA15 6HG

So now we must do our part. Your host here at 3am is up because of a dose of PTSD inherited from a time of service in these very buildings. Would not change that earlier career for the world, but I do turn to this keyboard to get through some of the long, challenging nights.

Former Police Station For Sale, Eaglesfield Street, Maryport, Cumbria, CA15 6HG

The unseen cost that anyone who worked in this police station and other places emergency service can be profound. The dark nights can be assuaged by the most unusual things. A couple of hours tapping away at the computer with this publication for the past couple of decades really does help. Hearing accounts from folk who have become friends after finding and renovating one of these handsome buildings is a great bonus. In the fathomless low depths of skyward moonlit life it is possible to make the blue serge demons fade into powerless ghosts. There are many ways to cope. Even just a favourite video sung by an immeasurable talent…

David Draiman + Police + Sound of Silence. Helping With The PTSD For Years Now.

Still writing and checking this an hour later: sunrise is happening and the birds are out! Another PTSD blues spent with this old Unique Property Bulletin friend and a keyboard + mouse for company. It works. Gets old cops through some pretty difficult nights.

Maybe a bit personal, but this Unique Property Bulletin has always endeavoured to be a two way street. The help and encouragement works both ways.

Onwards to today’s listing…

Former Police Station with approved OUTLINE PLANNING for conversion to ten homes. Please be aware that one or more may require to be affordable units.

5 x 1 Bedroom Apartments, 2 x 2 Bedroom Apartments, 1 x Bungalow, 2 x Two Bedroom Houses Ref 2/2018/0096 Allerdale Borough Council

A while back, this was very ambitiously advertised at £395,000: here.

Sold in April 2016 at Roy Pugh auctions : here

Reported sale price in the local Times & Star newspaper: £84,000: here.

Bumped down to £200,000: here.

Seems to have settled at £300,000 for the time being (November 2019): here.

Before considering any offer or even an inspection, please remember to start your homework and see what other development sites in the Mayport locality are guided at: here.

There appears to be a growing nostalgia for buildings that have character. A generation of us are buying classic cars as a way to hang onto a time when things seemed… more comforting. Looking at the old Dixon of Dock Green and Heartbeat style of buildings can help the empty-nesters with this. The viewing figures of these types of programmes show there is an appetite for the past. Our own Unique Property Bulletin stats., page has many peaks and boosts in the readership/page-view numbers when we list a building such as Maryport Police Station. This part of the country is also very popular. With fine buildings and great locations this candidate property might be a double win.

Police Buildings In The North of England Have A Certain Nastalgia

Some enjoy the television drama. Others may not be so fond. The cells can be guy cold some nights!

Summarising the Old Bill themed vernacular…

We were able to detect by plodding around that in 2016 this magnificent 150 year old police station was sold, post-auction at £84,000. Circumstantial evidence: here.

A post-auction sale indicates the buyer got a bargain. The £80,000 “guide” (here) would have been somewhat higher and outwith Roy Pugh auctioneer’s “discretion” as they had to sell the police station “post-auction”.

As with any experienced property sleuth, we would reasonably deduce the “reserve” had to be above £90,000 to £100,000 in 2016.

The cost of having this substantial building insured and secured from 2016 to present-day are substantial. In our experience we estimate would be professional survey + conveyancing + auctioneer + architect fees and especially empty business rates (a killer and does local authorities no good because it puts off developers costing lost jobs and lost rates) and other bills would easily crack £15,000. Maybe reach £20,000. Then there are the local council planning fees. With respect to Allerdale Borough Council: this looks painful!

It Isn’t Just Tight Handcuffs That Can Make Your Eyes Water. Look At These Fees.

Planning Document: Here.

We leave this maze of planning fees to our astute readers so they have a guest role in this Sherlock Holmes endeavour. With TEN newbuild homes on this old police station conversion, you are playing in a bigger league than the average single newbuild house. Our old rozzer hunch is between £492 and £20,000 on planning costs. Crucially, the permission in place is outline. You or whoever buys this glorious former Cumbrian constabulary money pit will undoubtedly have to budget in the tens of thousands of pounds to progress past full detailed planning + building warrant and related fees.

But then again, you will end up by creating ten unique homes. The value of a planning permission can be exceptional.

At This Point, You Are Possibly Looking At Nick Berry or Niamh Cusack

Russ here at UPB is looking at the stonework on this actual Heartbeat building (here) to see if it matches Maryport.

If you have read this far into the current Unique Property Bulletin listing, we would advise you pop across onto Rightmove and see what other properties in the area have SOLD for. Not the price guides of houses for sale: you should study the actual sale numbers for what RICS call “comparables”. You don’t have to do this, but anything you say may be taken down in evidence and your wife or husband might utilise a former police implement…

…to gently nudge your ears if you wander in and say: darling I got the numbers wrong. We are holidaying in the tent this year!

A good job our astute buyer got a bargain. There are some pretty impressive plans too…

Proposed Plans: Former Police Station, Eaglesfield Street, Maryport, Cumbria, CA15 6HG

Proposed Plans: Former Police Station, Eaglesfield Street, Maryport, Cumbria, CA15 6HG

Proposed Plans: Former Police Station, Eaglesfield Street, Maryport, Cumbria, CA15 6HG

Proposed Plans: Former Police Station, Eaglesfield Street, Maryport, Cumbria, CA15 6HG

We had actually featured this Maryport police station in Unique Property Bulletin at £80,000 guide in one of the 2016 editions. Indeed the reason you are reading this is because we often run a “Back To The Future” review of old Bulletins to see if any unique property comes back up for sale and this police station has.

If you are a dedicated unique property aficionado we thoroughly recommend looking through back copies of Unique Property Bulletin. Online these go back to 2011. If you want a look through the old paper version archive, these date back 27 years! Plenty of unusual buildings from the past coming back round for sale.

We are also wondering if the 2016 buyer was a Bulletin reader as we have a live request from one of the television property renovation companies seeking to cover this type of project. If you are, please get in touch…

George Clarke Could Well Accompany You To Your Police Station In Maryport.

To read about George Clarke’s new television series, please: Click Here

Your joining the new TV series is a serious offer by the way. Even if you aren’t in the market to buy Maryport’s old police station, but you are buying something unique and would like to have this documented by a professional architect and high-quality production standard film crew, please get in touch (here).

Returning to your prospective purchase of a Cumbrian police station…

So what offer price would we recommend to our readers on this former police station, close to the sea and in a nice Cumbrian town?

The buyer needs a reasonable return on what they have invested. £84,000 in 2016 (here). Plus, no one should underestimate the time and stress dealing with local planning departments. Planners are crucial and save us from horrendous carbuncles on the town and country landscape. But the process, even with new streamlined planning application process can be fraught.

It is not always possible to estimate what the seller would accept. But from this end, and we would declare an interest if Maryport Police Station remains unsold as this is exactly the sort of project that our 365 Unique Property Club members enjoy (we have more than enough with and island hotel + a far north lighthouse station on the club books at this time). Though if any of our Unique Property Club members, or even Unique Property Bulletin readers live near to Maryport in Cumbria, please could you get in touch with the Bulletin as we would like to run the numbers and get an idea if this could be project number 34. Many thanks.

For now though, we defer and stand aside to commend this former cop shop to our readers.

What about suggesting that offer price McLean – C’mon get a move on!

You might well ask this. So without further ado…

With a purchase price of £84,000 + professional fees, insurances empty business rates: ballpark £25,000. Council planning fees £10,000 to £25,000. Ouch, officer, that hurts. Well, this is a TEN house development. Unfortunately, the planning fees go up faster than Inspector Morse’s Jaguar.

Maryport Police Station Sale. Morse Not Included.

Photo (C) 2019 ITV Productions.

Personally and professionally?

Well, as a property project manager (credentials here), I would centre on the £200,000 that the seller has already guided this property for: here.

We have made “routine inquiries” into the purchase price. That is evidenced at £84,000. With all the fees + costs the seller has already paid out, plus interest or opportunity-cost on their £84,000+ along with their own time securing that substantial planning permission to convert this police station into 10 homes along with comparables in the area for other building sites…

The offer I would start with would be £150,000.

You may hear the estate agent cough and splutter a bit, especially as someone in the estate agent’s office owns this police puppy and has been working some hard labour to get it moved on.

If AFTER you have viewed Maryport Police Station and COMPLETED the DUE DILIGENCE you should process with ALL property projects, you then proceed to make an offer of £150,000, the seller will understand you have done your homework; you have taken cognisance of the price they paid for this building in 2016 and also you have allowed for their costs etc.

The crux in reaching a price that both seller and buyer are happy with at this instance will depend largely upon how much profit the seller needs to extract.

If it is your lucky day, the seller being a property professional might realise they have exhausted many sale avenues and just “take a view”. By that, I mean they may accept the value of what this place sits at, on their books/balance sheet.

You might just cop a bargain.

Please remember, here at Unique Property Bulletin we have a property club that may be interested in helping a buyer. More details at the foot of this listing.

Your next step will soon be to arrang a viewing. Before that, we would recommend…

You utilise the excellent Google 3d system and electronically walk at the regulation 2.5 mile an hours the perambulating plod is proscribed to limit his or her beat cop speed. A virtual wander around what looks to be a very nice neighbourhood. None of us at Unique Property Bulletin have ever been to Maryport in Cumbria, but that may be soon be remedied.

Google 3D Streetview

Click Here

In all seriousness, the virtual tour is something you should do yourself as it gives a reasonable idea of the neighbourhood prior to making what might be a fairly long journey to inspect the actual buildings. What we enjoyed is the fact the sea is just a 5 minute walk over the brow of the hill in Eaglesfield Street. Turns out Maryport is actually a town with a name that reflects the fact it has a very nice port – and a marina…

Former Police Station For Sale. Located In The Nice Cumbrian Town of Maryport

Five Minutes From The Old Police Station & You Have This Beautiful Harbour

Oh bu66er. We have virtually sold ourselves this former police station. It is 203 miles from our Unique Property Bulletin HQ. That is really spooky because my uniform shoulder number was L203. Folk with service numbers of any variety tend not to forget them (epaulette ID is much easier though).

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Maryport Police Station Sale.

Current Price Guide…

£300,000

But…

Unique Property Bulletin believes this police station may change hands for a figure between..

£175,000 to £200,000

Joint Venture Possible: Unique Property Club members would consider joining a local developer with the bona fides, CV, track-record and skillset required to project manage this police station conversion to completion. We have sufficient cash reserves to cover purchase and development costs with no need for bank support.

We believe the earlier £200,000 is closer to the eventual resale price (evidenced here). The £395,000 sought (here) was a non-starter. If you have the track record and are based in Cumbria, please consider contacting Unique Property Bulletin to explore a joint venture, both with the purchase funds and the project renovation budget.

In short, we have £100,000 towards the £200,000 purchase price.

Plus sufficient reserves to fund the renovation stages.

If you have £100,000 and crucially have the CV + experience to project-manage the Maryport Police Station conversion, then we would be delighted to hear from you. Either as a joint-venture project or one funded exclusively by one of our team: click here. 

For further details and the full estate agent narrative and more photos appear on their website…

Click Here For Full Detail

All the best from Unique Property Bulletin.

***********


Unique Property Bulletin – Earlier Update: 29th October 2019

Water Tower Home For Sale

Former Water Tower Converted Into A 4 Bedroom Detached Home.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

View From The Top of Melton Park Water Tower.

Melton Park Water Tower: Floor Plan. For Guidance Only

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Map Courtesy of Google Inc.

Location of…

Melton Park Water Tower, Clements Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1SZ.

Price Guide…

£900,000

Unique Property Bulletin has adopted a new policy of uploading more properties. But we are run by a small group of 4 volunteers where free time is limited. So we have minimal text and emphasise the photographs as these replace a thousand words.

For the full estate agent narrative and more photos appear on their website…

Click Here For Full Details

Archive: Click here    here

Please consider mentioning that you found this converted water tower for sale Unique Property Bulletin.

Many thanks.

***********


Do You Want To Know A Secret?

Do you fancy finding a tasty unique building in your area?

Click Here 

For Our Special Feature Article

Learn how to find unique buildings such as this water tower: guided at just…

£4,000 Freehold.

(though this tower lot made a more – details later on)

This is just one of many unusual buildings we find.

Now you can use some of our techniques to find your favourite flavour of amazing building AND for sale in  our location NEAR TO YOU.

Now, with the Unique Property Bulletin “Secrets” article, you can read up on techniques to find unusual buildings for sale in your area of the country. Maybe worth spending a modest £3.65 to read the article. This can be done via our pay-per-view service (that helps this not-for-profit website)…

Click Here For Some of Our Secrets.

With direct access to our Special Feature Article

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Unique Property Bulletin – Latest Update: 25th October 2019

Choice of TWO Island Forts For Sale

You can buy the “before renovation” Horse Sand Fort for £750,000. A Magnificent Maritime Money Pit.

Or…

You could buy the “after renovation” Spitbank Fort for £8,000,000. Now A Brilliant 23 Bedroom Hotel.

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First we feature the £750,000 Horse Sand Fort

Horse Sand Fort is situated in the Solent, between Southsea and the Isle of Wight, and is one of three similar sea forts constructed between 1865 and 1880 to head off the threat of a sea invasion from France. The reputed original construction cost was £425,000 back in 1865. Now this monumental structure, is available for £750,000 which is a fraction of the newbuild price.

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £750,000.

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £750,000.

Here at Unique Property Bulletin, having just renovated a set of lighthouse buildings from 1849 is the fact these monumental works were created by hand brain and muscle. There were no electric drill nor power equipment 154 years ago.

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £750,000.

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £750,000.

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £750,000.

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £750,000.

A bit of a confession from Unique Property Bulletin. Regular readers will know the island fort we sold last November 2018 was with the help of some semi-naked British Army guys who put together a Youtube film titled: Conquering Haile Sands Fort…

Click Here For “That” Video of The Last Fort We Sold

However, our friend, the owner of the North Sea fort at Haile Sands was a little uncomfortable with the Army boys accessing the old island fortress. Mainly for fear in case they hurt themselves. Also we have a key and the boys didn’t need to scale the walls in the way they did as they could have just unlocked the front door of the fort!

But all the folk we spoke with enjoyed the Conquering Haile Sands Fort film so much, especially the high production values, great adventure and humour at the end of the video, that it actually helped sell the island fort and everyone was happy (our dedicated webpage fro that fort sale: click here.

Our confession with these next two Solent Forts? We have one of our favourite websites…

www.28dayslater.co.uk

…doing something similar. Okay we don’t have the video production and no naked hot sweaty army blokes, but the 28 Days Later team have managed a GREAT report for this Solent Channel Fort at Horse Sands with lots of stills and narrative.

Here are the 28 Days Later crew on their similar conquering mission – and they had the mandatory pirate flag too…

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

The 28 Days Later pirates then had a picturesque feast once the completed their photographs…

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

The 28 Days Later Pirate Dinner – In Style (please don’t tell the boss of Clarenco!!!)

Click Here

For The Excellent 28 Days Later Report 

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

For further details, there is a detailed narrative on Wikipedia: here

The estate agency details are: here.

There is a current auction scheduled for 1st November 2019. However, Unique Property Bulletin experience on the massive renovation projects indicates that the sale route on an auction date is remote. If Horse Sand Island Fort sells, that would be an excellent result. However, we are of the view that a significant amount of preparatory due diligence and work on contract costs and listed building issues mean a deal is likely to be negotiated after the auction. So…

Please text Unique Property Bulletin with your enquiries in the first instance…

Text: 0757 2768 795.

We are keen to assist our readers. 

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Even by our Unique Property Bulletin standards, having just one of these island forts for sale is unusual. Listing two is unique.

Our readers have a great opportunity to see what they would have if the Horse Sand Fort was renovated to the high specification and labour of love applied to Spitbanks Fort. Just nip across the water and see what the owners did with the special renovation on the sister fort.

*********** *********** ***********

Next We Feature The £8,000,000 Spitbank Fort

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

A whole different fort to its sister. There is an ingenious RIB boat hoist system. When the seller’s of Spitbank Fort shoed our editor, Russ Mclean the design and then the functioning system, he wanted to install one on Ailsa Craig Island. That was one of the reasons Unique Property Bulletin sold their island base back in 2001. Ailsa Craig Island is incredibly difficult to access as the tidal swell is too dangerous to moor vessels alongside for any duration.

Vitally Important Boat Hoist For Simplifying Access To Spitbank Fort

This boat hoist is not just an essential feature of Spitbank Fort – if you are interested in buying the sister Horse Sand Fort at £750,000, we would advise the very first thing you need to do is install a substantial boat hoist system (along with seriously robust lifting structure points on each boat you intend hoisting out of the sea).

Unique Property Bulletin Cannot Over Emphasise How Crucial This Hoist Is

Pragmatic access to these forts is solved by this impressive engineering process. Whether you are renovating Horse Sands nearby, or running the completed Spitbank Fort, this boat lift makes either process work very well.

There is an alternative mode of transport to the forts…

Helicopter Pad Is Included. But A Chopper Can Be Expensive.

Once aboard the fortress island, especially Spitbank, the place is a feast for your eyes. The owners have made one of the best ever unique renovations we have seen in the 27 years we have been publishing Unique Property Bulletin…

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

This portal leads to a 23 bedroom island hotel and includes staff +_ owners accommodation. This is much more than a niche hotel, there is a great amount to do, whether exploring an amazing, historic structure, or sunbathing, or having a barbeque. There is a hot tub and many amenities designed into this structure without losing the history. In fact, if you take another look at the photographs of the derelict Horse Sand Fort, it is very apparent these structures will eventually be lost: reclaimed by the sea and utterly ruinous.

A balance is needed and the current owner of Spitbank Fort has done that with style. The renovated fort is able to “earn its keep”. We had the same problem when our Unique Property Bulletin renovated the Noss Head Lighthouse Station. These historic buildings need to be lived in. They require money spent on them. Managing that balance is as much an art form as sheer force of nature that the renovation specialist must possess to take on one of these Leviathans.

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Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

 

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

Spitbank Fort, The Solent, Hampshire. PO4 9UQ

Guide Price: £8,000,000.

To Consider Visiting The Excellent Spitbank Fort Hotel… 

Click Here

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Please Text Unique Property Bulletin with your enquiries in the first instance…

Text: 0757 2768 795.

We are keen to assist our readers. If none buy Horse Sand Fort then our 365 members of Unique Property Club are on alert + standby. They will be looking closely into purchasing one or both of these amazing places if the auction and efforts to sell on 1st November 2019 come to nought. We often provide a safety net for friends and colleagues. Especially those such as the owners of Solent Forts who happen to be neighbours at Ackergill Tower House next door to our Noss Head Lighthouse Unique Property Bulletin HQ. 

Solent Forts Are Located Between The Isle of Wight & Mainland UK

Map Courtesy of Google Inc.

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Unique Property Bulletin – Latest Update: 20th October 2019

Unique Property Bulletin Says:

FACEBOOK ARE DREADFUL…

Sorry Readers, We Have Been Locked Out of Our Facebook Page (here)

We had 2 hours to sort out the latest update for addition to Unique Property Bulletin, but this valuable time from our volunteers has been used up and wasted by Facebook. Their “account recovery” systems suck. We have spent over £2,000 with Facebook since opening a page which now has over 7,000 “followers”. Sadly with no way back into our account, that page seems dead.

Details…

Click Here

For Facebook Suck

Let this be a warning to others.

P.S. We are working hard to restore the Facebook facility, but this situation has reduced our respect from Facebook as they take thousands of pounds in advertising on their platform and have NO means of contact when customers get locked out of their accounts and the Facebook automated systems have dastardly, defective coding that STOPS paying customers getting back into their Facebook accounts.

No wonder Mark Zuckerberg is preparing to split his company into two sections and he struggles with $5 billion dollar fines and appalling reputational damage.

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Unique Property Bulletin – Earlier Update: 16th October 2019

Apocalypse Abode For Sale

Northamptonshire, NN6 9YE

Guide Price: Offers Over £25,000.

UKWMO Brixworth, Northamptonshire, NN6 9YE

Photo By Sync Below

This is the sixth underground bunker from the former Royal Ordnance Corps (ROC) United Kingdom Warning & Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO) featured for sale on this website. Our founder actually bid on one of these when the MoD were selling them off in the 1990s. The long tube you need to descend down into the bowels of the earth give a dark foreboding feeling.

Not just because it is dark underground, but the realisation that…

The men and women who served in the ROC faced the very real threat of never seeing their wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, and grandchildren ever again. Grim. Distressing.

The Apocalypse Sword of Damocles that ROC corps members lived through was not the cheery kind where even Bruce Willis gets a good ending and Liv Tyler lives happily ever after. No this is real Botticelli stuff. Poor old astrologer Russell Grant gets ring 8 with dodgy politicians and MPs going in at number 9, down Dante’s Inferno (here). Crikey, the end of the world looks far worse than just getting a little bit dead!

The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse: Death, Famine, War and Conquest.

Viktor Vasnetsov. Painted in 1887.

So what is it that brings such huge amounts of media interest with our fairly obscure website here receiving 10,000, 20,000 and up to 50,000 visitors to the dedicated “sale” page (here)?

UKWMO Brixworth, Northamptonshire, NN6 9YE – Constructed To This Standard Design

Artist Illustration: C. Greg Smith

There are the massed ranks of “preppers” as detailed further down this page for the previous sale of UKWMO Brundall (now sold).

We also had a long chat with one of our bunker owning friends and their story was wonderful and charming. Quite a dichotomy. Here is their account of many years ownership of an apocalypse abode…

This Unique Property Bulletin reader loved to go camping in the family tent, but the kids were none too keen. Too wet and cold. So when he bought one of these underground UKWO bunkers, the holiday dynamc and enthusiasm changed. When he and his wife got caught in the rain, rather than have the children miserable, they got to go below ground to a real-life adventure place and play video games in the relatively warm and dry bunker. Parents, please resist the temptation to close and lock the bomb -proof hatch if your kids misbehave. Camping is supposed to be fun, not an open invite for social services!

From this end of the Unique Property Bulletin keyboard, good luck if you are looking to buy this underground bunker in Northamptonshire, and maybe invest in an old submarine periscope for the kids to keep them entertained below decks whilst you and/or your partner get rained on in the chilly, windy tent!

UKWMO Brixworth, Northamptonshire, NN6 9YE. This Could Be You.

Wet and windy up top. The wife and kids warm and dry, cosy below.

UKWMO Brixworth, Northamptonshire, NN6 9YE

Map Courtesy of Google Inc.

Price Guide…

£25,000

For further details and viewing arrangements for this underground bunker for sale, please...

Click Here

Please consider mentioning that you found this building in Unique Property Bulletin.

Many thanks.

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Unique Property Bulletin – Earlier Addition: 15th October 2019

For Sale By Auction

Methodist Chapel & Coach House In Cornwall

Guide: £250,000

Crackington Haven Methodist Church, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 0PB

This classic Methodist Church and Sunday School plus detached Coach House has been closed and is now for sale at auction. The owner has a supportive Pre-app Planning response for conversion to residential use.

Coach House Building Is Included In The Auction.

AUCTION DATE AND VENUU

Please phone the auctioneer BEFORE attending. Tel: 01566-777-777. This is to make sure the property has NOT been SOLD PRIOR and also to be certain of the auction date and venue.

Crackington Haven Methodist Church, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 0PB

Crackington Haven has a good food public house, two excellent cafés, a small beach shop, a pair of cliff top tennis courts and surf club.

A Pre-application Planning submission and decision was lodged for Brockhill Chapel with Cornwall Council Planning Department under reference PA18/03368/Pre-App dated 21st February 2019. A copy can be viewed online via online-planning-register. The conclusion of the Pre-app states:-

“Subject to Policies 4 of the Local Plan being satisfied, the residential re-use of this building is supported in principle under Policy 7. However, it is a constrained site and issues of future safe parking provision and external amenity space will require careful consideration. Given its historic role, HIA will be required to inform any future conversion to a dwelling. Any future extension will require careful consideration to ensure an acceptable impact upon the character of the Chapel and the wider AONB/Heritage Coast landscape. Favourable ecological assessment will also be required”.

Crackington Haven Methodist Church, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 0PB

Crackington Haven Methodist Church, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 0PB

Crackington Haven Methodist Church, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 0PB

Crackington Haven Methodist Church, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 0PB

Crackington Haven Methodist Church, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 0PB

Map Courtesy of Google Inc.

Price Guide…

£250,000

For further details and viewing arrangements for this methodist chapel and coach house for sale, please...

Click Here

Archive: Here

Auction Date: 6th November 2019. Unless Sold Prior.

Telephone Kivells Auctioneers: 01566-777-777.

Please consider mentioning that you found this building in Unique Property Bulletin.

Many thanks.

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Unique Property Bulletin – Earlier Addition: 7th October 2019

Latest Article

Can Unique Property Bulletin Help To Cure Your Brexit Headaches?

A solution for UK residents wanting to live and/or work in Europe. Unhindered.

We are none too keen on touching one of the most toxic debates in 50 years. But several of our readers have asked for help. It just so happens that our sister organisation: Unique Property Club has been looking at a European gem to buy. These unusual projects that our small band of 365 members have been buying + renovating + having great fun with has been active in the UK since 1997. The members have been actively looking at amazing places such as this to buy for our project number 31…

Unique Property Club Adventure For 2020. Moated Chateau in France

As a result, our website founder and general legal beagle has been scouring UK + EU law to see if need to search whether for grannies were born in Ireland so we could claim dual nationality like 11,000 other UK citizens have done this past year.

An Old Photo of Russ McLean, During Service on the Island of Islay.

As around 20 to 30 of our 365 core of Unique Property Club (UPC) members partake in each project and we have three on the go just now, that would mean 60 to 90 of our UPC crew chasing Davina McCall and Long Lost Relatives (here) to help find their Granny McGinty from County Donegall.

Rest easy Davina. Russ has this. Long before he hung up his handcuffs, Strathclyde Police trained this young plod well. Anyone who works in law will likely advise you that it is not a case of knowing every law, but being able to find the relevant passages of statute and precedent. This publication’s editor may well have found a solution for those who live and work in the UK to be able to also live + work + holiday, relatively unhindered in the EU once the B-word fades into history…

Click Here

Learn about solving your Brexit dilemma.

What works for the Netherlands is likely to apply to the other 26 EU countries.

In deference to both Brexit supporters and Remainers, here at Unique Property Bulletin, we are none too keen on politicians of any flavour. The charity we helped to register has been treated dreadfully by politicians. So we are profoundly apolitical. The article above is given in good faith. Readers will by necessity need to educate themselves as to their position living abroad in the EU. If in doubt, please can you obtain professional advice to satisfy yourself as to the veracity of details and sources above when combined with your own situation. Thanks.


So that you don’t miss any unusual buildings for sale, please consider subscribing to our regular updates…

We would love to get you into mischief and your next home might just, magically appear on these pages. For more information about the background to Unique Property Bulletin and how it can help you, please Click Here

Best wishes.

The Unique Property Bulletin Team.

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To read about, and study earlier unique property features

Previous Unique Property Bulletin Page

CLICK HERE

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