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Time for a property post mortem?

August 3, 2012 at 4:14 PM Nigel Lewis 1 comment

Would you buy a former mortuary even if it was ripe for development? Well, there’s one you might suspend your distaste to purchase – a quirky stone building overlooking one of Britain’s most beautiful beaches complete with bags of – sorry – considerable development potential.

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council is offering up the small Grade-II listed storage shed for sale in Saltburn-by-Sea, one of the North East’s most sought-after Victorian seaside resorts famed for its historic funicular railway that scales the cliffs above the town’s short but quirky pier.

The mortuary first sprang into life during 1881 to deal with the bodies washed up by the sea along this stretch of coast but, as ship safety increased, was used  as a general mortuary by the local council until the late 1960s.

Since then it’s been a store room and, although battered by the stinging winter winds of the area, the interior has been well maintained and comes with much of the paraphernalia of a mortuary including a stretcher, stone slab and washbasin.

But what those looking for an unusual holiday home will be interested in is its position, opposite The Ship Inn (see picture, top) on the main Saltburn to Whitby road overlooking a gorgeous beach dominated by the huge bluffs to the south of the main town.

Just a handful of weather-whipped houses overlook the beach and the property’s most obvious neighbour is the bright red boat often parked alongside by a local fisherman.

The hardest job of all would be to work out how much the former mortuary might be worth both before and after conversion into a holiday home.

Period properties with sea views and one bedroom (as this one would probably have) fetch approximately £130,000 in Saltburn, so as at least £20,000 would be needed to turn it into a home and therefore expect tenders for residential use to be around £100,000.

Hurry though if you want to put a bid in. The council wants tenders in by Friday 10^th August by post. More information from the council’s Estates Surveyor, Christopher Black, on 01642 444360.

Entry filed under: For sale, Interesting properties. Tags: holiday homes, investment properties, mortuary for sale.