Ten spooky, but stunning, properties for sale on Zoopla.co.uk
With Halloween just around the corner we got a little curious and wanted to find the spookiest properties for sale on the market.
So, we used our clever little, yet powerful, keyword search tool to find some spooky properties. Whilst these properties certainly have a spooky element, I think you’ll agree, they’re pretty stunning in their own right too.
Oh, and if you’re wondering why the pictures are larger than those you normally see on property websites, it’s because we’ve now added an even better viewing experience and bring you the bigger picture – enabling you to view larger property pictures (where available) when you search property for sale or to rent on Zoopla.
Happy Halloween!
1. Greyfriars Passage, London £4,500,000 – 3 bedroom house for sale
Presented in immaculate condition and refurbished over three years to an impeccably high specification, this unique and breathtaking tower was originally built in 1704 and designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Grade I Listed, this outstanding property retains many original and characterful features.
2. Chapel Lane, Letty Green, Hertfordshire SG14 £2,900,000 – 4 bedroom house for sale
An award winning Grade II listed church conversion by Linley Developments. Set in this quaint village location offering an abundance of charm and character, with stunning reception space over several levels retaining the original stained glass windows.
3. The Chapel, Mayfield Grange, Little Trodgers Lane, TN20 £1,150,000 – 2 bedroom flat for sale
The Chapel formed an integral part of the original Mayfield College, designed by the renowned architect Edward Pugin, a specialist in the design and construction of ornate ecclesiastical buildings. Today, The Chapel is a magnificent centrepiece to the Mayfield Grange development with the clear retention and restoration of many original features, including the gold patterned ceiling, the glorious stained glass windows and the stone carvings.
4. Chapel Place, Broomhill Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent £895,000 – 4 bedroom house for sale
Chapel Place is an attractive sandstone chapel sympathetically converted in 2002. The accommodation has been well designed, keeping the character of the chapel together with the practical comforts of modern day living. The property, which is not listed and dates from around 1876, was built as part of the Abergavenny estate and then later purchased by the Salomon family as their own private chapel. Although Chapel Place and the grounds have a freehold title, part of the walled garden has eight graves which are protected under a 125 year leasehold at £50 per annum.
5. Junction Road, London £825,000 – 3 bedroom flat for sale
Boasting incredible character and high ceilings with original open beams, this stunning three bedroomed flat is set within an impressive church conversion, offering superbly presented and stylish interiors.
6. Foster Street, Harlow £695,000 – 4 bedroom detached house for sale
7. Highgate Road, London NW5 £650,000 – 2 bedroom flat for sale
An extraordinary residence situated in this iconic church conversion. This Luxury 2 bed, 2 bath offers the highest specification and an impressive lifestyle choice.
8. Kew Road, Richmond TW9 £645,000 – 2 bedroom flat for sale
A two double bedroom split level apartment within a converted Victorian Church.
9. Mount Pleasant Church, 145 Lound Side, Chapeltown, Sheffield £595,000 – 4 bedroom detached house for sale
This imposing stone built Grade II listed church, built in 1860, has undergone considerable renovation since 2000 with ongoing refurbishment works to the present time. Much care has been shown in the careful retention of many of the original features within the church, including stone mullioned windows, vaulted ceilings and original doors.
10. Main Road, Brentingby, Melton Mowbray £565,000 – 4 bedroom property for sale
This outstanding and unique property constitutes a former Grade II listed Church of which only the tower now remains. The property itself was completely reconstructed by the present and previous owners with many of the original stone work faithfully reclaimed which is evidence throughout with exposed stone walls, perpendicular archways, buttresses and stone mullioned windows.
As always, please feel free to share and use this information, all we ask is that you credit the source as Zoopla.co.uk and link to either Zoopla.co.uk or blog.zoopla.co.uk. Thank you.
Zoopla Poll: Main dangers affecting the housing market
Are you a registered user of Zoopla? Are you a little bit curious when it comes to property matters? Then why not suggest a poll for us to run live on the Zoopla.co.uk website?
As a registered user of Zoopla you can suggest any property related poll to test the market, find out what those active in the property market are currently thinking or research a specific topic you’re curious about.
Suggest a poll here and will consider making it live on Zoopla today.
Is Bodrum Turkey’s answer to Nice?
This is a legacy post from the findaproperty.com blog which is now maintained as an archive within the Zoopla blog. Links have been preserved.
As the world’s financial problems rumble on, it seems every overseas hotspot that British buyers once jumped at has experienced a significant property market downturn. Florida, Spain, France, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Cyprus and Italy have all endured downturns in both their holiday home and general property markets following the 2007/8 global downturn.
Many of these have picked up since but there is one Mediterranean hotspot that has managed to float serenely above it all – Turkey.
Outside the EU and its troubled currency and with one foot in the east and another in the west – but with Aegean and Mediterranean coasts very similar to Spain – this rapidly-developing country is in the throes of rapid expansion.
Tourist numbers at its resorts such as Bodrum, Altinkum, Fethiye, Kalkan and Marmaris are up by ten per cent this year helped by an excellent pound to lira exchange rate that makes Turkish holidays much cheaper than their euro-funded Spanish equivalent.
And overall Turkey’s economy is expanding ten years after it faced an economic meltdown that makes our recession look like a pocket money crisis. Inflation and interest rates, until relatively recently, were in double-digit figures.
UK-based Turkish specialist and agent Julian Walker of Spot Blue says many British people considering buying property in Turkey think it is a relatively poor country but that the reality is very different. He says that although house prices on Turkey’s coastal strips is at least half that of Spain – and sometimes a lot less – prices in Istanbul where Turkey’s wealthy live are similar to London. Large properties overlooking the bosphorous start at £2m and have reached £100m in the past.
Million pound properties are to be found on the coast too. Spot Blue is selling The Ark House, a large, five-bedroom off-plan villa in the hills above Yalikavak to the north west of Bodrum for £6m – whereas semi-detached three bedroom villas on the outskirts of Bodrum can still be picked up for less than £200,000 – so what gives?
Most Brits are unlikely to buy The Ark – why spend £6m in Turkey when it would buy you something similar in Nice or Cannes? But it does show that Turkey is not – as is often said – like Spain 20 years ago.
Guest Blog – Angie’s story: One woman’s quest to find a rental flat to call home
This is a legacy post from the findaproperty.com blog which is now maintained as an archive within the Zoopla blog. Links have been preserved.
Day 39: Sunday 26th September
So I had a two week gap between moving from fungus flat to my new lush flat, posing the problem of furniture storage (plus storage of such items as a box of tapes from the 80s/90s that both my boyfriend and brother-in-law were trying to press gang me into getting rid of-they had no chance of course). Once again I had to rely on my family to help me, as costs of storage and removal can be excessive if you’re a renter like me who moves on average once every two years. Lovely sister agreed to let me store my stuff at hers and poor brother-in-law (who has now helped me move six times in the last twelve years) supplied a van plus his manual labour. However, there was the matter of my TV, it is a big old heavy beast and heaven knows brother-in-law and I have moved this on a number of occasions but to be honest for my part I nearly drop it every time, so I was relieved when my boyfriend also offered his help. Once we had moved everything over to my sister’s I was a. relieved that everything fit into her spare bedroom and b. depressed that my whole flat fit into her spare bedroom.
Day 42: Wednesday 29th September
After six hours of cleaning my flat from top-to-toe, maybe it was fatigue, maybe it was worrying about moving the rest of my items over to my friend’s house the next day (before the next day’s midday deadline given by the agency) but I was a little tense to say the least. Boyfriend was very understanding and by understanding I mean he sensed the need to take me to the pub and buy me more than the one glass of wine he originally suggested. Returning home a little squiffy, I now no longer cared about the move and settled down to a lovely takeaway.
Day 43: Thursday 30th September
After frantically packing up the last of my items that I had needed to live with for my last few days in the flat it occurred to me how much I still had left to move. Ok so I was officially panicking now… I didn’t ask but I knew van wasn’t available during the week and especially not at such short notice. I relented and asked my friend to help me move the stuff over to hers in her convertible but compact car. Of course there’s nothing like driving through the streets of Hove with the roof down… and with your ironing board and step ladder sticking up from the back seat of the car, classy…
Posts for: October
Day 69: Saturday 16th October
After a couple of weeks of staying with my friend, it was with mixed emotions that I was moving out. I had quite enjoyed having a house mate for those two weeks; I had liked getting home before her and cooking her dinner (although I was slightly concerned that I may have been turning into a Stepford Wife) and also coming home and talking about the events at work that day. That said, I couldn’t wait to move into my gorgeous new home.
Brother-in-law and I loaded up the van chez sister (even the beast TV) and we made our way over to my new abode. Boyfriend was away so I had managed to secure the help of one of my male friends to help with the heavy lifting (although neither of the boys were going to thank me for the fact I was moving up to the top floor). After many boxes, some furniture and much puffing and wheezing I was in! Suddenly I didn’t feel too bad about not having gone to the gym for the last three months…
Day 70: Sunday 17th October
I woke up to the light streaming through my lounge window. Despite having to sleep on my sofa for the next few days (on account of having a mattress on order) I felt happy. The view from my window was beautiful. I padded to the kitchen and made myself a coffee contemplating all of the many little tasks outstanding-waiting around for a mattress to be delivered on Thursday (because delivery companies are incapable of committing to a specific window of time of course), phoning round to change my address and so on but now none of these were bugging me. A restless two months after making the decision to move, I was in my new home and I was elated.
Day 1 – Day 13 of Angie’s blog
Day 14 – Day 17 of Angie’s blog
Comprehensive Spending Review to hit housing market
The Chancellor will set out the Government’s four-year public spending plans in the Spending Review at 12:30 on Wednesday 20 October. This announcement will reveal just how extensive the cuts to government spending will be. It’s anticipated that a significant number of public sector job losses will happen over the coming years. This could mean that areas with high rates of public sector employment are likely to take a disproportionately hard knock over the coming months.
In areas where more people are employed by the state, rising unemployment will lead to more homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages as well as dampening demand from buyers, which will put downward pressure on house prices in these areas. House prices are likely to be far more resilient in areas with a smaller share of public sector employees.
Here are areas in England and Wales where house prices are most and least likely to be hit the hardest:
Top 20 areas likely to be most affected
| Rank | Local Authority Area | % of workforce employed in the public sector | Current avg. property value | 3 year % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oxford | 46 | £326,396 | -3.61% |
| 2 | Denbighshire | 45 | £146,289 | -9.06% |
| 3 | Cambridge | 43 | £306,521 | -6.88% |
| 4 | Middlesbrough | 43 | £117,623 | -8.53% |
| 5 | Hastings | 43 | £164,255 | -5.19% |
| 6 | Ceredigion | 42 | £185,569 | -7.53% |
| 7 | Canterbury | 40 | £224,699 | -10.11% |
| 8 | Stafford | 40 | £188,162 | -8.54% |
| 9 | West Dorset | 40 | £271,555 | -9.22% |
| 10 | Merthyr Tydfil | 39 | £94,854 | -7.85% |
| 11 | Sefton | 39 | £170,518 | -9.66% |
| 12 | Liverpool | 39 | £132,083 | -10.21% |
| 13 | Greenwich | 39 | £276,512 | -3.64% |
| 14 | Taunton Deane | 39 | £214,130 | -9.03% |
| 15 | Lewisham | 39 | £265,822 | -3.42% |
| 16 | Swansea | 38 | £151,570 | -9.47% |
| 17 | Eastbourne | 38 | £207,468 | -7.88% |
| 18 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 38 | £166,890 | -9.10% |
| 19 | Blackpool | 37 | £114,300 | -14.58% |
| 20 | Gwynedd | 37 | £155,043 | -8.70% |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk / ONS
Top 20 areas least likely to be affected
| Rank | Local Authority Area | % of workforce employed in the public sector | Current avg. property value | 3 year % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City of London | 4 | £468,962 | 3.14% |
| 2 | Crawley | 12 | £211,235 | -5.82% |
| 3 | Corby | 13 | £132,191 | -8.61% |
| 4 | North Warwickshire | 14 | £173,686 | -9.31% |
| 5 | Broxbourne | 14 | £260,362 | -6.00% |
| 6 | NW Leicestershire | 14 | £175,327 | -8.16% |
| 7 | Bracknell Forest | 14 | £271,346 | -6.80% |
| 8 | Hillingdon | 15 | £289,043 | -5.04% |
| 9 | Tamworth | 15 | £151,501 | -9.11% |
| 10 | Three Rivers | 16 | £389,658 | -5.34% |
| 11 | South Holland | 16 | £152,377 | -10.41% |
| 12 | Harborough | 16 | £239,865 | -8.49% |
| 13 | Slough | 16 | £202,182 | -8.93% |
| 14 | Thurrock | 17 | £186,756 | -7.21% |
| 15 | Hertsmere | 17 | £367,525 | -5.16% |
| 16 | Tower Hamlets | 17 | £329,663 | -3.74% |
| 17 | Trafford | 17 | £239,271 | -9.41% |
| 18 | Woking | 17 | £344,991 | -5.66% |
| 19 | Flintshire | 17 | £164,483 | -9.84% |
| 20 | Hounslow | 17 | £328,716 | -5.47% |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk / ONS
As always, please feel free to share and use this information, all we ask is that you credit the source as Zoopla.co.uk / ONS and link to either Zoopla.co.uk or blog.zoopla.co.uk. Thank you
To Buy or Not to Buy: Jonny Benarr
This is a legacy post from the findaproperty.com blog which is now maintained as an archive within the Zoopla blog. Links have been preserved.
Jonny Benarr used to be a Northampton estate agent before being discovered and landing a job presenting BBC TV’s daytime property show To Buy or Not to Buy. He will be appearing at this month’s First Time Buyer Home Showin London.
Frustrated? Everyone’s frustrated! The lenders are frustrated, the mortgage advisers are frustrated and so too is the government, new home-builders and first-time buyers. And why are they frustrated? Well, for a start, it’s because they are all waiting for some positive news to greet the property market. Moreover, they all know with a bit of honest communication and joined-up thinking the present, as well as the future of the property industry, could be much brighter.
Things have never been so difficult for first-time buyers: there is a very small pool of mortgage products that can only be accessed with deposits upwards (in most cases) of 15%. And with the average house price teetering around the £160,000 mark a quick bit of maths tells you that £24,000 is needed before you put in an offer.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many traditional first-time buyers (in their 20s) that have that kind of money squirreled away, or who could afford to save that much, if they are already paying rent. And, unless you have the good fortune to have an account with the bank of Mum and Dad, the chances are you won’t be getting to that figure anytime soon. So what can be done?
Wouldn’t it be a great idea if there were a Government-backed, bank-loaned mortgage designed just for first-time buyers? (We bailed the banks out so I’m sure they’d be only too happy to repay the favour.) Simple criteria that require buyers to demonstrate they are capable of paying rent on time, month after month, for a period of, say, 12-24 months, should be enough to qualify.
If buyers can afford to pay £600 per month in rent then they can afford to repay the same amount on a mortgage, (it’s the deposit that’s the problem). A discounted interest rate would mean this repayment figure was in excess of the actual mortgage cost and would enable purchasers to save money to ‘buy-back’ the Government deposit, and thus own the property outright.
There are many issues that would need clarifying, of course, but fundamentally, it goes like this: a buyer qualifies through proven track record of paying rent in the private or public sector: Government then subsidizes purchase through a small deposit and a mortgage is provided at discounted rate: property purchased and the short repayment plan (perhaps 3 years?) ensures that the Government liability to the property is extinguished.
With a bit of communication between the main players: Government, banks and house builders we’ll be on our way to returning to a market where lenders are lending, builders are building, advisers are, well, advising, and the Government can take some credit for a job well done. Now who said something about being frustrated?
Chef Marcus Wareing puts pad on market for £2.1m
Italian units in the kitchen
Gordon Ramsey’s former protegé chef, Marcus Wareing, has listed his family home for sale through Savills for £2.1m.
Wareing and Ramsay both live in Wandsworth, London (where average property values are £501,892) and publicly fell out. Could this be why Marcus Wareing is selling up? He was recently quoted as saying:
‘If I never speak to that guy again for the rest of my life, it wouldn’t bother me one bit…’
The fully refurbished property is set over five floors and has f ive bedrooms, three reception rooms, three bathrooms and a walled garden and is situated on St Anne’s Crescent – a stones throw away from Wandsworth Common.
We imagine the real money was spent on the kitchen (Gordon Ramsay reportedly spent £40,000 just on his kitchen!!). Wareing’s kitchen has a “contemporary feel to it and a wide range of Italian units with integrated Smeg appliances and light and bright dining area which sit under a partially glazed roof, benefiting from built-in seating and French doors which open on to the garden.”
The full set of property details can be found here.
A perfectly maintained exterior
Retro/ modern living room
Redroom or bedroom?
Walled garden
