Why would there be a tap by the ceiling?

[AuntiePushpa]

I'm hoping to buy a flat and the place I am looking at has had a lot of bodge DIY jobs by the looks of it. One thing which has totally confused me is a tap near the ceiling in a corner of the main bedroom!
What could it be? Why is it there? I have no idea and have so many more questions for the vendors that I am reluctant to add this to the list...

Stopcock for the flat above? My downstairs neighbour's is in my utility room.

It looks like a mains water stopcock tap, what sort of building is it, is there an upstairs flat. It aounds like hard work if there are lots of bodge jobs, is it worth the hassle.

Thanks both, yes there is a flat above and how annoying/inconvenient if it turns out to be their stopcock... Probably I shouldn't ignore the bodge jobs but I think the flat being a bit of a mess is reflected in the price and means I can afford it.

There is mess and there is bodge that costs thousands to rectify

Is it Victorian? An old gas tap?

You might be able to afford it as is, but you probably cannot afford all the problems that will come with it.

If it didn't have those problems, it would be priced at a similar level to nearby flats which I'm guessing you can't afford.

Be really careful you don't get stuck in a terrible flat which you cannot afford to fix.

Turn it off when you next go and see what happens

I've got a tap as a door handle but I'm a bit weird!

Depends if you can live with the bodge jobs. Tap looks a bit odd but you could disguise it if necessary. If it is neighbours stop cock it's probably more inconvenient for them than you but you need to clarify about their access to it. You don't want them banging on the door at midnight if they get a leak.