Would you buy this property?

[Slowslowlavaflow]

I saw this property online whilst searching for my first home last year. I was very confused by some of the pictures back then as I could not see 'the house'. The pictures have now been updated and make more sense.

It has been up for sale for nearly a year and the price has been reducd by £35,000, and re-listed on Zoopla. Even with the reduction, I still feel like the chances of this undeniably lovely home(inside) selling, are miniscule, as it is so unconventional. The right buyer would be hard to find. I wonder what the homeowner was thinking when building it. Somewhat admirable that they went against the grain though.

What do you all think?

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/56987892/

No amount of nice decor could make up for the fact that it would feel like hiding in an underground bunker. Awful.

Honestly, I wouldn't buy it to live there even if it was £150k, I think it would be miserable.

What happens when you get a leaky roof?

I like it more and more but surely it's way over the max price for the road?

Two of the bedrooms are tiny. It’s really a two bed house

There is a write up about its history here
www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/6512649.the-underground-house-that-jonathan-built/

People are right that it was built underground due to planning and was built in the garden of the house next door for additional space. I am surprised it only cost £100k to build, I thought underground construction was normally more expensive.

Does it have two entrances / exits ?
What if there was a fire ?

Someone is going to make a lot of money from building a huge house in their back garden!

Oh yes it is. I put picture of the wrong house. It's this one - you can see the wooden crossbar to the entrance of the underground house on the right.

I think it's pretty cool

That kitchen looks poor quality and is tiny and narrow, i would keep bumping into that brick pillar. The street it is on looks a bit run down.

@Wheretheskyisblue - I did the video tour and it does look really cheaply built. Low quality doors and windows etc, poor layout unlikely to be by an architect. That’s how they’ve cut costs I would think.

The estate agent describing it as 'secluded' has made me laugh

@Wheretheskyisblue Cheers for that. Nice to have some more information about it, and an answer as to why they built it like this.

I could understand building this if the land above it had been used to make a beautiful garden, but the garden is a tip. And they have barriered off the main "window" so it is clearly not one of the safe ones you can walk on.

My friend has a house where the kitchen/diner/family room is underground with ceiling windows onto the garden. Not to my taste but they seem to like it.

Having looked at the linked article the house is nearly 25 years old. Any major problems would hopefully have been sorted by now.

@TheVanguardSix
Also, that outdoor space looks like a wandering field in search of itself.

I love it. I think you need to describe the rest of it 😁

The biggest thing for me is fire - there are several rooms with not fire escape if you got stuck in one you are a goner!

It's going to cost a fortune in electricity to keep the place from looking like a cave.

Same here!

If you or any of your family had an accident or developed an illness which meant mobility was restricted, that would make accessing the property a nightmare.

I really like it! Appeals to my troglodyte tendencies 😂 And we have way more of an issue with damp in our current 1920s built bathroom with a window than we ever did in the new build without.

This is local to where I live and I keep thinking about walking past to have a look! I agree with PPs that the garden space is a real wasted opportunity. People on here always go on about kerb appeal ans this has zero when it needs to be even more impressive considering you can't even see the house. Whilst they can't have anything deep rooted there's a lot you can do with potted plants, different textures eg slate chips, definitely nicer out door furniture, lighting etc
And agree on there being too many toilets/bathrooms esp as it's all on one level. I'd have sacrificed at least one of the bathrooms to make the bedrooms a more decent size.
Having said all that I'm still not sure I'd want to live Underground!

No

It's dark

I doubt they will get 600k for it if it's not sold in a sellers market.