Paula Hawkins
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A slice of what Pevsner describes as “one of the finest Georgian brick streets of England”, South Brink in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, is for sale - at the knockdown price of £1 million.
The Grade II listed terrace, currently a special needs school, could be used as one home, split into a number of single residences or converted to commercial space. “Originally the buildings were houses, but it was at one point converted into an hotel,” says Andrew Pearce, of Humberts , the selling agent. There is also further space to develop behind the building.
Not that more space should be needed: the terrace is 20,800 sq ft, which puts its cost per square foot at £48 compared with an average for Cambridgeshire of £316, according to Hamptons International. “It is very good value for money given the square footage,” Pearce says. “And the property is in very good order: there isn't a great deal of work to be done. Because it is Grade II, most of the original features are still there.”
Wisbech, the “capital of the Fens”, is a market town on the A47 between Kings Lynn and Peterborough. Trains from Peterborough to both Kings Cross and Cambridge take just under an hour, making it a viable commute. A good independent school, Wisbech Grammar, is another attraction.
So too are property prices, which remain low by UK standards - the average house price in Wisbech rose 236 per cent to £168,000 in the decade to December 2007, but has since fallen to £153,000, according to the Land Registry. Nevertheless, the town's Georgian architecture makes it popular with television producers: it has been used in a BBC version of David Copperfield and for Micawber by ITV.
Wisbech is in the cheaper part of East Anglia, a long way from hotspots such as Bury St Edmunds. According to Land Registry figures, prices for detached homes average just under £200,000, while terraced homes are about £110,000. Flats are available for less than £100,000. “Like most places, Wisbech is feeling the effects of the credit crunch, but because it is a small town it has not been affected to the same extent,” Pearce says.
In the latest housing market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Neville Blackwell, of Collingwoods, commented: “Quite a few properties have been removed from the market, and those sales that are going through are taking so long that vendors are pulling out.”
John Pocock, of Pocock & Shaw, said: “Large numbers of potential buyers are waiting to see how things develop, resulting in a very unpredictable situation for sellers.”
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Do you know how violent this town is, I was brought up in Lincolnshire and although Wisbech is historical with beautiful architecture, I wouldn't go out on Friday and Saturday night. So ask yourself why this place is so cheap? Rubbish connections, rubbish schools and you won't understand the locals.
David Parker, London, UK