Bargain basement: land beneath a house in south east London up for auction for £5,000

Basement auction, £5,000, London Auction House

It’s a development opportunity the Hackney Mole Man could have only dreamt of.

A basement area in Norwood, south west London, is up for auction with a guide price of just £5,000.

The owners are selling the rights to carve out a home beneath the ground floor of their house on Queen Mary Road.

Auction House London described it as “a development opportunity to create a lower ground floor flat beneath an existing mid terrace house arranged over ground and two upper floors”.Prospective buyers would need to get digging, however.

“The buyer will be required to excavate the area below the ground floor in order to create a new self-contained flat,” said the auctioneers.Another caveat is that the plot is leasehold only, although there are still a 112 years left on said lease.

“The buyer will be required to excavate the area below the ground floor in order to create a new self-contained flat.”

London Auction House

At least the upstairs neighbours have given their blessing. Per London Auction House: “The sale will include freeholder’s consent for any work at nil premium.”

Whether the neighbours either side of the terraced property will be thrilled at the prospect of a basement dig is another question entirely.Basement excavations are a touchy subject in London, although usually the issues arise around the rich and famous building underground spa and entertainment complexes.

Robbie Williams has been trying for years to get his dream basement excavation through planning permission, amidst fierce opposition from his neighbour – Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

A dispute between two hedge fund bosses over a basement dig, also in Holland Park, went to the High Court in 2018. And sometimes the excavations go horribly wrong, such as when a £3.8 million house in Barnes once owned by the singer Duffy collapsed during building works.

If the thought of digging down is a little too claustrophobic for your tastes, there’s currently a rooftop in Kensington with “potential for development” on sale for £200,000.

Register now for one of the Evening Standard’s newsletters. From a daily news briefing to Homes & Property insights, plus lifestyle, going out, offers and more. For the best stories in your inbox, click here.