A crumbling mews house once labelled “London’s most derelict inhabited house” has found a buyer after seven years on and off the market.
When first listed for sale in 2017, then for £2.5million, the Pindock Mews home was the most expensive one-bedroom property on Rightmove. Estate agents told Homes & Property that the roof was in such poor condition that there were “gutters, both inside and out, to carry rainwater away.”
“Nothing has really changed,” says Noah Pearlman at Harding Green who recently sold the home just off Warwick Avenue for close to £2 million.
“When it rained, it rained inside that house – it was bad,” adds Pearlman.
The dilapidated home has around 1,484sq ft of floor space, with faded décor and peeling walls. There is one reception room/kitchen, a bathroom, loft, entrance hall and double garage.
But the property hasn’t been without interested buyers. In recent years, letters of interest were posted through the door and offers were made by a handful of professional developers – although all of these were dismissed by the owner who, having lived in the mews for close to 40 years, preferred the idea of someone buying the home for themselves.
“There have always been offers,” says Pearlman. “Then people do their research and realise it would be particularly difficult.” He cites Brexit, labour shortages and the soaring cost of materials as having been among curveballs thrown at potential buyers over the years.
Mews houses are always challenging properties to make long-term homes, explains Pearlman, “Although people that live in them, love them.”
The new, developer-owners plan to emulate the design of neighbouring properties by adding a mansard roof – making it three storeys and likely transforming the property from a one-bedroom into a three-bedroom home – before moving in.
Once finished, it’s thought the mews home will have a value of around £3 million. The part-cobbled street just off Warwick Avenue was once home to Sid Vicious, ex-bass player and vocalist with punk legends the Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.
