An Abandoned, Moss-Covered Shed Has Sold For $880,000 In London's Bonkers Housing Market
House price growth in London is officially cooling according to new figures out today. But even as rate growth slows, record prices in the UK are still being set.
British house prices rose 9% in October, down a bit from 9.4% in September, according to Nationwide Building Society's monthly index. The Financial Times reported:
The average price of a house rose by 0.5 per cent month on month to £189,333, beating the previous high of £189,306 in August.
But £190,000 - about $304,000 - won't get you very far in London, where prices have spiraled upward in a way that most people regard as slightly crazy.
To be fair to the shed - a garage in Chelsea hemmed in by existing buildings - it's in a great neighborhood and sits on approximately 0.005 hectares (0.013 acres) of land.
This Google Earth map (below) shows you why it's worth so much.
It's on the fancy King's Road, near to the Marco Pierre restaurant and Vivienne Westwood's store. The trendiest neighborhood in London, in other words:
And while the garage looks a bit gloomy now, look at these imaginary architect renderings of what it could look like after you've built a 1,000-square foot 2 bedroom house on the site:
The plot already has planning permission, which is why the sale was so expensive:
