Yahoo Finance A terrace house bought for £5,000 is now worth almost £2m after a decades-long makeover
A four-bedroom terrace bought for just £5,500 in the 1980s is now worth almost £2m, after a makeover that took the owner decades to complete.
The house is just a brief walk from Canary Wharf and Isle of Dogs, which was named the best place to live in London in this year's Sunday Times list.
It has been restored “to include unique period features combined with modern touches”, according to its property listing on estate agents Fine & Country.
READ MORE: UK property price growth lowest this year amid Brexit turmoil
Owner Michael told The Mirror that working on the house has been his “life's work” and “a real labour of love".
Michael bought the house for £5,500, helping the previous occupants into a new home and giving them £500 to get settled.
"The first thing I had to do was gut the whole building as it was a bit of a state,” he said.
It was six years before the house was even “properly habitable”, as the basement had to be plastered and shored up.
Michael said: "It was a lot of work and a lot of the time I was testing out skills that I'd never used before. I just moved in and cracked on. Though, nothing else for it. Every penny I earned went back into the house.”
The property comes with a large, separate kitchen, a spacious ground floor, and bathroom with a central cast iron bath tub.
It also has a small garden, which features a koi carp pond and a small shed, as well as roof access.
It took him 36 years in total to completely restore the house. He attempted to sell it a few years ago, but “Brexit made the market turbulent”, he explained. As a result, he’s now “dropped” his asking price to £1,800,000.
“I won't go a penny below that the worst case is that I live out the rest of my life in this gorgeous house and that's not so bad is it?"
