4 February 6, 2022The Sunday TimesHome
I
t brings new meaning
to one of estate agents’
favourite words: bijou.
A studio flat, smaller
than the average
parking space, is to be
auctioned next week, with
bids starting at £50,000.
The 75 sq ft (7 sq m) micro
flat in Clapton, east London,
is a glorified bedroom on
the first floor of a Victorian
terraced house. It is
dominated by a built-in
captain’s-style single bed
with cupboard, shelves,
microwave and space for a
(small) fridge. Also crammed
into the room is a fold-out
table and sink, but no hob.
The separate wet room has
a loo, tiny sink, shower and
heated towel rail.
Stuart Collar-Brown, a
director of My Auction, the
online property company
that is selling the studio, says:
“The flat is small — but then
again, you also can’t buy a
long-leasehold property in
central London for £50,000,
so it’s a great opportunity for
someone to get on the ladder.”
The property has 994 years
remaining on the lease.
Bidding starts at midday on
February 15 and ends at 4pm
the next day. Collar-Brown
believes it is the smallest flat
on the market in centralLondon. The price tag is less
than the average first-time
buyer deposit, which stands at
£53,935 in the UK, according
to Halifax bank, and will need
to be paid in cash.
“Due to the size of the flat
we know high street banks
will not lend on the property,
so this is why it’s attracting
interest from investors —
which is hardly surprising
when the average rental yield
in London is sub-5 per cent —
and if bought at the guide
price of £50,000 this flat will
produce just north of 19 per
cent, which means in just over
five years’ time you’ll have
made your money back,”
Collar-Brown says.
Chris Sykes, a mortgage
consultant with brokerage
Private Finance, confirmed
that the buyer wouldn’t
qualify for a loan. “The main
reason is 99 per cent of people
would not want to live in a
property like this. There is
such a small market for
property like this that lenders
would be taking a risk
mortgaging it because if they
had to repossess and sell, it
may take a long time to do so.
Additionally its value may be
below some lenders’
minimum values.”
The seller, a property
company based in Hounslow,Hackney, east London, sold
for about £200,000, although
by comparison this was
spacious, with a double sofa
bed, double hob and washing
machine. In 2020 a 79 sq ft
studio in Kensington and
Chelsea, central
London, sold for
£200,000.
Collar-
Brown
expects
bidding on
the pocket-
sized pied-
à-terre to be
competitive.
“You can never
predict what
these properties
will achieve at auction,
but since the new year we have
seen no slowdown of interest
from professional and first-
time auction buyers, with our
last sale producing 95 bids.”
lLast week Michael Gove, the
housing secretary, announced
in his levelling up white paper
that he is to introduce a legal
requirement for landlords to
retrofit properties that don’t
conform to national standards
to give tenants a home that is
“safe, warm and in a good
state of repair”. All landlords
will be listed on a database
from which rogue operators
will be delisted.west London, bought the
studio — which is simply
registered as “Room”,
9 Saratoga Road, Clapton,
east London — in May 2017 for
£103,500. The company lets
out the studio on an assured
shorthold tenancy
for £800 a month,
including bills,
the equivalent
of £9,600
a year.
The
property is
described
as a “newly
renovated
investment
opportunity
producing £9,600
per annum within a
period conversion close
to Homerton University
Hospital and within walking
distance of Homerton,
Hackney Downs and Clapton
Overground stations”.
The buyer won’t be liable
for stamp duty if it is their
main home, although if it is an
additional property they will
have to pay £1,500 tax. The
ground rent is £400 a year and
the service charge £500 a year.
Council tax is £1,068.09 for
2021-22 (band A, Hackney
council); £801.07 with the
single-person discount.
In 2019 a 98 sq ft flat inBIJOU OR
BONKERS?
London’s smallest flat (7 sq m) is
on sale — no hob included. Bid
from £50,000. By Carol Lewis
The Clapton flat, also inset, has a built-in bed and a wet room