An historic Welsh village that's been on the market for three years for the same price as a London flat has failed to sell – and the estate agent believes it's because of Brexit .
Sixteen homes and cottages, along with dozens of acres of agricultural land, in Aberllefenni, near Machynlleth , were put up for grabs with estate agent Dafydd Hardy for £1.5m back in August 2016.
But since that time, and despite being reduced in price by a quarter of a million pounds, the quarrying village - currently on for the same amount as a two bed apartment in Knightsbridge - has failed to find a buyer, largely thanks to the uncertainty surrounding Britain's departure from the European Union.
"The main problem is the lack of confidence in the market ever since the referendum took place," says Mr Hardy, who has five offices covering Gwynedd, Anglesey, and Conwy.
"Don't get me wrong, we've had a lot of interest and even came close to selling them a few times, but because the political goalposts keep getting moved no-one knows what's going to to happen in the future."
He added that because the properties are already tenanted any potential landlords will have to consider potential changes to things like the EPC ratings levels, the guidelines which enforce energy efficiency standards in the home.
"It could be that, if or when we leave the EU, properties of a certain banding might end up being deemed unlettable until they're brought up to spec. That means installing new boilers and upgrading heating systems," he said.
That means a lot of prospective buyers will be waiting until "long after" the December general election before deciding whether or not to take a punt.
"In fact I think people will have to wait until a good six months into 2020 – whichever party gets in – when the economy finally starts to calm down and confidence returns to the market," Mr Hardy added.
Formerly the homes of slate quarry workers, the properties had been owned by the family of John Lloyd, of Inigo Jones Slate Works, which bought the Aberllefenni quarry back in the 1960s – although quarrying in the area dates all the way back to the 16th century.
The company then sold the site in April 2016 and then put the homes up for sale at the start of that summer.
"It's a challenging climate we're in but we just have to find different ways of marketing the properties," added Mr Hardy.
"At the end of the day we have no control over the external political or economic environment – we just have to be positive and roll with it.
"There's definitely a buyer out there somewhere."
