Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Antony Thrower & James McNeill

Idyllic village has homes for just £170k - but you need permission to paint front door

Would-be house buyers can buy a home for £170,000 in a tree-lined village - but they would have to agree to a number of strict rules before completing the deal.

Peaceful Merseyside village Port Sunlight was founded in 1888 by industrialist William Hesketh Lever who was later known as Lord Leverhulme.

As part of a business model he termed “prosperity-sharing”, he provided his Sunlight Soap factory workers with decent and affordable houses, amenities and welfare provisions.

Sweeping rows of cottages still stand, as well as 130 acres of park to escape the daily grind.

To preserve its past and safeguard its future, Port Sunlight is run by a trust which has set a number of rules for those looking to move to the area.

The picturesque setting makes it a magnet for visitors (Colin Lane)

These include painting front doors colours “in keeping” with colour schemes, no 'for sale' signs on lawns or Sky dishes on the sides of the homes, the Liverpool Echo reported.

Brick walls and gates on the outside are also turned down to preserve the village’s character.

Marketing and communications manager at Port Sunlight Village Trust Brian Pilkington said: “It is our responsibility to preserve the village as it is but to also recognise it is a living place and it is not fixed in time on a postcard.

“So we have to find that balance between preserving the village and making it an enjoyable place to be.

“But that is why people choose to live here because they want the heritage and the aesthetic.

“We are aware it is living history but it is still being made today. This is just one part of the story and the story of the village is constantly changing.”

Resident Jacqueline, 51, has lived in Port Sunlight her whole life.

She works in The Lever Club built by Lord Leverhulme and has seen the village change over the years.

She said: “Growing up it was fantastic. All the kids went to the same school and we all hung around together but it has changed a lot now.

"House prices have increased a lot and new people have moved in. The swimming pool and boating lake have gone. We would always go down there for a paddle when it was hot. It has not lost that traditional village feel but it has changed since I was a kid.”

Port Sunlight boasts some impressive amenities for a small village including the Lady Lever Art Gallery and Gladstone Theatre. Both are still in use just as Lord Leverhulme would have wanted.

TV viewers may also recognise the village as it provided a backdrop for Peaky Blinders and the biopic of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien.

Penny Hathal, who has worked at the Tudor Rose Tea Rooms for 15 years, added: “If you go up to the New Chester Road or under the bridge by the station then you are back to normal, the real world.

“It is so different from anywhere else.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.