Snooping around – in pictures

In town: Brighton. This £275,000 one-bedder is perched above the Hilton Metropole hotel right on the seafront. There is the option to use room service and the onsite spa (for an additional charge), but there’s no parking. You are minutes away from the city centre and all the beach side attractions … and the pubs and clubs frequented by the stag groups and hen nights.
Winkworth, 01273 320300
Photograph: Winkworth

Wreck of the week: Rutland. The lean-to kitchen has an asbestos roof, and the inside is a mildewed shell – £50,000 would relaunch this two-bed semi in Greetham, near Oakham. There’s room to expand at the back, where a garden runs down to a stream, but the front is short of space: the front door deposits you straight on to the street. Cost: £110,000.
Carter Jonas, 01733 588688 Photograph: Carter Jonas

In the country: Northamptonshire. It’s two miles to the nearest shop from this three-bedder in Mears Ashby, near Northampton. But it’s a glamorous affair with three beamed receptions and three double beds, a large, farmhousey kitchen and a wet room. A stream runs through the gardens. Cost: £397,500.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01604 632991 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff

New build: Scottish Borders. This three-bed semi-detached family home sits in a new development in the charming village of Newton St Boswells, and boasts a master bedroom with en suite. Historically famed for the milling of grain, the village is poised to benefit from a multi-million pound village centre development. Cost: £170,000.
Ballantynes, 0131 608 0095 Photograph: Ballantynes