Trading up, trading down – in pictures

Trading up: Northamptonshire. You’ll have to bring your tools with you if you expand into this £325,000 four-bed house in Aynho, near Banbury, for the place needs more than £70,000 of surgery to make it pleasantly habitable. It’s an inspiring canvas with wood and flagstoned floors, beamed ceilings, inglenook fireplace and laundry room with copper recalling its 17th-century origins. Beware, however, its Grade II-listing and position in the village conservation area. The large garden also needs a restorative hand and there’s an off-lying garage.
Smiths Gore, 01865 733300 Photograph: Smiths Gore

Trading up: Scottish Highlands. Once a schoolhouse near Grantown on Spey, this four-bedder overlooks Dava Moor near the edge of the Cairngorm national park. Half the neighbourhood can be hosted in the old school room, while more intimate family gatherings can retreat to the sitting room. The surrounding gardens include a croquet lawn, and there’s also an integral garage. As it’s been in the same ownership for 40 years newcomers might require a cosmetic overhaul. Cost: £325,000.
Smiths Gore, 0131 344 0888
Photograph: Smiths Gore

Trading down: Sheffield. It calls itself a warehouse-style conversion, which conjures images of exposed brick and vintage girders. In fact this two-bed flat is in a post-war office block, once the HQ of a tool manufacturer. Its glories are large windows, solar panel-heated water and the mere 10-minute drive to the Peak District wilds. Sober souls may wish to launch a can of Dulux at the ‘Now then mardy bum’ scrawled on a bedroom wall in this wackily decorated show flat, while a priority is to bag one of the limited number of on-site parking places. Yours for £125,000.
Spencers, 0114 268 3682
Photograph: Spencers

Trading down: London. £148,000, which now sadly counts as a budget price for London, will buy you a studio berth in this bronze mixed-used development in the suburb of Sidcup. If you can squeeze out an additional £25,000 you can upgrade to one carpeted bedroom. From the communal roof garden you can gaze over the capital, the centre of which is a 30-minute train ride away. Villeroy & Boch glamorises the bathrooms, the windows are floor-to-ceiling and a stacking system will accommodate 48 cars.
The Fold, 020 30408710
Photograph: The Fold

Dream home: Cornwall. Polperro is a fantasy of a Cornish fishing village – minus a viable fishing industry and plus a large percentage of holiday homes. This two-bed end-of-terrace fisherman’s cottage, curently used as a lucrative holiday let, is a step away from the harbour with sea views from the attic room. Refurbishments have stripped the wooden floors, beautified the bathroom and opened up a large kitchen-dining room with a window seat. You’ll be reliant on that nearby harbour for sunbathing since the only garden is a narrow strip to the front. On the market for £295,000.
Lillicrap Chilcott, 01872 273473
Photograph: Lillicrap Chilcott