Londoners are all too painfully aware that, if you want to buy a home in the capital, you’ll need deep pockets — and often a generous helping hand from the Bank of Mum and Dad.
But when one Stoke Newington “shed” was spotted on the market this summer for £980,000, eyebrows were raised.
The property in question is a two-bedroom detached house and, given its timber cladding and pitched roof, social media wits quickly likened it to a garden shed — albeit one with a massive price tag.
For that, buyers will get a two-storey home near Hackney Downs, measuring just under 1,000 sq ft, with an open-plan living space and a balcony.
The property listing describes it as “unique and eye-catching”. Yet, despite a trim in asking price — from the original £1.05 million in November, down to £1 million and then £980,000 —it has not yet found a buyer.
While the Stoke Newington house made headlines, anybody with even a modest knowledge of London’s property market will be aware that while a budget of about £1 million guarantees you plenty of choice, it won’t necessarily buy you a home which screams: “I am a property millionaire.”
However, if first impressions matter to you then the fabulous neo-Gothic mansion on Goldhawk Road in west London will be hard to beat for sheer kerb appeal.
It was built for a wealthy lawyer, Gabriel Samuel Brandon, in 1878 and later used as accommodation for nurses.
Buyers won’t get the whole Grade II listed pile for the £950,000 guide price, but a 1,354 sq ft two-bedroom flat, on sale with Whitman & Co, Chiswick.
If that sounds steep for a suburban flat then brace yourself. Some homes for sale at about the £1 million mark haven’t actually been built yet.
The Land Agency is selling a 0.2-acre sliver of land in Beckenham for offers in excess of £950,000. The site, close to Beckenham High Street, has planning permission in place to build an ultra-modern six-bedroom grand design house, featuring a home cinema, gym and wine cellar.
If you’d prefer a finished article, you could opt for a much smaller — but completed —architect-designed house in Peckham.
A former Victorian bakery, it has been reimagined with a glass box rooftop extension, which floods the space with light.
The three-bedroom house is on sale with The Modern House for £1.1 million.
If you need plenty of bang for your buck you will need to head to the outer suburbs, where a six-bedroom detached house in Wallington, on the Surrey borders, is on sale with Fine & Country with a guide price of £1 million to £1.1 million.
Or, just over nine miles away, you could opt for a compact studio flat within Battersea Power Station, on sale with Copperstones for £1 million.
At 515 sq ft, the studio is a quarter of the size of the Wallington house.
Buyers often want to put their own mark on a home and DIY buffs with an urge for a project could consider a £1 million mews house in Maida Vale, on sale with Robert Irving Burns.
The two-bedroom property is in a pretty location but its interiors could best be described as dishevelled.
If you fancy something really unusual, £1.195 million will buy another two-bedroom house. The immaculate little property has a grand address on Peel Street, Kensington, and is on sale with the Unique Property Company.
Despite its location and condition there is a slight hitch, especially for those who own a superking bed. At just 7ft wide it is one of the narrowest homes in London.
Buyers who love the buzz of the capital but yearn for a country vibe can indulge their cottagecore dreams in a three-bedroom house in Dollis Hill.
The pretty-as-a-picture Victorian detached home is on sale with Hoopers for precisely £1 million.
Of course, if you are actually prepared to bite the bullet and get out of town, £1 million will buy you something rather more substantial than a cottage.
Inchmartine House is a knock-out Georgian country house with six bedrooms, set in 8.5 acres of grounds, eight miles west of Dundee.
The almost 300-year-old property, which measures more than 7,500 sq ft, is on sale with Rettie for offers over £895,000 — so you might even walk away with some change.
