What will £100,000 buy you in the UK property market?

A cottage in Northumberland. A string of three barns in the village of Otterburn has been converted into cottages, two of which are on the market for precisely £100,000. Both have open-plan living areas, one double bedroom and a long, leafy, lawned garden. One has the potential to create a roof terrace off the bedroom. The village is on the edge of the national park and just a 40-minute commute from Newcastle.
Sanderson Young, 01661 823951
Photograph: Sanderson Young

This flat in Gwent. The Olds Arts College, a dramatic Edwardian landmark on the banks of the Usk in Newport, has been converted into a series of flats a few minutes' walk across the water from the city centre. The original stately communal areas lead to minimalist modern living, and £100,000 buys a one-bed triplex with a study. You’ll have to take your ease on a towpath bench since there’s no outside space.
Savills, 02920 368900
Photograph: Savills

This flat in Southend-on-Sea. A walk from the seafront and train services to London, this two-bed, chain-free flat in Essex has been elegantly converted from a period house and is on offer for £100,000. A mezzanine over the living room expands the floorspace, but statuesque home-hunters might clash with the low eaves in the living area. You share a courtyard garden with the downstairs neighbour, but get your own parking space.
Click here or call Blackshaw Homes, 01702 820031
Photograph: Blackshaw Homes

This narrowboat in London. A parking space in central London is what you will get with £87,500; or it could fund you a residential address with water views in the millionaire’s postcode of Islington. Admittedly, this 20-year-old floating living space is hardly larger than a parking plot, but it is elegantly panelled, has a wood-burning stove, original White Star Liner brass lamps, a kingsize bed and a choice of terraces. It’s been refurbished by a musician who has mounted light fittings and chair arms on musical notes. All services, including broadband hook up, are offered at the mooring space, but no pets are allowed and the landlord must approve you before you can make an offer.
Fyfe McDade, 020 7354 4044
Photograph: Fyfe McDade

This studio flat in Manchester. In developer speak, the Green Quarter is an ‘urban village’, a 7.8 acre contribution to the city’s regeneration; to untutored eyes it’s a clutch of eight tower blocks amid landscaped greenery and water features. Here, business, leisure and home are planned to mingle in the form of offices, flats, a hotel and leisure facilities close to Victoria station. For £87,500 you get a studio with full-length windows and a balcony. One-bed flats start at £127,500.
Green Quarter, 0161 352 2919
Photograph: Green Quarter

This three-bedder in Dumfries and Galloway. Space and character on offer just a wee bit over budget in Rowanburn, a village near Cannonbie. There’s an open fire in the 17ft living room, a utility room to supplement the narrow kitchen and a garage. The downside is that the front lawn is all you get in the way of a garden, and you can ditch the bath foam for there’s only one downstairs shower room. Cost: £110,000.
H&H King, 01228 810799
Photograph: H&H King