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Cliffside home at risk of crumbling into the sea fails to sell at auction for £250,000 – despite being worth more than FOUR times the price
A cliffside property in imminent danger of collapsing into the sea failed to find a buyer at auction, despite going under the hammer for just £250,000 – a fraction of its estimated true value. The failed sale highlights the difficulty of offloading coastal homes threatened by erosion, which typically become uninsurable and unmortgageable, leaving few realistic buyers even at steep discounts.
The house is thought to be worth more than four times the guide price if it were not at risk from crumbling cliffs, but bidders evidently balked at the safety and structural concerns tied to its precarious location. Coastal erosion continues to threaten a number of clifftop homes around Britain's coastline, often forcing owners to sell at auction for a fraction of market value or abandon the properties altogether.
In short
- Cliffside home failed to sell at £250,000 auction guide price
- Property reportedly worth over four times that sum
- Coastal erosion risk deters buyers despite steep discount
Explained simply
Coastal erosion occurs when sea cliffs crumble and recede due to weathering, wave action and weather, threatening buildings perched at the cliff edge. Homes in these locations face the genuine risk of eventually collapsing into the sea as erosion continues.
When a home sits on eroding cliffs, mortgage lenders and insurance companies typically refuse to finance or cover it, making the property extremely difficult to sell at conventional prices. Without access to conventional mortgages or insurance, only cash buyers willing to accept significant risk will consider purchasing such properties.
This situation affects a number of coastal properties around Britain as erosion persists along various stretches of coastline, leaving some owners with unmortgageable and uninsurable homes that become increasingly difficult to offload. Some owners eventually abandon such properties whilst others attempt to sell them, often at a substantial loss compared to their value in stable locations.