The cheapest place to buy a property in the UK has been revealed – and it’s a place so special its buildings are protected.
A new list has given a rundown of the areas in the country with the lowest property prices, with a location in the northern city of Bradford coming out as having the most homes with rock bottom prices.
Barkerend West and Little Germany in Bradford is the cheapest area to buy home according to Online Marketing Surgery and Cardinal Steels in its Property Report, with an property price average of just £52,909.
But part of the area – Little Germany – is of huge architectural significance with buildings so beautiful that it’s classed as a conservation area, which offers it special protections by law.
The architecture is neoclassical in style with an Italian influence and many individual buildings are listed. Tourism website Visit Bradford explains more about the area.
It said: “Little Germany was home to the German merchants who came to Bradford in the late 1850s for the prosperous textile industry.
“Today these unique buildings form a collection of 85 buildings constructed between 1855 and 1890, of which 55 are listed.”
Little Germany is still one of Bradford’s busiest commercial areas with more than 110 businesses and organisations with 3,000 workers.
It attracts around 100,000 visitors each year and the local authority has plans to regenerate the area by renovating and converting the interior of the old buildings into housing, hotels, and offices, whilst preserving the distinctive Victorian features.
Currently, there are a range of properties listed for sale in the area – including on Hick Street, which is in the heart of the location.
The one-bedroom first-floor apartment is offered for sale via auction with a guide price of just £29,500. Another property in the same charming building is listed for offers over £40,000.
A conservation area is an “area of special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which is desirable to preserve or enhance” says the Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas Act 1990.
According to the Bradford Council website, conservation areas can come in a variety of types.
It said: “They can be villages, neighbourhoods or parts of towns which have been identified as having a special character and quality.”
“They are not open-air museums but living communities, which must be allowed to change over time in order to remain vital and prosperous.
“It is important that all new development should be sympathetic to the special architectural and aesthetic qualities of the area, particularly in terms of scale, design, materials and space between buildings.”