A once-booming village in the north of England that fell into decline following the closure of its local mine in the late 80s has houses nearby on sale at auction for as little as £10,000.
Horden, in Durham, had been a mining community prior to the closure of Horden Colliery in 1987 and the collapse of the industry.
By the 1930s, Horden Colliery had been known as the “jewel in the crown” of the region and was Britain’s largest-producing coal mine in Britain.
Since the closure the area has struggled economically and suffered with high unemployment.
It now has reportedly has numerous boarded-up and empty houses, with some properties on the market at well below the £268,08 average house price in the UK as December 2024, as per HM Land Registry.
A three-bed property in Peterlee, a town east of tiny village, is still up on property portal Zoopla and was due to go to auction with a guide price of £10,000 on February 18.
Another house in the area is set to go under the hammer for the same price on March 24, according to the website.
However, a property guru at HomeSellingExpert, notes that guide prices don’t necessarily reflect what the property will go on to sell for and could sell for much more.
Average house prices are considerably higher, with an overall average of £63,971 over the last year, according to Rightmove.
According to the website, the majority of properties sold in the village during the last year were terraced properties, which were purchased at an average price of £56,798.
Semi-detached properties went for an average of £91,230.
Rightmove says historical sold prices in Horden over the last year were 2% down on the year before, and 20% down on the 2006 peak (£80,004).
Earlier this year, Durham County Council agreed to invest £6million into the regeneration of Horden as part of an ambition to provide a better standard of housing and quality of life for local people.