£3,500 flat goes on sale in Glenrothes

IN A housing market many fear is overheated, this property represents absolute zero. A Fife bedsit has emerged as one of the cheapest ever to go on sale in Scotland in recent years, with a less-than-princely price tag of offers over £3,500.

The sellers admit the Glenrothes home is in need of "both modernisation and redecoration" – and there's the minor matter of a small hole in one wall – but for less than the price of most second-hand cars someone could snap up a bargain.

After spending an extra thousand or two to make it habitable, the buyer will have a bijou residence a short drive from the delights of St Andrews and the East Neuk and little over an hour to Edinburgh.

The property could, however, be difficult to sell on for a profit. The "non-traditional" construction of the former council home means many lenders would be reluctant to get involved.

The Glenrothes flat went on the market in mid-December after being repossessed. According to Slater Hogg & Howison's Glenrothes office, the bedsit would appeal to a first-time buyer or buy-to-let investor. They added: "Your attention is drawn to the fact that we have been unable to confirm whether certain items included with the property are in full working order."

Closing date has been set for Wednesday and it is understood six bids have so far been received. For their £3,500-plus, the winner gets a combined living room and bedroom with kitchen area and separate bathroom.

An insider close to the sale revealed that prospective buyers had phoned up from south of the border, wondering if the price had a zero missing.

She added: "There have been about 20 viewings, which is more than you might expect for a property like this. We have also had some offers."

So should you put down your Scotland on Sunday and get ready to bid for what could be the bargain of the year? Opinions are divided.

Michael Moloco, the senior partner of Fife estate agents Moloco and Associates, said: "It does look very much like a bargain, but the problem could come in reselling it at a later date, so it might not be the bargain it might seem.

"It is of non-traditional construction, meaning that there are mortgage restrictions on it. That would limit the number of possible buyers in future. They are offering this at pretty much the right price for what it is."

He estimated that if the bedsit were done up to a condition where a buyer could move straight in, it would be valued at about £10,000.

The flat was built in the late 1960s as the local authority rushed to get properties built to cope with a growing population in Scotland's second new town. They used a form of construction called Jesperson Laing, which involved fitting panels around quickly-constructed concrete and steel frames. Only a small number of lenders are prepared to grant a mortgage for such a home, and then only for a much smaller proportion of the price than for a conventional mortgage.

But some were intrigued by the idea of getting any property at such a low price.

David Alves, the managing director of Stewart Saunders Estate Agents in Edinburgh, said: "I remember dealing with a one-bedroom flat in Gorgie (in western Edinburgh] which had a toilet but no bathroom, it was £3,000, and that must have been about 30 years ago. So £3,500 is a very low price.

"Even a repossession in and around Edinburgh will soon take you up to £80,000 or £90,000 because there is such demand for them. One option for this £3,500 flat would be to rent it to the DSS or people from abroad coming to Scotland and looking for somewhere cheap to stay."

Johnny Dickson, property manager at Slater Hogg & Howison in Glasgow's West End, said: "That's very cheap even for a repossession. The cheapest that we get are the occasional ex-local-authority with a couple of bedrooms, even that will go for at least £60,000."

A quick trawl for "bargains" elsewhere in Scotland quickly revealed how much of a steal the Glenrothes bedsit appears to be. A one-bedroom flat in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, typically costs £55,000. The cheapest one-bedroom flat in Inverness can be had for offers over £70,000. A two-bedroom flat in Hamilton will be at least £47,000. A ground-floor flat in Sauchie, Clackmannanshire, is being offered at £51,000.