Grade II listed Ramsgate council home sold at auction for £245k

The Grade II listed home needs a complete overhaul

A Grade II listed council property in Ramsgate has sold at auction for £245,000 – well above the freehold guide price of £110-120,000.

The three-bed house in Albert Street needs complete refurbishment with a video from inside the building showing rooms still piled with belongings from the former owner, damp and disrepair.

Since the 1980s 18 Albert Street was a shared ownership property, one of Thanet District’s Council’s first. The property is within a conservation area.

In 2020 the leaseholder passed away and Thanet District Council bought the leaseholders’ shares. A report to Cabinet members in June said the previous owner did not have the financial capacity to carry out any works.

Thanet District Council became the sole owner of the vacant, three bedroom, four floor townhouse. The report said essential roof repairs would cost between £19k to £32k.

An independent valuation of the property in its current condition valued it at £115,000. If the essential roofing repairs were carried out, the value would increase to £140,000 and if the property was completely refurbished, the value would increase to £260,000.

During the council meeting, where a decision to sell the property was approved, Green councillor Tricia Austin requested a stay of six, or even three, months to look at options of retaining and refurbishing the site because of its listed status and close proximity to Addington Street, an area she described as ‘becoming Ramsgate’s Old Town” with potential for cultural facilities.

She added: “We (ward councillors) think something could be made of the building as a community and cultural asset.”

Cllr Austin suggested the property, if refurbished, could be a tourist attraction and generate income. She also raised concerns that it could be landbanked.

However, the delay was not granted and the site went for auction with Clive Emson.

Jon Rimmer, auction appraiser, said: “

“This property needs complete refurbishment but it will be well worth the effort. It has four floors and sea views.

“It is close to Ramsgate’s Royal Marina and town centre and is very roomy inside.

“Bidders were really enthused by this offering and the price paid reflected the high level of interest.”

Visit https://www.cliveemson.co.uk for more properties.

15 Comments

  1. I can’t understand the “tourist attraction” suggestion. Who would go out of their way to see an old corner shop in a Ramsgate back street, even if fully restored?

    • Peter, just to explain the ‘tourist attraction’ idea, one idea that came up from the local community was to refurbish it as it would have been originally as a visitor attraction that might incorporate a shop, cafe or AirBNB.

      • Few things in life are as funny as a councillor imagining they have any idea of the commercial world. As evidence I recommend almost everything that TDC has done over the last 20 years.

      • Tricia, thanks for responding. However, as it presumably failed as a shop many years ago, I don’t know why anyone would think it could be a success now.

        • A child of 12 can see the retail climate across the country and in Thanet. There are many empty units in good locations with parking close by, this was never a rational project.

  2. Who in their right mind would even contemplate paying more than double the value of this gardenless grade ll listed building in a conservation area knowing they would only have £15,000 to spend on it to bring it up to the current market value as fully restored ?
    Looks like land banking again by a developer. But, that is okay as long as TDC get their money!

    • What makes you think the so called market value was accurate? Given actual sale values in the area it was always far adrift of reality.

  3. Seems an expensive purchase but its sold and tdc will have some cash in the bank.
    What can be done with the building ? its kind of a back to back end of terrace property.
    Hopefully 3 flats will emerge and tdc lease the 3 flats for those on their waiting list.

    • I’m not entirely sure why TDC would be either interested in, or in a position to, lease flats in a privately owned property – even assuming it is converted in to flats?

    • 3 flats? Impossible in that floospace. and no sane individual would lease to TDC. It will b e a single dwelling.

  4. That price is peanuts for anyone DFL my sister sold a 2 bed flat in London for £800,000 it was ex council property she paid £175,000 for
    on an interest only mortgage. I don’t begrudge my sister one penny it has allowed her to live in a nice bungalow in Broadstairs. However It does show just how stupid Thatcher was to rob councils of such assets.

  5. LC, yes and made a lot of people money at the taxpayers expense. The Tories don’t spend spend spend they Rob Rob Rob the taxpayers

  6. The property was held within the council’s housing revenue account – the ringfenced social housing pot. By law the receipts can only be used to fund social housing capital projects – so must be spent on new social housing or improvements to existing. This property wasn’t very suitable for that even if refurbished, so this outcome will benefit current or future council tenants.

    The point of an auction is to determine the market price. If it had been worth more the likelihood is someone would have paid it.

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