The new owners have a mammoth gardening task on their hands
The property can barely be seen from the street(Image: SWNS)
A derelict home that has been left virtually invisible hidden behind an overgrown garden has sold at an auction for £188,000. House hunters were offered the chance to own the bargain property, which had a guide price of £130,000, but it came with a catch.
The three-bed house has a jungle-like garden which has grown out of control and hasn’t been touched over the last two decades.
The new owners will now have a mammoth gardening task on their hands with overgrown trees and shrubs blocking the house from being seen from the road.
The semi-detached home on Mavis Road, in Longbridge, Birmingham, was previously owned by an elderly man who sadly died last year.
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The property was put up for sale with a guide price of £130,000 and eventually sold for £188,000 at an auction last Tuesday (August 19).
Neighbours said the previous owner neglected the house and “eyesore” garden before he died from cancer last year.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “He just never bothered with the garden and it’s become a jungle over the last 20 years.
“You can understand him not doing it himself as he got older and ill but you’d think he’d get a gardener in at least and take a bit of pride in it.
“It’s not been nice to live near to, it’s just a bit of an eyesore and the garden got completely out of control.
“Whoever has bought that now has one hell of a clean up job to do.”
The house comes with an unsightly overgrown garden(Image: SWNS)
Another neighbour added: “It was an old gentleman who lived there.
“He unfortunately died over a year ago of cancer. The family did not really bother with him until after he died. He lived there all of his life.
“You don’t realise how bad it had got until you walk up and see it properly.
“The family bothered with him on the rare occasion, then after he passed away, they got involved and it went to auction last week.
“I used to see him every day. He lived on his own since his mum died, he used to go out every single day though. From 9am to 6pm.
“He was retired, he used to work at the Longbridge factory so he must have had a decent pension to live off.
“But unfortunately he just left the house and garden to basically rot.”
The house has sold for £188k at auction(Image: SWNS)
Estate agents Savills described the property as: “In need of modernisation, benefitting from a rear garden and potential for off street parking, with extension potential subject to requisites consents, well located for the shopping and recreational amenities of Birmingham.”
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