Shed City, Potter Heigham.

[JennyMorgan]

I have heard the numerous riverside bungalows of Potter Heigham referred to as Shed City, a comment that made me smile. I also remember when the Broads Authority wanted to remove them. How times have changed!!

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/picture_perfect_chalets_to_go_on_broads_heritage_list_1_4068149

[JawsOrca]

"date back to a time when the Broads was a thriving holiday destination"..

 

good piece of advertisement from the EDP.. Although its not as thriving as it once was that line probably could have worded a bit better.  

[GeoffandWendy]

There are some quite nice wooden bungalows that deserve being listed, but some that do look like sheds, which are classified as Holiday Homes. Some of them just need a bit of t.l.c. in other words a good lick of paint.

Shed or no shed, these will set you back, more than the price of a decent house here in the Midlands.

 

For Sale,

                 My large garden shed which could quite easily be dismantled and re-erected as a Holiday Home, somewhere like the Norfolk Broads. Offers in the region of £100,000.

 

Imagine, this could become your Dream Home.

 

[smellyloo]

I might be wrong but I think a lot of the bungalows around there are Leasehold ...... looking at the details of those available the lease seems to be quite short.

 

I don't know who owns the freehold but a leasehold property with a short lease devalues quite quickly.

 

I don't know whether the lease can be extended or what it might cost?

[Paul]

A good move in my opinion. It is time some of these iconic buildings were recognised and protected. Many have already been lost, victims of the increasing value of the plots on which they stand and replaced by modern alternatives.

[Swift]

All bar one of the River Thurne properties in Repps, Martham, Potter Heigham and Ludham are leasehold. One hundred and eighty-four of the properties have leases that expire in 2085 derived from Thurne Bungalows Management Company Limited's Head Lease.  TBMC's lease was granted to it by Anglian Water, the freeholder in 1985.  The freehold has since transferred to the Environment Agency. TBMC is a company each of whose 184 shareholders is a Thurne-side plot leaseholder - a virtuous circle.

 

Thirty-four of the plots are also leasehold with leases which also expire in 2085.  The difference is that these plots are held leasehold direct from the Environment Agency.

 

David Sanford

Chairman

TBMC Ltd

Hon Sec River Thurne Tenants Association

[JennyMorgan]

David, what is likely to happen 2085? Not likely to affect me but it will the surviving families. Just curious.

[Swift]

Hi JM.  In ideal circumstances the EA will wash its hands of these troublesome plots and sell the freehold long before then.  Whether anyone will then be able to afford the asking price I very much doubt.  Another option that Thurne Bungalows Management Company Limited - the Headlease holder for 180 of the 218 plot -  has broached with the EA is for a lease extension, but the terms offered were frankly ludicrous.  In 1985, when the existing leases were negotiated with the then freeholder, Anglian Water, the long lease premium for all plots was £405,000 with a subsequent annual peppercorn ground rent of £1.00 per plot per year to lease expiry.  I doubt that we would ever be so lucky a second time round!  Already in my dotage, I will not be around to see how this pans out.  I'm just doing my bit now, while I still can, for a community I feel passionate about in a corner of my home county that I fell in love with more than fifty years ago as a schoolboy and that I now call home.

 

David Sanford

Chairman

Thurne Bungalows Management Company Limited

[C.Ricko]

Peter, 

To own a riverside freehold is a virtual leasehold anyway, we just don't know how long it will be before the sea level will rise and have it back..

 

Head for the hills!

[smellyloo]

David, thank you for clarifying the situation.

 

I hope you manage to negotiate an acceptable solution as I find the community to be a wonderful example of how things used to be done here.

 

I would love to be part of that community but feel the current uncertainties re: lease would lesson my enthusiasm, however a waterside bolt hole close to the coast is a mouthwatering carrot.

[Swift]

Hi Smellyloo

 

I wouldn't get too hung up about short leases.  The truth is that these properties defy the normal logic of property owning.

 

First of all they are not part of the local housing stock.  They are, by definition of the lease, holiday homes only.  Because they are non-residential, borrowing against them is all but impossible.

 

The fact that they are of timber construction and not for residential use means you cannot get a mortgage on them.  They have to bought with cash raised against other assets.  The normal rule that leasehold properties start to lose their value at fifty-five-sixty years is due entirely to mortgage providers reluctance to lend against short leases.

 

Interestingly, these riverside properties have bucked the trend in property recession.  Land Registry records show that these properties continue to be a better investment than bricks and mortar, places such as London and Cambridge excepted.

 

We bought our bungalow nearly thirty years ago, not as an investment, but as a perfect retreat from the stresses of our combined professional duties.  The fact that the property has increased six fold since then is a bonus that the children and grandchildren may benefit from in due course - once capital gains tax has been paid.

[C.Ricko]

David,

Keep quiet,  you will soon attract a mansion Tax!