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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Lynette Pinchess

Bungalow in unique location at Nottinghamshire nature reserve up for auction

When it comes to location it doesn't get better than this. A home with picturesque views and, apart from one other property, all the neighbours are squirrels, birds and other wildlife.

The bungalow in question is set within a Nottinghamshire nature reserve near the River Trent - but any potential buyer needn't be put off by dog walkers, bird watchers and other visitors as the property is down a private track surrounded by nature. It was there long before Attenborough Nature Reserve was created.

The three-bedroomed chalet-style bungalow will be auctioned later this month has a guide price of at least £125,000 and any successful bidder must pay cash.

Read more: Top 15 things to do in Nottinghamshire this summer

Although an idyllic location, the property will need a lot of work. It requires a full refurbishment throughout. There is electricity but no gas and water is from a well. However the property, which comes with just over half an acre of land, does have fishing and mooring rights and it's not too far from civilisation with Chilwell Retail Park just half a mile away.

Erin McDaid, head of communications and marketing at Notts Wildlife Trust which manages the nature reserve, said: "Long before the gravel extraction that led to the creation of Attenborough Nature Reserve, the land adjacent to the river was farmland and until the 1950’s Barton Lane was used to access Barton Ferry, with people visiting tearooms in Barton-in-Fabis on the opposite side of the Trent.

"As a result, there are a small number of private plots of land and a handful of buildings alongside the river at the end of Barton Lane. These are accessed along Barton Lane from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's car park.

The bungalow within Attenborough Nature Reserve (Auction Estates)

"These plots were already in private ownership before the nature reserve was created in the 1960s – though these plots do now sit within the protected Site of Special Scientific Interest. Over the years we’ve just got used to having neighbours right on our doorstep."

The property is being auctioned by Auction Estates on August 18 at Nottingham Racecourse in Colwick. Director and auctioneer Paul Giles said a family had owned the bungalow since the 1930s and his client, who grew up there, recalled skating on the River Trent when it froze over in the winter. It is one of five lots at the site which also include land, a boathouse and the riverbank.

Mr Giles said: "It's a unique location. It has attracted loads of interest as something like this rarely comes to the market. You get such an interesting mix of people at the viewings, either individuals who want to retire and live in the bungalow through to quite wealthy property investors who are looking at it from an angle of probably replacing the bungalow, subject to planning, with more of a modern chalet with decking and views over the River Trent, for a personal holiday home or to let it out on Airbnb.

Inside the property (Auction Estates)

"The tenant has been living in there for 19 years - one man and his dog. He says it's just so peaceful and quiet and surrounded by the nature reserve, so for him it's been idyllic but it's now at a stage where it needs full refurbishment and modernisation."

The other lots include 3.8 acres of land at Barton Lane for £15,000, a former one-acre stretch of riverbank for £10,000, a former boathouse for £75,000 and a further acre plot of land next to the River Erewash for £15,000.

Another bungalow sold last year on the same stretch is being done up. "The person who has bought that one is fully renovating it. They've got fantastic views, they've cut the vegetation down so you can see the River Trent and they created some little pontoons and no doubt they want to get their canal boat in front of there as well," said Mr Giles.

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