One of London’s cheapest houses has sold at auction for £661,000, despite being in such a state of neglect that it left one viewer choking on the smell.
David Burnip, a popular YouTuber known as the Wandering Turnip, recently documented his unnerving visit to the abandoned home: a vast but crumbling 10-bedroom house in Lee, southeast London, listed for auction at £500,000.
What he found was a shocking testament to the city’s unique and often perplexing real estate landscape.
The video, shared with his 149,000 subscribers, recounts an experience that felt less like house-hunting and more like a grim descent into an urban ruin.
Inside the abandoned house
Described by the estate agent as needing a ‘full programme of refurbishment,’ the property presented deep structural neglect — with holes tearing through ceilings, rotted floors worsening with every step upward, and pigeon infestations rampant throughout the upper levels.
The atmosphere Burnip described was nothing short of ‘ominous’, ‘spooky’ and ‘disgusting,’ marking it as an outlier even amongst some of the most rundown buildings he had viewed across the UK.
Perhaps most disturbing was his encounter with both dead and living pigeons that had claimed the upper floors as their domain — a nightmare scenario for any prospective buyer.
Burnip explained how one fellow property viewer he visited the house with was left choking because of the smell inside.
Yet, amid the ruin, Burnip found a rare gem: the large garden that accompanied the home.
With proper restoration, he suggested, this outdoor space could prove a valuable asset that might justify the enormous undertaking required to salvage the house.
Price vs condition
What makes the story even more astonishing is the price tag.
Burnip explained how the property was the ‘cheapest’ he could find in London when looking exclusively at entire houses, rather than flats or non-residential properties.
The £500,000 auction guide price is almost double that of the average UK house price, which is currently £292,000 according to the latest ONS figures.
Burnip called the figure ‘mindboggling’, but the final sale price of £661,000, was even more shocking, suggesting this wasn’t just a purchase of bricks and mortar, but a strategic bet on the underlying land and location rather than the property’s decrepit state.
Would you pay £661,000 for this home?
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Yes
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No
Despite seemingly insurmountable repair needs, properties in the capital often command eye-watering prices.
For comparison, a three-bedroom house in Blackpool with a similar level of damage and bird infestation was listed at a mere £12,000 last year, highlighting the stark price contrasts inside and outside London.
Another London example from Palmers Green, a house plagued by mould and requiring major structural repairs, carried a guide price of £450,000, underscoring the capital’s premium on renovation opportunities, despite costly starting points.
And it’s not a recent phenomenon. In 2015, a pre-fabricated bungalow in Peckham sold at auction for just under £1 million, after the guide price rapidly soared from £590,000 to £950,000 during the bidding process.
Such cases suggest buyers’ willingness to make speculative investments on location and potential alone.
Alternatives for today’s buyers
Not every London property demands such vast refurbishment efforts.
For those seeking move-in ready homes, flats priced under £500,000 often offer modern renovations and liveable conditions, presenting far less risk and immediate satisfaction.
Previously, Metro revealed the five cheapest London postcodes to buy a house, with areas of Barking and Dagenham, East Ham, Brixton, Streatham, Camden and Willesden all offering properties for under £300,000.
Yet, these more affordable options often come with limitations on size, scope for personalisation, and future value growth potential.
The challenge exposed by Burnip’s exploration is clear: buyers must weigh the promise of location and land in London against the grim realities of property condition and the often steep financial, logistical, and emotional costs of renovation.
In a city where demand still outstrips supply, these tough decisions define the housing market’s pulse.
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