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Friday, December 31, 2010

Toilet goes on sale as a holiday home.


Loo with a view: The disused public toilet perched on a cliff which is set to fetch £100,000 as a seaside getaway

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 2:27 PM on 31st December 2010
A former public toilet is going on the market in a seaside town - so it can be converted into a holiday home.
The Victorian toilet block boasts spectacular sea views from its raised position at the base of a cliff beside the promenade in Sheringham near Cromer, Norfolk.
But potential buyers will need to be 'flush' with cash to buy the two-storey building as it has been priced at £100,000 by North Norfolk District Council.
The council estimates that it will cost another £50,000 to convert it to residential use.
Clifftop cubicles: This former public lavatory is going on sale as an unusual holiday home for £100,000
Clifftop cubicles: This former public lavatory is going on sale as an unusual holiday home for £100,000
Any buyer will have to be able-bodied as the toilet block can only be accessed by steps down from the top of the cliff or a small flight of steps from the promenade. Proceeds from the sale of the 110-year-old lavatories will be used to fund the building of a new toilet block around 300 yards away down the beach.
The sale has been welcomed by the Sheringham Enhancement Group which has been campaigning for improved public toilets in the town.
Spokeswoman Avril Duke-Millar said: 'I am sure it will make a lovely home for somebody. It is absolutely beautiful.
'There is no garden or land to go with it and there are steps to climb to reach it - but it is not impossible. The sea views are just wonderful.'
Mrs Duke-Millar is campaigning for the council to put a reserve price of £95,000 on the toilets to ensure there is enough cash made to build the new block.
The pebble-dashed toilet block with separate ladies and gents facilities was built in 1900 on the eastern promenade of the resort town.
Council officials were forced to shut the toilets in 2006 because they needed major improvements including electrical work.
They were faced spending £75,000 on upgrading the toilets up to modern standards. But the steps to the toilets meant the council would still have had problems complying with legislation to ensure access for the disabled.
Fancy a seaside getaway? North Norfolk District Council believe the ocean views offered by this two-storey toilet block could attract buyers
Fancy a seaside getaway? North Norfolk District Council believe the ocean views offered by this two-storey toilet block could attract buyers
Councillors are being recommended to seek planning permission to convert the block to a holiday home before selling it.
The property world was stunned two years ago when a two-storey public toilet near Fulham Broadway, London, was sold for £403,000 - four times the guide price - after it was flagged up as a great site for a club, school or cafe.
A one-storey stone-built loo in the Scottish golfing town of St Andrew's sold for £195,000 in 2007 - also more than four times the expected figure.
Another block in the run down Toxteth area of Liverpool was bought for £90,000 in 2008 - a staggering nine times the asking price.
It was snapped up, after a fierce bidding war, by a Turkish businessman as a gift for his student daughter.
He hoped to transform the block and surrounding land, already in the hands of her property-owning family, into 18 luxury apartments and eight shops.
Earlier this week a rather humbler toilet block in the tourist village of Boscastle was sold by Cornwall County Council for just £5,000.
The price at the bottom end of the £5,000-£15,000 guide price was achieved, despite auctioneers saying they hoped it would 'create a good stream of interest'.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343040/Loo-view-The-disused-public-toilet-perched-cliff-set-fetch-100-000.html#ixzz19he1o791

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