Feeling the pressure of the Big Smoke and wanting to escape? You could now get on the property ladder for less than £20,000 – although it might not be quite the dream home you had in mind. A rare opportunity to acquire a piece of Cold War-related architecture has presented itself up north – in the form of a nuclear bunker. Located in Sedbergh in Cumbria, the listing was described by agents as a ‘once in a generation opportunity’. It will soon go up for auction, with a guide price of £15,000 to £20,000.
Yes, it is essentially £20,000 for one room underground – but you’d be buying a piece of history. Also known as a Royal Observer post, the bunker is one of many built in the 1950s across post-war Britain, and was designed to provide ‘protective accommodation for three observers to survive a nuclear attack.’ It wasn’t just constructed for safety reasons, though: the tenants were expected to provide updates in the event of a nuclear attack, and were provided with enough food and water to last them two weeks. They were plugged in with radio comms and a landline – and the latter remains in place today.
Of course, the feared nuclear attack never came, and most of the bunkers like this one were decommissioned and auctioned off back in 1993. Many of the sites were actually purchased by telecoms companies and have since been repurposed for use for phone masts. The signal is ideal across many of them, considering that they were originally built to be used as communications posts – so you won’t have trouble sending a text or two here. There’s also scope to have broadband connected. How’s that for a WFH set-up? Or perhaps it’s one for the disaster ‘preppers’?
Interested? This historical piece of architecture is secure and dry, so you’ll be protected from the elements. It’s also been refurbished and freshly decorated by the current owners in preparation for its new future, whatever that might look like. And if you’re worried about access, there’s secure off-street parking – as well as a shed, which, alongside the bunker and the land it comes with, is ring-fenced in by a nice secure gate.
Want to put yourself forward? You don’t have long: the bunker will be listed through the National Property Auction at 9am on Thursday, July 25, broadcast live on Rightmove and open to remote bidding online, via phone and by proxy. You’ll need to register for bidding, too, with applications closing at 5pm on July 24. You won’t need to pay the full £15,000 upfront either – just a 5% deposit, which is a minimum of £5,000. And if you’re successful, who knows where this historical building could take you?
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