Lerwick Croft, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX26 4XL

Key Facts for Buyers:

EPC: Rating of C (73). Council Tax: Band B Approx. £2,009 per annum.

Ground Floor:

Part glazed PVC front door to:

ENTRANCE PORCH: 4’7 x 3’7. Metal cased RCD/MCB electricity consumer unit, glazed door to:

LIVING ROOM: 14’1 x 12’9 (including staircase). Front aspect PVC window, two radiators, BT master socket, staircase.

KITCHEN DINER: 12’8 x 9’10. Rear aspect PVC window, wall mounted “Ideal Logic + combi 30” boiler and “Magnaclean” inline filter on 15mm bore pipework, luxury vinyl flooring (non-branded), space for table and chairs. Range of base and eye level units, roll edge laminate worksurfaces, tiled surrounds, 400mm pan drawers, electric fan oven/grill, slide-out extractor hood with 450mm cupboard over (hiding the flue), 860mm x 710mm corner base unit with 300mm pair of bi-fold corner doors, 200mm slide out unit (for washing liquid etc.), space for washing machine, 580mm x 460mm 1½ bowl stainless steel sink, 600mm wide dishwasher, tall (400mm wide) larder unit with two drawers to centre.

First Floor:

LANDING: Access to loft space.

BATHROOM: 6’11 x 6’6. Side aspect PVC window, extractor fan, sheet vinyl flooring, chrome heated towel rail, panel enclosed bath with mixer tap, shower attachment, sliding head support, close coupled WC, pedestal wash hand basin.

BEDROOM TWO: 12’9 including bulkhead cupboard x 8’5. Front aspect PVC window, radiator, overstairs bulkhead cupboard with double door.

BEDROOM ONE: 12’9 x 8’3. Rear aspect PVC window, radiator.

Outside:

FRONT GARDEN: refer to photograph Outside gas and electric meter boxes.

REAR GARDEN: refer to photographs Side gate, patio, outside tap.

PARKING: For two cars in tandem, one on tarmac and one on shingle.

Agent’s Notes :

This property presents way weaker than it delivers. What do we mean by that? Well, there are lots of good things about it that are overshadowed by the amateur décor and the scrappy garden, which are obvious.

So, firstly it’s an end-terrace and not a mid-terrace. That means that you get a window on the side of the house. If you had a choice of a window on the bathroom, or a window on the landing, most people would opt for a window on the bathroom. This has it. Talking of windows, the building control listing for them at Cherwell District Council put their date of installation at, 2016. Surveyors put the life expectancy of PVC windows at 30 years, so an estimated 20 years left in those. Some might look on this as a silly thing but there is a linen cupboard on the landing. The tank was taken out when the new boiler went in, so it no longer has a heat source. You could add a small radiator as the pipework is close by and turn it back into a proper airing cupboard. Until you don’t have one, you don’t realize how important they are, ask your parents about this!

The boiler dates from 2015 and is over-sized for the property. That means it’s not wearing out the components as fast and it’ll last longer. There’s probably another 10 years left in it and it’s been serviced annually. There is also a ‘MagnaClean’ filter on it which removes particles of metal, reduces sludge in the radiators and extends the life of the system. On top of that it has 15mm copper pipes not the plastic push-fit rubbish that breaks so easily. It’s better-quality pipework than a new build house! For tidiness you might want to box in the surface run pipes, though.

The electrics have a new fuseboard, and a current electrical safety certificate.

The kitchen and bathroom both have re-fits from about 10 years ago. Interestingly the height of the kitchen wall units is a full meter high, giving extra storage. The kitchen floor has unbranded strip vinyl flooring, probably from B&Q or Wickes at a guess, but it’s been sensibly laid on a levelling compound so probably done professionally.

The bathroom had a re-fit about 10 years ago and a shower over the bath.

The house was built when windows were bigger so it’s bright and airy. Now they build houses with smaller windows. This enables builders to fit more houses on an estate by exploiting what’s known as the 45 degree rule.

The carpets might come back to life with a deep clean.

The garden patio looks level and for the sake of a clean and re-pointing would look good as new again. There’s a side gate straight onto the parking and an outside tap, so exactly where you want it for cleaning the car. The rest of the garden is a bit scrappy and needs tidying up.

The property looks out over green space to the front. It’s garden faces South-East and the parking for two cars is on the side, in the sensible place.

This is an easy house to ignore and swipe left based on the pictures alone, due to the poor décor, but there is much more to it than meets the eye. It’s wider than many two-bedroom houses, a full foot (300mm) more than a Southwold Hinton design for example, or many Langford Village two-bedroom houses.

My genuine advice is to go and take a look it and bring along somebody who you can tap into for DIY skills. The seller will look at a sensible offer and there’s more right with it, than wrong it, if you take a moment of your time to look at the devil in the detail. You won’t be wasting your time. It’s budget friendly and good value.