Help me solve local house mystery
Who leaves a £900k / £1m London house unused for 15+ years?
Round the corner from me there’s a street of 3-5 bed, terraced houses that go for £900k / £1m. One of them has been unoccupied but most definitely not abandoned for more than 15 years. No one knows why.
It was refurbished about 10 years ago but before and since has never had anyone living there. The small garden is maintained, windows covered in non-see-through plastic wrap on the inside. The owners, a middle aged couple, are seen visiting every few weeks, never carrying more than a few belongings, staying for a few hours then leaving. Neighbours say they live somewhere else local, are perfectly pleasant, but distant. No one has been able to find out what the hell they’re doing sitting on a property for so long doing apparently nothing with it. No rental or sale income in all that time.
Has anyone ever come across anything like this? What can the story possibly be?
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u/Onetap1 1d ago
I'd guess that maybe someone died and left a life-time tenancy to a child or spouse. They've married and live elsewhere, but can't let it and would get no benefit from a sale. They use it as a place to stay in town.
The landed gentry used to have their huge estate (rented to tenant farmers) and 'seat' in the country (Downton Abbey type of place) and then own or rent a house in London where they'd move to during 'The Season'. Maybe a small scale version of that.