A PROPERTY WITH A BIGGER PLAN IN MIND!
This is certainly not your conventional, 'move straight in' bungalow and we think it is important to be upfront about that.
Offered for sale in its present condition, this three-bedroom detached bungalow represents an increasingly rare opportunity for a builder, developer or experienced renovator, to acquire a good-sized plot with lots of potential.
We believe it is one of the original bungalows that were built here in the 1920's, with it then being extended to both the front and rear in the early 1990's, boasting an 80ft South West-facing rear garden and a 30ft building line, providing the sort of plot depth and width that could lend itself to a substantially larger replacement home, subject of course to the necessary planning consents. (There are already several neighbouring examples of these bungalows having been replaced with much larger detached houses, demonstrating the type of development that has taken place locally).
We suspect the original bungalow was constructed using non-traditional concrete/block construction, with the later front and rear extensions probably traditional block and brick. We are not surveyors and so this has not been confirmed, but we are marketing the property looking at it being likely unsuitable for conventional mortgage lending.
There has also been significant flood damage following an insurance claim which has been ongoing for around two years, and the owners have now decided they simply want to sell the property in its present condition.
Adding further interest is a separate timber-framed annexe bungalow within the rear garden, understood to have been built around 2002 and registered with Basildon Council. The annexe is currently in poor condition and, owing to the heavily overgrown garden, has not yet been inspected internally.
The location is another part of the appeal. Sunnymede Primary School is literally around two minutes' walk away, with a local convenience store approximately four minutes on foot and Tesco Express and the 'Meadow Rise Shops' around seven minutes away.
Mill Meadows is also within easy walking distance at around eight minutes, while Billericay High Street and the Mainline Railway Station (London Liverpool Street in 35 minutes) are both approximately 0.8 mile away around a 20-minute walk with the handy Daines Road/Crown Road shortcut providing a convenient route to the station.
The wider town offers a good range of shops, cafés, restaurants and everyday amenities, while Billericay's excellent commuter links provide services towards London Liverpool Street.
For someone looking beyond the obvious, this could ultimately be a very, very interesting redevelopment opportunity whether tackling the existing bungalow or creating a much larger modern home in its place.
The Accommodation in more detail:
PORCH 7ft 4" narrowing to 5ft 2" x 4ft ((2.24m > 1.57m x 1.22m)
With a front-facing window and another door leading into the inner hallway.
INNER HALLWAY
A particularly long hallway running through the heart of the bungalow, measuring over 20ft in length.
There is a useful recess and access to the loft via a pull-down ladder.
LOUNGE/DINER 17ft x 13ft 2" narrowing to 11ft 4" (5.18m x 4.01m > 3.45m)
A split-level reception room with the lower section thus featuring a soaring 11ft (3m+) high ceiling and an 8ft wide set of sliding patio doors opening out to the Garden.
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KITCHEN 11ft 4" x 8ft 7" (3.45m x 2.62m)
With a rear-facing window and door leading into the adjoining utility room.
UTILITY ROOM 8ft 2" x 4ft 1" (2.49m x 1.24m)
With a side facing window giving plenty of natural light and up on the wall, is an Ideal Instinct 2' Combination Boiler (not tested)
The measurements exclude a full-height recess/cupboard measuring approximately 2'5" x 2'3" (0.74m x 0.69m).
BEDROOM ONE 10ft 10" x 10ft 6" (3.30m x 3.20m)
A front-facing bedroom with an angled corner wall, which we believe hides a corner fireplace, as these bungalows were originally built with.
BEDROOM TWO 9ft 3" x 8ft 4" (2.82m x 2.54m)
With a side facing window and a large built in cupboard measuring 4ft 2' X 2ft 4' (1.27m x 0.7m). Enclosed within and to the right of the cupboard, we understand was an old shower cubicle, but for previous rental purposes, it was boarded up, so could easily be opened up again and replaced - in fact the whole cupboard plus this hidden shower was in fact a small ensuite shower room, so we would presume the waterworks and waste are still there...
BEDROOM THREE 10ft 9" x 7ft 2" (3.28m x 2.18m)
With plastered walls, a side facing window and a full height double wardrobe.
BATHROOM 8ft 3" x 6ft' max (2.51m x 1.83m max)
White suite with part-tiled walls.
INTEGRAL GARAGE 15ft x 8ft 5" (4.57m x 2.57m)
With an up-and-over Garage Door and the same ceiling height as the rest of the bungalow. We feel there is the obvious potential to convert this into anew master bedroom, subject to planning.
REAR GARDEN
A particularly good-sized South West-facing rear garden extending to approximately 80ft in length.
The garden is currently extremely overgrown and therefore the far end and its Annexe/Outbuilding has not been inspected.
REAR ANNEXE
A separate timber-framed annexe bungalow is situated towards the bottom of the garden and is understood to have been built around 2002 and registered with Basildon Council. The annexe is currently in poor condition and, due to the overgrown nature of the garden, has not yet been inspected internally.
The accommodation and condition should therefore be independently verified by any prospective purchaser.
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING ROOM DETAILS
The room measurements and historic property information below have been taken from archive listings when the property was sold many years ago. Therefore the information has been included as a guide only and, given the current condition of the property and the fact that parts of the garden and annexe could not be accessed at the time of our inspection, prospective purchasers should satisfy themselves as to the accuracy of all measurements, descriptions and condition.
So, some years back the Annexe accommodation comprised:
Lounge 15ft 10 x 8ft 10' (4.83m x 2.69m)
- Two windows to side. Door to rear. Television point.
Kitchen 7ft 6 x 4ft (2.29m x 1.22m)
- Window to front. Range of eye and base level units. Stainless steel sink with mixer tap. Space for washer/dryer. Extractor. Large storage cupboard. Part tiled walls.
Bedroom 10ft x 9ft (3.05m x 2.74m)
- Window to side. Built in shower cubicle with power shower. Storage cupboard.
Separate WC
- Low level WC.
Council Tax
Basildon Council, Band F
Notice
Please note we have not tested any apparatus, fixtures, fittings, or services. Interested parties must undertake their own investigation into the working order of these items. All measurements are approximate and photographs provided for guidance only.
Billericay is a popular, historic market town just 30 miles from London.
The market at the top of Crown Road disappeared years ago and Billericay nowadays is more well-known as an excellent commuter town, with excellent rail links to the City (35 minutes by train), very good schools and a charming High Street, part of which is a conservation area.
It also has great access to the key main roads of the M25, A12 and A127.
The town lies on the edge of rural Essex, which makes it a very desirable place to live. This coupled with the City access goes some way to explain the high levels of Londoners we see looking to move here every year.
Since I moved here in 1973 and started as an estate agent in the mid 1990's, I have seen the town grow to where it is now, with some 14,000-15,000 homes and a population of over 40,000.
The Billericay you see today is economically and physically a thriving and attractive place to live and work. There are many open green spaces including the 40 acre Lake Meadows Park, a must in summer, and they throw a pretty impressive Fireworks Night too.
Norsey Woods is a great place for a walk or to exercise your dogs...or the kids! It dates back to the Bronze Age and covers about 165 acres with a visitor centre for the educational visits it has too.
I remember camping there as a cub scout back in the day and both Nick and myself have enjoyed many a afternoon there over the years with our families.
The High Street must be one of the prettiest in the county and dates back to Roman times. The shape we see now certainly hasn't changed much for over 500 years, our office itself is part of one of the 25 old coaching inns the town has seen over the years!
With well over 100 shops including some well known names and some boutique locally owned ones, the High Street also has some great pubs, bars and restaurants. The Chequers is probably the most popular, most people we know rate it as the best pub in town, with newer bars like Harrys Bar, Bar Zero and the Blue Boar, also very sought after, growing venues on friday and saturday nights.
There are too many great restaurants to name, suffice to say you don't need to travel out of Billericay to have a fantastic night out and there's a taxi rank by the station to get you home if you want to leave the car on the drive.
Waitrose is our local main supermarket with there also a very good Co-op over on Queens Park. Smaller supermarkets over in South Green, Sunnymede and along Stock Road also provide a super local service in their areas.
Billericay Christmas Market is a very popular annual event which sees the High Street completely shut to traffic for the day and then filled with stalls selling anything and everything Christmasy!
All the local schools, both Primary and Secondary have good OFSTED reports and there is a good choice of both State and Private. Please feel free to contact our office for more details although the OFSTED website is the ideal first port of call of course.
A BIT OF HISTORY
Billericay has an facinating history, much of which can be researched in our local museum, the Cater Museum on the High Street.
Billericay was first recorded as Byllerica in 1291 with notable events including a Peasants Revolt ending up in Norsey Woods in 1381 and some of Billericay residents, including Christopher Martin, the ship's victualler, sailing with the Pilgrim Fathers to the 'New World' of America on the Mayflower in 1620 - hence the many representartions of the Mayflower ship in numerous local businesses and the Mayflower High School.
In 1916 Billericay became famous as a result of a Zeppelin airship crashing in flames on the outskirts of the town, down what is now Greens Farm Lane.
A union workhouse was built in 1840 which later, together with additional later built buildings, became St. Andrew's Hospital in the 1930s. The regional plastic surgery and rehabilitation unit was opened here the same year I moved to Billericay, 1973. Many a local will still refer the estate there now to me, as 'one of the houses on the old Burns Unit', although it is in fact Stockfield Manor now.
Only the original workhouse building, including the chapel, and the main gatehouse, now survive, converted now into Grey Lady Place, a residential development of luxury apartments.
The railway came in 1889 and opened up opportunities for landowners to sell plots to Londoners looking to move out of 'The Smoke' into a cleaner rural environment. Both myself and Nick have sold many an old 'plot land' home over the years for redevelopment. A few still remain on the edge of Norsey Woods down Break Egg Hill.
With the housing shortage created by the war time bombing of London, pressure to build was great and the new town of Basildon was given the green light. The 'Green Belt' stopped expansion and the blurring of Basildon and Billericay, hence why lot of the Billericay housing estates were built on abandoned farmland around the town centre and Great Burstead/South Green, where permission was more easily granted.
