The big issue with flat 23D in leafy Cranley Gardens, Muswell Hill, N10, was that it didn’t have sole access to a garden. Without any outside space, necrophile Dennis Nilsen, who lived in the property from 1981 to 1983, had to butcher (and stash) the bodies of his victims in his poky attic flat. He hid the dismembered corpses in the cupboards, under the floor and down the drains. Eventually, the stench of rotting flesh led to his arrest.
Last summer, Bairstow Eves sold the flat for £250,000 – around £100,000 below market value. The new owner took charge of the property that winter, renovated it with some new wooden floors and sold it for £350,000 in February this year. It was a leap in value that went beyond the soaring London house prices over that nine-month period. And it raises a somewhat sensitive question. Could properties with a grisly past be a good investment?
Perhaps the best way to investigate this is to look at historic hauntings rather than more recent, violent crimes. According to Strettons auctioneer Phillip Waterfield, a rich history is good for a property’s value – but when the incident has been more recent, it is far more likely to have a negative impact. “There is a big difference between a murder committed yesterday in the house next door and something that happened 100 years ago. If it is a 100 years ago, that creates a history – such as the Ten Bells pub, where Jack the Ripper reportedly roamed,” he says.
While some people are put off by the idea of ghosts and ghouls, there are plenty who are attracted by scary stories. And others argue that commercial buildings with a dark history could actually sell at a premium.
Martyn Evans, creative director at developer Cathedral Group, says a unique past and a sellable story can add to a property’s value – if handled in the right way. “We are drawn towards buildings with a past,” he says. “We are inspired by the history of the places we build. And in any old city you are unlikely to find sites without an element of death or darkness attached. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Developers crave a story, so why wouldn’t they celebrate one that is a real, dark part of our history? One that piques interest and gets people talking?”
While it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how much value uplift could be expected when selling a site or building with such a tale attached, Evans says the price is more likely to rise than fall as a result of a spine-chilling tale. Take Cathedral Group’s London Bridge HQ – an old church and former Victorian operating theatre: “If we were to put that building on the market, we would make a point of talking up the unique history of death, intrigue and surgery,” he says. “It’s a selling point. We even have a giant skull hanging in our lobby made out of surgical instruments.”
There is a similarly well-known back story to the Landmark Court development in Southwark, SE1. This includes the redevelopment of the Cross Bones Graveyard, where up to 15,000 people – including many prostitutes – were buried until it was shut in 1853 due to overcrowding.
Evans adds, though, that developing haunted sites, or those with a dark history, can be challenging. “The first building we developed was Devonport House in Greenwich, an old naval hospital that we turned into a hotel and conference facility. The building is in the middle of a cemetery where 20,000 sailors are buried. A great history, but the downside is that these types of sites are often, quite rightly, protected or listed and you have to be extremely careful with any redevelopment. You can’t just go digging anywhere.”
In the leisure sector in particular, rumours of hauntings can improve a property’s marketability. A friendly ghost in a hotel or resident poltergeist in a pub can be used as a selling point.
“With commercial property, people tend to be a bit more rational as the building is going to be for business rather than living space,” says David Downing of the RICS.
Peter Brunt of Colliers International specialises in commercial property in the Cotswolds and has come across a number of stories over the years.
“Six of the 20 most-haunted places in Gloucestershire are pubs and hotels – including the Ancient Ram in Wotton-under-Edge and the Ragged Cot at Minchinhampton, both of which Colliers sold,” Brunt says. “Some buyers are put off by the idea, others see it as a positive – a story around which marketing can be woven and additional business done.”
Newsham Park Hospital in Liverpool is listed as one of the UK’s most haunted sites. The 9,000 sq ft, five-storey, 1874 building was closed in 1988 and left derelict. It was originally a Victorian orphanage and rusting broken beds, wheelchairs and rows of lockers still display staff names like epitaphs.
Land Ecology started managing the property for owner Gateway Properties 18 months ago, and chief executive John McKenzie has recently won consent to turn the building into a restaurant and events venue. He told the Liverpool Echo that it would cost him only £200,000 to restore the assembly rooms fully to transform it into one of the city’s most attractive venues.
In the meantime, as one of the most famous haunting sites in Europe, it is more commercially viable to run the property as a ghost tour site and McKenzie has opened it to the public.
“The historical background all adds to the attractiveness of the asset. It is better suited to commercial use than residential, as this keeps the heritage alive,” says McKenzie.
In the residential market, unsettled spirits are less of a selling point. A recent survey by Move With Us revealed that 83% of estate agents reckon a home with a spooky story could lose up to 20% of its value. Former crime scenes, graveyards and haunting rumours can all hit value.
“Many of the houses in Fulham that back on to Brompton Cemetery don’t make as much money,” says housing expert Henry Pryor. “On a dark and stormy night, more people are turned off than on by the idea that a house may be haunted.”
If there are rumours of hauntings – and especially if crimes have been committed recently – the agent is obliged to inform potential buyers. Those looking into Nilsen’s death den were advised “to research the history of this property”. Section 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 states that agents must disclose any material information about a property that may affect the consumer’s transactional decision.
And some horror homes have proved unsellable. Wymering Manor in Portsmouth was advertised by Rightmove as “the UK’s most haunted house” in 2010. It failed to sell at auction with a reserve price of £375,000, and the council donated it to the Wymering Manor Trust to open it as a tourist attraction.
So, investing in a spooky building might make commercial sense, but you have to be brave to live in one.
