Frozen in time Hull town houses snapped up for just £271.5k at auction

Two frozen in time neighbouring Georgian town houses in Hull have been sold for £271,500.

The houses in Grimston Street and Jarratt Street are among the oldest surviving residential properties in the city centre.

Dating back to 1796, most of the rooms in both have been largely untouched for over 50 years since they last changed hands.

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Part of a Grade II listed terrace of town houses from the same era standing opposite Hull New Theatre, they feature 18 rooms over five floors, including basement areas.

However, nearly all of them are in a poor state of repair and dilapidation.

Now a new owner will face the challenging task of restoring both properties back to their original glory after buying the pair for £271,500 in an online auction held by property firm Hammer Price Homes.

The auction was held earlier this week with a stipulation that bids could only be lodged by cash buyers because of the condition of the two properties with neither being considered mortgageable.

Just over two years ago Hull City Council served legal notices on the then owner requiring emergency external repairs to be carried out at the two properties.

The move followed concerns about the condition of the two town houses. The council subsequently carried out the works itself, repairing a smashed window pane, rotten door pilasters and repainting a bay window on the Jarratt Street frontage.

Former dentist Philip Cathie, who owned the two properties, died a few months later.

He lived there alone after the death of his mother and ran a denture repair business in the basement of the Jarratt Street property for many years.

A homeopathic medical centre was also based in part of the property in the 1970s.

Conveyancing documents published as part of the current sale show Mr Cathie bought the two houses in 1968 for £750.

Bidding during this week’s auction started with an offer of £160,000.

In a dramatic finale, 60 different bids were submitted within the final 80 minutes of the timed auction before the final successful bid won the day.

It’s not yet known who the new owner is or what their plans are for the distinctive houses.

But historian Alec Gill, who lives in nearby John Street, said it would be good to see them being brought back into use as family homes.

He added: “Let’s hope that someone local has bought these priceless properties to keep them as single homes.”

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