Twickenham stairwell up for auction with £20,000 price tag

A disused stairwell in Twickenham will go up for auction on Tuesday, hoping to fetch a price of £20,000 or more.

The four-storey structure, offered for sale by Barnard Marcus auction house, is said to offer development potential for the right buyer.

Flats in the area can sell for more than £400,000.

Located off King Street, the stairs are attached to an office building and boast proximity to the delights of TW1, including shops, restaurants, and the local Wetherspoon’s.

While the stairs are not connected to the block of flats that it used to serve, agents say that owning them comes with the right to “lay and maintain utility services over the adjoining rear car park”.

Any development of the site is subject to planning permission, however, and potential buyers are obliged to make their own enquiries on that front.

“There has been a strong level of interest from a variety of buyers,” Barnard Marcus Auctions partner, James Paterson, told Homes & Property.

“Prospective purchasers must rely on their own enquires in terms of what it could be used for.”

Some of the auctioneer’s previous quirky property sales have included a classic red telephone kiosk, which was sold for an undisclosed amount in April.

It is the latest example of London property being divvied up in the capital’s high-priced market. Last week, an estate agent reported receiving more than 200 enquiries on an astroturfed balcony in Kensington.

Individual parking spaces have also become hot property, offering owners the ability to make an income by renting them out amid growing scarcity of parking spaces.

With around 991 years remaining on the long leasehold, the Twickenham stairwell has what is described as just a "peppercorn" ground rent.

Images and a video tour of the property show that the space is currently used as storage for bicycles, fire extinguishers and various bric-a-brac including plants and furniture.