Is this the most derelict house in central London? Crumbling mews property is on the market for £2.5m - but could fetch £4m when fully restored

The crumbling shell of a one-bedroom Little Venice mews house has gone on sale for more than five times the price of the average London home.

Despite its eye-watering £2.5million price tag, the "beautifully derelict" property has a roof so leaky that buyers could be "taking an umbrella to bed".

It offers just 1,484 sq ft of floor space, with dated decor and peeling walls throughout, but is still the most expensive one-bedroom home listed on Rightmove.

The house is on Pindock Mews, a part-cobbled street off Warwick Avenue that was used as a filming location for hit Sixties TV series The Avengers and was once home to late Sex Pistols guitarist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. It is also home to the former HQ of New Songs Administration, publishers of chart hit Uptown Funk, which is also for sale.

The ground floor is taken up by a large double garage, while upstairs is an open-plan kitchen and living room, a bathroom and a small bedroom.

"This is the kind of house children run past when walking to school and could quite possibly be the most derelict inhabited house in prime central London," says James Robinson, general manager at mews specialists Lurot Brand, which is marketing the property.

"It is the first house I have seen with gutters, both inside and out, to carry the rainwater away. Yes, the roof really is that bad."

The dilapidated home has been on the market for just over a week, but is already attracting plenty of interest from buyers looking for a "Grand Designs-style project they can put their own spin on".

Restored mews homes sell for £4million in the capital, but not everyone is prepared to pay a premium for decor, fixtures and fittings not to their personal taste.

Buying a wreck to rebuild and renovate can leave buyers much better off, explains Robinson: "This is the only house in the street without a second floor. By adding a basement and a roof extension (subject to planning), you will create a house of around 2,700 sq ft.

"The saving on stamp duty alone will be £180,000, compared with buying a £4million house and, if the house is demolished and rebuilt behind the façade, the VAT on the cost of building a new build house is reclaimable.

"Plus, with an estimated £700,000 build cost, there should be a tidy, tax-free profit for you at the end."

The property's owner has been living there for the past 18 years, but has reached "that time of life" and is thinking of moving abroad.

There are 800 mews streets in London. Mews houses used to be the reserve of household staff and horses but have risen in popularity over the past 40 years and an estimated 90 per cent are now residential properties.

The closest Tube station to Pindock Mews is Warwick Avenue on the Bakerloo line, a five-minute stroll away, with Maida Vale, also on the Bakerloo, and Royal Oak, on both the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, close by.

The house is for sale through Lurot Brand for £2.5million.