Pint-sized house in leafy London suburb that’s narrower than a Tube carriage goes on sale for £642,000
A pint-sized home no wider than a Tube carriage has hit the market for £642,000 in a leafy west London suburb.
The compact cottage, situated in well-heeled Kew, is slimmer than a Routemaster bus and measures just seven feet and nine inches at its narrowest point.
The tiny terrace, arranged over three floors, is only around eight feet at its widest – which is shorter than the world’s tallest living man Sultan Kosen.
Crammed into a location which was once garages, the property is however described as ‘deceptively spacious’ by estate agents.
It is on the market for the hefty sum of £642,000 – more than twice the price of the average house in North Yorkshire (£322,871) and three times that of the city of Durham (£210,148).
The listing has already caused a stir on Reddit‘s SpottedOnRightmove forum, where property watchers share eyebrow-raising homes.
One house-hunter remarked: ‘You shouldn’t be able to lie down and touch one side of your house with your fingers, and the other with your toes’.
To which another user joked in response: ‘Especially if you’re Janette Krankie’, referring to the tiny 1980s children’s TV favourite.
A pint-sized home no wider than a Tube carriage in the leafy London suburb of Kew has hit the market for an extraordinary £642,000
The cottage measures just seven feet and nine inches at its narrowest point – slimmer than a Routemaster bus
Crammed into a location which was once garages, the property is described as ‘deceptively spacious’ by estate agents
The home features two bedrooms, one of which opens up onto a small balcony
Another browser joked: ‘Early viewing is highly recommended – presumably before anyone tries to bring in a corner sofa.
‘You will need narrow furniture, narrow shoulders and a very understanding removals man.’
Meanwhile, another commented: ‘You’d have to get a Smart car so you can have half a vehicle to park outside your half a house.’
While one Reddit user noted: ‘Galley kitchen. Galley bedroom. Galley lounge.’
Estate agents Hallets describe the property as a ‘delightful’ and ‘quirky’ two-bedroom house.
The sales blurb on Rightmove reads: ‘Arranged over three floors and beautifully bright with modern fittings, neutral décor and hard flooring throughout.
‘Excellent location within easy walking distance of a choice of stations, local shops and a choice of restaurants. Early viewing of this deceptively spacious property is highly recommended.’
In a sign of the capital’s eye-watering property prices, the house last sold in 2018 for £492,000 – meaning its current owner is hopeful of securing a £150,000 return.
Kew, in the exclusive south-east borough of Richmond, is among the UK’s most expensive places to purchase a property, with average prices for home-movers frequently exceeding £930,000.
The cottage has an internal footprint of just 667 sq ft – which equates to less than a quarter of a tennis court and a little over four times the size of an average parking space in the United States.
Yet it manages to squeeze in a bathroom and two further toilets, as well as a modest first floor balcony.
Some Reddit users were more complimentary about the home – and praised the current owners for making the most of its unusual dimensions.
One wrote: ‘For all that it’s narrow and shockingly priced, it’s an attractive house.
The other bedroom is neatly decorated with white and blue paint – and is big enough to fit a double bed
Its living room is situated at the back of the house and leads out onto a modest garden
In a sign of the capital’s eye-watering property prices, the house last sold in 2018 for £492,000 – meaning its current owner is hopeful of securing a £150,000 return
Estate agents are urging any potential buyers to secure an ‘early viewing’ before the narrow home is taken off the market
‘They’ve made it look bright and airy and feels bigger than it is.
‘I’m single, daughter grown up and flown the nest. I’d happily live in a house like this. Just not anywhere near London.’
Another added: ‘Yes, it’s not much bigger than a flat, but it’s a perfectly liveable home for a one to three person family.’
Yet despite its size, the house is not the thinnest in London. The narrowest is believed to be a five-storey property in Shepherds Bush, measuring just 171 centimetres wide.
The second narrowest home can be located in highly-prized Notting Hill Gate, measuring just 2.1 metres across at its narrowest point – roughly the width of a black cab.
Estate agents had previously marketed the two-bedroom property on Peel Street as a ‘bijou bolt hole’.
