Public toilet sells for whopping £74,000

Estate agents were ”blown away” after this small public toilet sold for a whopping £74,000 – to be turned into a PARKING SPACE.

The tiny lavatory block had been given a guide price of just £15,000 but a bidding war between three parties saw it swell to nearly fives times as much.

The loo and small plot of adjacent land is on a flood plain and because of strict planning laws it can never be built on or used as a private dwelling.

It sits next to a river in Bideford, Devon, but has no slip way and because it can never be developed estate agents feared it would not even make its guide price.

But it was eventually sold for £74,000 after three people slugged it out to buy the land so they could use it – to park their car.

The picturesque town sits next to the River Torridge and is popular with second home owners and one in ten properties is thought to be a holiday house.

A spokesman for Brights, the estate agents and auctioneers, said they were ”blown away” by the price.

He said: ”To be honest we were all flabbergasted. It’s on a flood plain and no-one can ever build there so there’s no chance of turning it into shrewd investment.

”There’s no slip way for boats and all there is is a small patch of land and a tiny toilet block. We thought there’d be barely any interest.

”But it seemed people wanted the parking space and the bidding was extremely fierce. There’s enough room for a few cars and someone wanted it really badly.

”All you could do there is park your car, have a wee then look at the river. Someone was prepared to spend £74,000 to do that. We were blown away.”

The 303 sq m (0.07 acre) toilet and land was built in the 1940s and put up for sale by Torridge District Council.

Auctioneer Kevin Bright opened the auction on Monday by describing the lot as ”bog standard” but in a ”convenient” location.

He said: ”It just shows even with the fragile market what can happen when there is competition for a property.”

The official sale brochure said: ”It should be noted that due to planning restrictions the site will not obtain planning for residential development and is therefore not a plot for a dwelling.”