Western Morning News (Saturday)
Park close to the beach in St Ives – for £100,000
A SINGLE garage in Cornwall measuring only two metres wide has gone on sale for more than the cost of a small home in some areas of the county.
The structure in St Ives, where parking is at a premium, is on the market for £100,000.
The 4.5m x 2m covered parking space is thought to be the most expensive in the UK outside of London, where one on the market in January in Knightsbridge was advertised with an asking price of £350,000.
The brochure for the St Ives plot, listed by estate agents Harding Laity at £99,950, describes it as “the perfect base to explore the coastal town of St Ives from”.
It added: “This private undercover parking space is a stone’s throw away from local beaches, restaurants and coastal walks.
‘The Tate, Porthmeor Beach, coastal path, Fore Street and the harbour are all within a short walk of this perfectly positioned parking space, removing the hassle of limited parking during peak seasons and providing a shelter from the coastal winds in the winter.”
Parking is at a premium in many towns in Cornwall and with only a select number of short and long stay spaces in and around St Ives, a parkand-ride system has to operate in tourist-heavy months.
Consequently, private parking spaces are becoming increasingly expensive.
The sale also comes in the midst of a housing crisis in the county, which is leaving locals unable to afford to buy homes as prices soar amid rising demand for properties.
In June, a single tarmacked patch in a small car park overlooking Porthminster Beach in St Ives, famous for the quality of its surfing beaches, art galleries and restaurants, sold for £45,000.