Tat London Journal

What we've curated here is a genuinely expansive roster of properties, and while a number of them could reasonably sit within the 'Potential' category, many would be equally at home on the Dream Properties list. We have always had a particular appreciation for the unpolished.

Hold onto your hats my friends because they are going to be blown away by the rough diamonds you see below. They will give you an absolute shiver of delight, even if you aren't buying, boy we are selling. Well we aren't, but the estate agents certainly want your custom. Perhaps one of these days Tat will turn its hand to selling properties with potential. We will be called Turrets and Thatch or Tired And Thrilling. Anyway, back to the properties in hand. I honestly feel this

I'd like you to keep two things in mind when perusing the below. Rod For One's Own Back & Subjective. We will conquer the first issue. While £2 million is a life changing, win the lottery, kiss your job goodbye kind of money, in London it goes a lot quicker than it should. Although we have seen the madness of house prices come down a little, in all reality we are still living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. So not only are you faced with looking at one overp

There is something in the air that has turned the once rancid smell of communal living into soft, rose-filled delights. I am not sure if I am cut out for it, earnest, grouchy, unable to make many a good dish, but still, the urge to unite with other families and individuals has never felt stronger. Perhaps it is the never-ending encroachment of reality on my life. I'd like to be buying antiques, selling them, making a tidy profit, and then buying more antiques and keeping them

As a young tv reporter I stumbled upon a cluster of abandoned houses sitting in the shadow of Hawksmoor’s brooding Christ Church Spitalfields. The Church was then a looming black presence standing guard over an abandoned vegetable market and the neglected early Georgian houses which clustered around it. It was hard to believe they’d once been the swanky homes of prosperous Huguenot - French Protestant - silk weavers. The Nineteenth Century had been tough on these fine homes w

Lately I have been fetishising the idea of living by the sea. I don’t care if it gets howling in the winter, or crowded in the summer, it just strikes me as quite a good way of life. I am not seafaring folk, so I can give no real insight into this ‘good way’ of life, but one must muse on the idea, if only for a little, as it feels like a rather good way to spend the next five minutes or so.

This, as I think I have mentioned, is my favourite feature to research. Inevitably I sometimes prefer these houses to those featured on Dream Properties, but don’t tell them. These places feel less contrived, not filled with pristine kitchens or upholstered within an inch of their lives. Here there is a moment to consider the new life one could bestow on these fine structures. As ever, there are one or two below that barely need more than the electrics checked and a lick of p

Every month we find new homes that set our heart a flutter. This month is like any other. We have kept the £2 million marker in place as we feel it makes everything feel a little more reasonable. Which is a mad thing to say about £2 million but here we are.

We have cast our net across the country and gathered a selection of houses that give genuine pleasure. All are currently on the market and waiting, rather patiently, to be admired, whether a converted church, a polished London apartment or, more often than not, a cottage. We make no apology for this preference; it is simply where our eye tends to rest.

Bones, bones and more bones. That is very much where I am coming from with the list below. We have largely disregarded the interior choices and, in many cases, with good reason. But every now and then I find myself thinking my god, I would keep that. A proper old chintz sofa, for example, is not so easy to come by these days, and if you already have one, softened and worn in all the right places, I would hang on to it for dear life.

These dear friends are not your typical one up one down on Station Road, the second most common street name in the UK, just behind High Street. Instead, they are gargantuan properties, most of them firmly in the millions. Many will also require someone with deep pockets to make them whole again and, in some cases, simply to furnish the vastness of the rooms

Potential in spades across the glorious set below. Some, as you know, will need only the lightest of touches. There is one close to the end in Norfolk that requires almost nothing at all. The owner has done such a gracious job with the rest of the house that it feels more a question of restraint than intervention. That particular beauty is heading to auction, which is not usually something we go in for, but it felt such a shining example of a property that it would have been

I can’t list all the sweet treats below because the selection is genuinely bulging. Churches, thatched roofs, an almost unreasonable number of Grade II listed buildings, and plenty in between. I hope it offers a bit of inspiration and who knows, it might even plant the seed for a move of your own.

As I illustrated so finely in our recent Tête à Tat, Sekforde Property are the people in the know. They are two of the finest minds sweeping through the property market and naturally I took my moment to ask whether they might contribute to Property Week.

No beating about the bush, there are fewer below than usual. I make my apologies, there are only twenty. But my friends, when you have wrapped your gaze around these steadfast builds you will surely agree that they more than make up for missing out on five more or so. They are dashing, hard-hitting properties that boast that horribly rare attribute of being as beautiful on the inside as their façade. Yes, there are a few tweakments needed, some flooring removed, and perhaps o

There is something thrilling about the below. It feels akin to playing the lottery. The picture shown in each listing is the allegorical lottery ticket. Here, instead, of imagining house you'd spend your winnings, you ponder how you can rearrange the walls, create the kitchen, move the bathrooms, fix up that studio. Even though the real chances of you purchasing any of the below are limited, you get to sit in a world of your own making that might feel somewhat delusional but

Fifteen Properties With Potential, November 2025 Grade II Listed Country Estate, Bere Peninsula, Yelverton I am aware I have opened variations of this article before. The siren call of potential has that effect. But properties with potential are, at their heart, quintessentially Tat. This is a readership that wants to see projects, even if we have no intention of taking them on ourselves. I, for one, have absolutely no appetite for major works at the moment. Still, the greate

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Say it with me: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So please don’t think I’ve entirely lost the plot with a few of the listings below. One or two may be nothing to write home about, but for those who know, the glory lies in the windows, the fireplaces and, in certain cases, the sheer splendour of their position. A couple even come with their own patch of land, which feels essential when it comes to proper daydreaming properties.

I think the property above falls squarely into the realm of click bait. Yes, it meets the brief by coming in under £500k, but it arrives with a rather daunting list of caveats. All that said, I still think it’s one of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever laid eyes on.

So many of these could do with a zhuzh, but that’s part of the dream. We’ve included one or two turnkey properties; many of the twenty, though, are in need of a new owner with big ideas and deepish pockets.