What it is: Requiring total renovation, Gaston Gate Farm is made up of a double-height oak-framed barn and single-storey brick stabling, forming an L shape. Set in 7½ acres on the edge of the village of Cranleigh, four miles from Guildford, the buildings have planning permission for conversion into a two-storey home with three bedrooms, all ensuite, and about 2,500 sq ft of living space. The home will be built around a central courtyard. Two reception rooms, two bedrooms, an office and a study have been designed for the ground floor, with one bedroom, plus a gallery, on the first.

The problems: All the buildings are extremely dilapidated: the roofs are falling in and floors are simply rough concrete and dirt. “Absolutely everything will need to be done,” says David Semple of Knight Frank estate agency in Guildford, which is selling the property. This includes creating a proper driveway across fields to reach the farm (there is only an entrance for agricultural use at the moment). There is no mains water or electricity in place, although they can be connected from the road. Semple says that “a ballpark figure to convert the property is £500,000, but it could easily cost more”, adding that where a conversion such as this would have sold on for about £1.5m six months ago, currently it would fetch only £1.35m. “It’s a classic opportunity for a private individual looking for the right spot to do something really special not for a huge profit margin.”

The advantages:Barn conversions are an increasingly rare opportunity in a sought-after area. Cranleigh is a quintessential Surrey village – cricket green, old pubs and tearooms, plus good rail connections to the capital. The farm site has uninterrupted views over countryside and the adjoining paddock, and is surrounded by countless bridleways and footpaths crossing hills and commons. The village is popular with families, drawn by peace and quiet, yet with good shopping. “If the conversion were done well,” saysSemple, “it could have real wow factor.”

Knight Frank ; 01483 565171

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