Buying a country house conversion

Introduction

Sick of stressful inner-city living? Do you yearn to wake up to rolling meadows, rambling tracks and the chirping of more than just pigeons? Fancy swapping your cramped conditions for the sprawling grandeur of a country manor but lacking the 30 million investment capital to do so? Fear not, for there are more ways than one to move up in the world and into the country manner, and this short guide to buying a country house conversion is the place to start.

Accessible Country Houses

With local authorities under pressure to find ways to preserve the UK's national architectural heritage, land owners are being forced to assess their properties and make them habitable. Country house conversions are just one of a variety of ways that landowners in possession of large, hard-to-sell country houses are finding to alleviate their situation, see that their properties do not fall to rack and ruin, and make a tidy sum in the meantime. During the last century innumerable historic country houses were demolished, in 1955 the rate was one house every five days. Now, several official bodies, including English Heritage, actively catalogue at-risk historical buildings and have the power to exert pressure on owners to renovate or sell. This is great news for prospective country house home buyers - never before has living in a country house been so accessible.

Types of country house conversions

Nothing short of a national obsession, a home in the UK countryside is a lifetime dream for people across the social spectrum, and at last it is becoming accessible to more than just the silver spoon brigade. There are many different types of country house conversions available for purchase, or you may even want to undertake your own conversion. Let's take a quick look at the main varieties.

• Country house conversion. Country house in this case refers to a grand country house, also known as a manor house, or if you are moving up in the property stakes - a stately home. You are unlikely to be converting this yourself, but check our links section later in the guide for where to find specialist Estate Agents dealing in country houses.