'Leaning tower of Rotherhithe' sells for £1.5m

A house on the Thames in south east London, which has long been the subject of local intrigue, has sold for £1.5m.

The property, said to be known as the "leaning tower of Rotherhithe", is four storeys high and 3.5m wide. It was purchased by a buyer from the area.

Savills lot negotiator Steven Morish said: "Auction works really well for quirky lots like this.

"The value in this is an art rather than a science; the buyers will set the value."

The house, which was once part of a row of buildings, has a run-down exterior but still attracted "a really good level of interest" from across the globe.

The building, now 1 Fulford Street, was formerly 41 Rotherhithe Street. Now the only house on the street, it was once surrounded by shipping businesses.

To the west of the property, the buildings were destroyed during the Blitz in World War Two.

In the 1960s, London County Council bought the remaining houses on the row but the owners of 41 Rotherhithe Street, barge constructors Braithwaite & Dean, refused to sell.

The company employed lightermen - workers who used flat-bottomed barges to move goods between ships and quays - and they would pull up to collect their wages from the premises.

Savills said it believed the buyer intended to live in the house. The former owners sold up as they were said to no longer require a London bolthole.

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