Britain's cheapest 'house' from Harrogate Flower Show set for charity auction

The 2.7m (8ft) high stone structure has been made by charity Horticap to raise funds for the work it does with adults with learning difficulties.

The tiny building, which measures 2.4sq m, is part of an elaborate show garden at the Harrogate Flower Show being held this weekend.

Created by Horticap, which teaches disadvantaged adults horticulture, it is one of three houses on display based on the Three Little Pigs children's story.

Accompanied by a straw house and a wooden house, the miniature stone cottage comes complete with declarative plants, a picket fence and a Miss Piggy figure.

And it has had the seal of approval from the charity's patron, legendary gardener Alan Titchmarsh.

Phil Airey, the charity's operations manager, said: “We do a show garden at the Harrogate Flower Show every year and this year’s theme is the three little pigs.

“We’ve got a straw house, a wooden house that’s rickety and they’ll be blown over by the wolf.

“And we’ve got a stone house that won’t be blown down by anyone and that is going to be auctioned off and sold to the highest bidder.

“It’ll be the cheapest house in the UK. We’re hoping to raise £10,000 for the charity, you can’t buy a house anywhere for £10,000.

"Alan is well behind it, he's been up to see it and he was impressed."

The structure was created by dry stone wall builders Jason and Tracey Potter and was set to be used in the 2020 show.

But when that was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the charity put the house into storage for two years before it was eventually unveiled today (Wednesday, 20 April).

It is sat on a wooden pallet at the showground and the charity would be willing to deliver it to a buyer within around a 10 mile radius of their base in Harrogate.

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Phil, 57, of Wetherby, said he believes the structure would be a nice addition to a garden and could be used as a dog house, a hen hut or even as a child’s wendy house.

He added: “There’s nothing inside it, so it’s up to the buyer however they’d want to use it.

"It's a structure that will look really cute in the garden and it should last a few years, it's well sturdy.

“It can come with the picket fence and flowers. It won’t be the plants that are in now, but if we get £10,000 for it I’ll come and do some plants.

“It’s on a pallet now, then next Monday morning I’ll come along, dismantle it and out in our van and whoever the new owner, we’ll have to deliver it and sort the logistics out of how to get it in their garden.

“If it’s within a 10 or 11 mile radius, we can deliver it.”

The house will go on auction tomorrow on property website Rightmove on Thursday, 21 April.