Land in beauty spot for sale with permission for underground home
Here's a chance to live in a luxury home in the heart of the Shropshire hills – deep underground.
Four acres of land at Hopton Hill, Hopton, Nesscliffe, are up for sale with planning permission granted for an 'earth sheltered eco house'.
That means digging into the ground and creating a luxury subterranean bolt hole that cannot be seen from the outside.
The guide price for the land is £150,000 with the buyer having an option to purchase an additional four acres of land for £50,000.
Director of Halls, the company handling the sale, Mr David Giles, said: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone to build their dream eco home in a fabulous location.
"The views from this land on Hopton Hill are a sight to behold and to be able to live there is a totally unique opportunity. You would stand absolutely no chance of getting planning permission for a traditional, above ground home on this site, so that's why the owner looked at developing an underground home."
The landowner brought in architects NC Homes of Wilmslow, which recently designed a luxury underground home in Cheshire, not yet built. Those plans include an underground swimming pool with chute from a bedroom, which allows the owner to roll out of bed and slide down to the pool.
"Many of us watch television programmes like Grand Designs and have seen the exciting possibilities for developing eco homes," said Mr Giles.
"No plans have yet been drawn up for the Hopton Hill eco house, but the buyer of the land could potentially make it as big as he or she likes because it will be hidden from view and it's on a four acre site with the option to buy another four acres." There are fewer than 100 earth sheltered homes in the UK. However, in Europe and America, thousands of people live underground.
In Russia there is said to be more development below ground than above it and Japan and China, where development space is at a premium, are particularly keen to build underground living spaces.
