An estate agency based in the New Forest district has been instructed to list a dilapidated house that was previously owned by a local councillor for just £1.

The knackered house on Whitefield Road in New Milton town centre, formerly owned by Cllr Alan Rice, has been listed by Mitchells Estate Agents, and is reportedly attracting plenty of interest from prospective buyers.

The property, which has been described by Mitchells Estate Agents as “a characterful property”, is in a poor state of repair.

It was once the home of late long-serving town, district and county councillor Alan Rice, who died in 2022 aged 90. He served on Hampshire County Council for 44 years and was a founder member of the New Forest National Park Authority.

“The floors in most rooms downstairs are completely gone and the kitchen is beyond description,” the estate agency states.

According to the New Milton Advertiser & Lymington Times, the exterior of Cllr Rice’s former two-storey detached three-bedroom home, which is in front of the Quaker meeting house, is as dilapidate as the inside with rotting window frames, missing roof tiles, and chunks of plaster having fallen out.

But that has not deterred buyers, thought to be mainly developers, seeking the chance to buy the home through Mitchells, which has reportedly received several offers for it.

A spokesperson for Mitchells told the press: “The property has got great potential. It has attracted a lot of interest. It does need a lot of work.”

The house is for sale by tender, with bids invited by midday on 31 March.