A REMOTE off-grid cliff-top cottage is up for sale for £225,000 but the new owners will be banned from renting it out as an AirBnb thanks to a 121-year-old covenant.
The former coastguard cottage is in a row of seven properties perched on a 500ft high chalk headland at White Nothe near Weymouth with stunning sea views.
The mid-terrace home is completely off grid with no mains services and can only be accessed down a muddy farm track in a 4x4.
The isolated home is on Britain's World Heritage Jurassic Coast and would make an ideal weekend bolthole but cannot be used as a holiday let.
The covenant - a legal obligation in the title deeds that new owners must abide by - was made on the coastguard properties in 1902 by the Weld estate, a major Dorset landowner.
It states the property can only be used 'for the purpose of a private residence' as well as laying out rules about making alterations and not allowing businesses to be set up at the site.
It is thought the Weld estate didn't want any stranger to come on to their land.
The legal obligation is something holiday hotspots in Devon and Cornwall would undoubtedly like to see more of, but such covenants are hardly created anymore as they would affect property values and put buyers off.
Estate agents Symonds & Sampson have described the cottage as "truly unique".
The cottages, near Weymouth, Dorset, were built in the early 1900s and at one point would have housed about 40 people between the coastguards and their families.
The current owner has had number 2 as a second home for 40 years and it is now in need of renovation throughout. It has no electricity, gas is provided by bottle and the property needs a new septic tank.
It has just 761 sq ft of accommodation with a sitting/dining room and separate kitchen downstairs and two bedrooms and a shower room upstairs.
Outside is a walled garden separating the properties from the coast path, parking and a small outbuilding.
It is one mile to the Church of St Catherine-by-the-Sea at Holworth and a little further to the hamlet of Ringstead, with Weymouth seven miles away.
The houses have sweeping views along the coast to Weymouth and Portland as well as Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove and St Aldhelm's Head.
Just 100 yards from the cottage is a zig-zag Smuggler's Path, which snakes down to the beach, and at the top of the cliff is a Second World War pillbox.
Much of the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust and the only vehicle access is through a locked gate from the National Trust car park, down 1.5 miles of farm track.
Adam Taylor, from Symonds & Sampson, said: "The cottage occupies a dramatic location, right on the edge of White Nothe cliff. The views out to sea and along the coast to Weymouth and Portland are simply breathtaking.
"But the cottage is set slightly lower than the cliff to protect it from the wind so you don't have views from the ground floor, the only view is from the first floor window.
"The property requires renovation throughout but it offers something rare in today's hectic world - a unique, peaceful and remote position on the Jurassic coast path within an area abundant in wildlife combined with the facilities for self-sufficiency.
"It needs everything done - there is no form of electric, it's all candle light. There's no mains services at all, it's completely off grid. Someone would need to put in solar, water, a new septic tank, a new kitchen and bathroom.
"There's plenty of options there for people. It's one where people are either going to love it or hate it.
"I think it will be a second home, a bolthole retreat. It cannot be used for a holiday let due to the covenant. I think restrictive covenants are good in some cases - if you own a beautiful cottage on a cliff top you would not want people you don't know turning up and being noisy.
"But in villages I think it would mean you could lose quite a lot of value.
"You could live there full time if you wanted but your access is from the National Trust car park at Ringstead, 1.5 miles through farmland and National Trust land and the only real way to get through is via four-wheel drive.
"It's a special place."
Due to the remote location and difficulties of access, the agents are only holding two days of viewings on September 5 and 6.
The cottage will be sold at auction in Sherborne, Dorset, on September 21.
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