Top Flat, 13 Bassaleg Road, Newport, NP20 3EB

Top Flat is a semi-detached house in Newport (NP20 3EB). It has a recorded floor area of 85 m² (around 915 sq ft), construction records dating it to 1900-1929 and council tax band B. The latest certificate (July 2020) shows an E (score 40), well below the UK norm with real room to improve. When first surveyed in April 2009 the rating was F, the property has climbed 1 band since. Between certificates, wall efficiency went from Very Poor to Poor, roof efficiency went from Very Poor to Average and lighting went from Very Poor to Very Good; while window efficiency dropped from Average to Poor and hot-water efficiency dropped from Poor to Very Poor. The recommended improvements would lift it to C (score 75), a 2-band jump.

Held since June 1995 — that's 31 years off the open market, well above the local norm. Only one transfer is on record with HM Land Registry, suggesting it has stayed in the same hands for a long time. Today's modelled estimate of £131,000 sits 403.8% above the 1995 sale of £26,000. On a £-per-square-foot basis, the last sale (£28/sq ft) was about 75.5% below the postcode norm. At 85 m² it sits well below the postcode median (146 m² across 17 EPCs), making it one of the more compact homes locally.