Househunter Oucherotte, near Dijon, France

Number One Railway Cuttings is a former signalman's cottage on a line that still takes tourists by steam train past the front door. The only other way to get there is in an all-weather vehicle. It has four rooms plus a shower, a water well, septic tank and half an acre of land surrounded by wooded hills. Heating is by wood, cooking by wood and gas and lighting by paraffin lamps. A generator, water pump and electric saw are included in the negotiable asking price of FF97,000 (pounds 13,000). Contact In The Sticks 01434 381404.

For What It's Worth

The eminently sensible Scottish practice whereby the seller rather than the purchaser of a property carries out a structural survey is being recommended by agents south of the border for properties in poor condition. The Surrey based agents Curchods says it speeds up the sales process and gives buyers less room to negotiate the price down. Executors are generally more willing to see the virtues of the scheme than people selling their own home, according to Curchods' senior partner Andrew Dewar. He is selling a three-bedroom Victorian terrace in Guildford, needing total refurbishment, for pounds 65,000 rather than the normal pounds 95,000 because of the work revealed by a full set of structural reports. "The vendors agreed it was important to attract only those people who have a real interest and the financial ability to undertake a lot of work," Mr Dewar said.

Who's Moving

Nick van Hoogstraten, the American producer of the forthcoming West End show The Fields of Ambrosia, has rented a flat in St John's Wood, London. He took the two-bedroom flat in Hamilton Terrace the day after Chestertons put it on the market for pounds 350 a week.