Historic Sutton Coldfield cottage owner blasts 'keyboard warriors' as he 'falls out of love' with redevelopment plan

The owner of an historic Tudor cottage has revealed why he is selling up after less than two years. Dave Long bought High Heath Cottage in Sutton Coldfield for £257,000 after bids starting at just £1 were invited in December 2022.

The cottage is one of just five remaining stone cottages commissioned by Bishop John Vesey and was built in the 1530s. But the Grade II* listed property is going under the hammer next month after Mr Long decided to sell.

He originally had plans to restore High Heath Cottage and possibly build another property on the Withy Hill Road plot to make the deal 'viable'. But after clearing the land, he said he received a backlash from ‘keyboard warriors’ and he had ‘fallen out of love’ with the project, leading to him relisting the property with auctioneer Bond Wolfe.

READ MORE: Historic Grade II* listed cottage back on market two years after last sale

The seller, who owns another Vesey cottage in Wylde Green Road, said: “There are three reasons for selling. The first is the existing one I live in now has had all the extension finished. We were umming and erring whether we were going to stop here. This one has turned out great, with old living and modern living. It’s better than we expected.

“It’s taken five years to develop the house in Wylde Green Road. It’s got a glass link to it. It’s got the modern and the old. Because it’s done so nice, I don’t need to spend the money there [at high Heath Cottage]. It was all a back-up plan.

"Then, with High Heath Cottage, we got permission for the land clearance. As soon as we started the clearance, keyboard warriors were on Facebook about us demolishing it. That really did offend me. The council inspected it and said we had not done anything wrong.

“But it didn’t stop people sending photos in and I kind of lost the love for it. The last thing I wanted to do was spend my money and have the Facebook warriors. The third issue is the vandalism. I have to keep going back checking on the site. I don’t need the aggravation. I lost complete love and interest for it. It doesn’t inspire you when the Facebook warriors getting involved.”

READ MORE: Demolition fears at historic cottage denied as owner outlines plan

Mr Long explained his original plan for the High Heath Cottage site. “My plan was to have two properties there within the existing footprint. But I didn’t want to go to all the effort until I had done my own [in Wylde Green Road].

“But as soon as I cleared High Heath Cottage, the council asked me to reboard it up and put fencing up. The council said: 'Do something to it or sell it'. So I decided to sell it.”

He added: “I was a private individual who was going to put £800,000 into it. It’s got superb potential. It’s in a good location. With the new sale there are already posts about knocking it down. I don’t want to wreck any of these Vesey Cottages. They need to be preserved.

“That’s what I have done at Wylde Green Road. And I have got a Grand Designs property. I got approval and it’s turned out better than expected. We aren’t going to move.”

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Mr Long had some advice for the new owner of High Heath Cottage, which is for auction with Bond Wolfe on Wednesday, December 11 at 8.30am, with a guide price of £185,000. He said: “A positive is the council [Birmingham City Council's planning department] has now granted planning permission on the Vesey cottage in Wylde Green Road.

“The secret to getting planning permission with a historic building is to involve Historic England and the council conservation officer. I didn’t originally as an architect said he could get work done on listed properties. At Wylde Green Road it had a modern brick extension on it.

“When you disconnect that, they won’t let you connect brick back to the sandstone. That’s why we had a glass link. As long as the extension is within the scale and the existing house is more prominent, permission should be granted.

"The difference is the one I am in was already liveable. But the good thing about Withy Hill Road is the footprint is already there and they can’t refuse that size of property. Birmingham Council’s conservation officer will want it brought back to life. The property is 300 yards from one that sold for £1.4 to £1.5 million recently. I honestly think there’s a lot of money to be made out of it."