This Grade II-listed house in Northumberland. Set within the Elizabethan walls of Berwick-upon-Tweed, this Georgian property overlooks the church and the parade ground for the old barracks. Inside there is decent space and period character: a large reception room, a kitchen spacious enough for the dining table, two hospitably-sized double bedrooms and a narrow single bedroom. Towering stone walls create drama in the south-facing courtyard garden. Yours for £198,500. Smiths Gore, 01289 333 030

This three-bedder in Cumbria. From the conservatory there are views across a steep terraced garden and the Petteril river valley to woodland and pasture. You also get use of a further garden shared between the residents of this courtyard development of former estate cottages in Lower Hesket, less than a mile from the A6. Exactly £200,000 buys an open-plan living and dining area extending into the lofty conservatory and a smart kitchen. Click here or call Wilkes Green & Hill, 01768 257004Photograph: Wilkes Green & Hill

A portion of this cottage in West Sussex. Sadly, £200,000 only buys you the ground floor in a gated conversion development off Midhurst high street. But it is at least an elegant sliver of living space with an open-plan living area opening on to a private courtyard, and beyond that a sweep of Grade II-listed communal gardens. It’s the setting rather than the square footage that costs you, for there is only one smallish bedroom and a walk-in shower rather than a bathroom. Click here or call Keats Martin, 01730 2297003Photograph: Keats Martin

This two-bedder in Cornwall. This house is £4,000 over budget, but your recklessness will be rewarded by a glorious position in the peninsula village of Millbrook. It faces Plymouth across the water and the village, straggling around a large lake, is in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Original slate floors survive in parts of the cottage, along with beams, window seats and fireplaces. You’ll be glad of the National Trust’s Antony House nearby since your own garden is a mere courtyard. Marchand Petit, 01752 815222Photograph: Marchand Petit

A one-bed flat in Bath. The southerly half of the city sweeps below the windows of this flat in Rivers Street, a stroll from the city centre. It is elegantly compact with a fireplace and two sash windows absorbing the view in the reception room. The beige of the bathroom suite looks dated and there’s no garden, alas – but Bath’s stately crescents and gardens are close to hand. On the market for £200,000. Click here or call The Apartment Company, 01225 288037Photograph: The Apartment Company

This two-bed cottage in Northamptonshire. The £196,000 price tag allows you £4,000 to put your own stamp on this cottage in the village of Moreton Pinkney, south of Daventry. Modernisations have complemented its period graces adding a roll-top tub to the bathroom, exposing the wooden floor in the living room, and installing a wood-burning stove in the hearth. The main garden is to the front, but there’s room to sunbathe more discreetly in the rear courtyard garden – so long as you don’t mind trekking round the side of the house to reach it. Hamptons, 01295 275885