It can never have been the most beautiful house in Britain, and frankly it has had some very bad press recently: child abuse, joyriders, poltergeists, pest infestation ...

Nevertheless, FPD Savills expects keen interest in No 12 Picket Post Close, in Bracknell, Berkshire, when it comes up for auction later this month.

Under incessant assault by owls, house elves, and flying cars, the house starred in all the Harry Potter films as the Privet Drive home of the loathsome Dursleys, Harry's grimly unmagical Muggle relatives.

From the gleaming front door to the fanatically mowed back garden, the house became an emblem of all that is soul destroying in suburbia.

Harry saw little of the pristine front gardens and well-washed cars along the road, spending most of his formative years padlocked into the cupboard under the stairs, or behind bars in the smallest first-floor bedroom, living on hope and smuggled birthday cake.

The two-storey three-bedroomed detached house, built in 1993, was tracked down by a film location spotter for its consummate lack of interesting features.

The owner, who has decided to sell, agreed to rent it to Warner Brothers, and for two hectic weeks in 1999 it was transformed for some crucial scenes in the first blockbuster film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The baby Harry was left on the doorstep by wizards, and as his 11th birthday approached, a blizzard of letters was delivered by owls, inviting him to abandon suburbia and the world of Muggles, and become a pupil at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

The real house does have a cupboard under the stairs, but it has never held a prisoner: most of the interiors were shot on a film studio set. The property is described by the auctioneers as "in good order throughout and has an attractive 40ft south-facing garden".

The house will be auctioned on July 22 in London, with a guide price of £250,000.