Episode 72 Homes Under the Hammer

Bidding at auction may seem an odd way of buying something

as important as property,

but lots of people do it.

It's quick, it's easy, and it could be just right for you.

Stay with us, and find out how three properties went under the hammer on today's show.

Buying at auction should be a very simple and straightforward thing.

So, we're here to demystify the process.

That's just the beginning, because when the hammer comes down,

you've got to make the property habitable

and that can be quite tiresome.

So let's see what inspired the buyers on today's show.

I find the perfect combination of location and property in Devon.

However...

Straightaway I'm thinking, work to be done!

There's a plot in Kent for just 18,000,

but before you get too excited...

No bargain houses for that sum, I'm afraid. It's land.

And just when you thought it was safe to go to the auction...

It really is a Hammer house of horror.

..There's this house in Manchester.

All these properties went to auction

and we'll find out who bought them,

and what they paid for them, when they went under the hammer.

Teignmouth in Devon is a beautiful seaside town,

which was originally a fishing port,

but became a popular holiday resort in Victorian times.

Today you'll find an unspoilt sandy beach,

with clear waves lapping the shore,

as well as a climate reportedly several degrees warmer than inland.

Well, a few miles and a few hill starts out of the centre,

you find yourself in Hazel Down Road,

in the very desirable east side of town.

So, what have we got? Well, that very rare breed.

It's a bungalow,

it's got two bedrooms and a guide price of 150,000 quid.

It would be a major work out to walk from the beach,

but as it's in such an elevated position,

it would be well worth the effort on a lovely day like this.

The road is pleasantly lined with similar bungalows

and at the crest of the hill,

it feels like being on top of the world.

Let's see if the property hits such a high note.

OK, straight into this lean-to area.

Now, this is the front door of the property.

But, there's something kind of strange going on this way.

Because, the lean-to continues.

It's outside the kitchen window, and it carries on round.

All the way round to the back door.

This just doesn't feel right.

It's been tacked on at some stage.

It's dirty, it's... I don't know, it's something.

You come into the kitchen, and likewise it's tired, it's dated.

Without doubt, it needs updating.

Not a bad sized space,

but that's the biggest issue as far as I'm concerned.

Straightaway, I'm thinking, work to be done!

Unless you want to do laps around the inside of your own home,

this inadequate extension serves little purpose.

I'd like to see it taken down straightaway,

or perhaps you could incorporate it into the main body of the house.

So two bedrooms, one at the back, fairly small

and then this is your master. And some rather dated wardrobes.

You remember this material? A big hit in the '70s I think.

You might be forgiven

for thinking that this is yet another cupboard, but no...

It's actually an en-suite bathroom.

Well, again, nice to have, but just look at the ceiling height,

it's kind of been tacked-on,

the whole house is a bit ad hoc hotchpotch.

It needs to be sorted.

This hotchpotch has created rooms of vastly different sizes

from the enormous lounge, to the small bathroom and second bedroom.

And with a hidden, dated en-suite, and galley-style kitchen,

the sense of balance and proportion all feels wrong.

If adding bits and pieces here were meant to jazz it up,

then this free-form jazz number hits the wrong note with me.

In a nutshell, what we've got is a tired bungalow

that's a bit of a mish-mash.

You know what? I've saved the best bit till last.

Because what sets this bungalow apart is the view from the back.

Absolutely spectacular, looking out over the sea,

and the estuary of the river. Fantastic.

Now, there's this conservatory on the back of the bungalow.

I don't think it makes the most of that view.

I'd want to see this expanded, maybe decking,

maybe some steps out down to the garden, whatever you do,

because that view puts this bungalow into a completely different league.

From the garden level,

this view is more of rooftops and shrubs than endless sea.

But from the bungalow windows, it's a very different vista -

miles and miles of ocean, cliffs and boats.

That's what you really want to see and what people want to buy.

Well, in a Devon seaside town like this,

you probably think that bungalows attract a premium.

You'd be right, particularly from people looking to retire here.

But I think this would make a wonderful family home.

You just need to be creative about how you expand it.

You've got all these corridors and things that don't quite work.

Maybe, do something better with the garage.

Expand out this way, anything to make most of the view this way.

You could always go up into a dormer,

subject to planning.

That would be spectacular.

Can you imagine the view from up there?

I think it would be uninterrupted all the way to France.

However, this is one tired bungalow

that has potential written all over it.

Let's see if a local estate agent is just as uplifted,

or will she bring me crashing back to earth?

There's a little bit of work with garage and bathrooms and extensions,

with the right planning and layout you could extend the property,

put a third bedroom on, perchance go up in the loft as well.

That should add value. But how much?

If you were to have it as it was, in terms of value,

I'd say the property is worth around £175,000, possibly get a little more,

but general price.

If you were to renovate the property, extend, put a third bedroom on,

I would see the property value looking at around £250,000.

That's with obviously kitchens, bathrooms, and redecoration through.

In terms of rental, there is a possibility.

I would say value-wise,

you would make around £600 to £625 per calendar month.

It might not just be a quick turnaround project to maximise this bungalow.

You're probably going to need planning permission

and to do a lot of work.

But if you take the long view,

it should be a rock-solid investment.

Well, a lot of work to do

to get this tired little bungalow up to scratch.

But the location, well, it definitely deserves it.

But you are going to need deep pockets.

Not necessarily a money spinner, but I think still it's a great catch.

Let's see who agreed at the auction.

Number 30.

Teignmouth, spacious two double bedroom detached bungalow,

needs a right good seeing-to.

Who gives 150 straight in? 150 straight in, nice and simple? 150? That's the way to do business.

150 we've got, at 150.

At 150, 152, the lady here.

152, 154, 156?

156. 158.

160 I've got.

160?

162, 164.

164, have a think.

164, we've got the lady here. 164.

Looking around the room, 164 I've got. 166?

168, 168?

At 168.

170, 172, 172?

172, shame to miss it.

174. At 174. A little one?

175?

Treat you exactly the same, sir. Single if it'll help. At 175?

Six. 176, an even littler one?

176 and a half? 176 and a half.

176 and a half, I'll glance back.

177, 177. Ooh.

At 177 on my right, at 177.

At 177 once, twice...

178, madam? Thank you.

178. 178.

At 178. At 178?

At 178. Here it is, at 178 together,

once, twice, third and last time.

178 and done.

Well done.

For 178,000, the winning bidders were engaged couple John and Zoe.

John is a pilot, while Zoe works for the local coastguard,

co-ordinating search and rescue in the area.

I was intrigued to know how they were gonna rescue this little bungalow.

# Rescue me

# Oh, take me in your arms

# Rescue me... #

Zoe, John, nice to meet you both. You both look terribly cheerful.

-Yeah!

-Obviously happy with your purchase.

-Yeah!

-Great!

So, the idea was to buy it, why? For what?

To move in. To live.

We live on the other side of town at the moment,

and it's closer to our families.

When I go away with work, she's a few minutes closer.

You say you go away, what do you do?

I'm in the Navy,

so I'm deploying to Afghanistan a couple of times a year.

Right. I thought Afghanistan was landlocked?

-Yes, it is.

-Right. So, where does the Navy come in?

-I fly helicopters.

-OK.

-We're flying the guys around in theatre.

You all right? Is it scary?

I've only been shot at a couple of times.

OK, that's all right then. How is it when he goes away?

The house stays tidier! I get to buy...

I buy new handbags whilst he's not about.

That's all right then.

It can't be easy though, when you wave goodbye.

There's always that vague risk, isn't there?

It's not great but, you know, it's what he signed up for.

That's what I signed up for, when I said I'd marry him. Yep.

-And she keeps herself occupied by going to auctions and buying houses.

-178 and done.

You weren't at the actual auction, were you?

I got an e-mail in theatre saying, "You've just bought a house."

-Tell me more, you say in theatre, that's war?

-In Afghanistan.

So you were at war, in Afghanistan, helicopter flying,

bullets flying around,

you get an e-mail saying, "We've just bought a house."

That has got to be one of the most surreal scenarios ever.

But you did get to see it before you went away, once.

She showed me round, introduced me to the smell,

and sort of said, the auction is on the 17th or whatever it was.

I got back from flying one day, checked my e-mails

-and found I'd bought a house. It was amazing.

-Wow!

So, as John battled it out in Afghanistan,

Zoe was doing battle in the auction room

and not just with the other bidders.

It was in fact her mum who ignored their set limit of 177,000.

She took it into her own hands and made that winning bid of 178,000

which clinched the deal.

Let's move on to how you're going to transform this place.

What are you going to do?

Not one room is going to stay in the same place, really.

Couple of walls, that's about it that's staying.

I don't know what the deal is, you probably wouldn't get it,

but you didn't think about trying to make a dormer or something?

-That's a later plan.

-Is it?

-The current plans...

What do you mean no? You're saying no, he's saying yes.

There's not enough height in it to go up there properly.

John is going to have a room. He's having some Veluxes put up there.

The plans would allow for a couple of windows into the attic.

-Oh, great.

-I'm going to at least get some flooring up there,

and then, we've got the view, which is even better than this one.

-Yeah.

-Then, at a later date,

if we've got the money, I can convert it into something.

-Cinema room or something?

-Yeah.

-Golly.

Why such dramatic changes inside?

-We need a challenge.

-A challenge?

-We had the funding and...

-We haven't got the funding!

We thought we might as well make it the dream house.

You're going to tailor it to exactly what you want?

John owns a place in Cornwall,

and the couple live in Zoe's house in Teignmouth.

So they have two properties to sell.

The proceeds from those would fund them to buy this

and turn it into their dream home. They're not hanging around either,

as they've already got plans drawn up to submit for approval.

Talk me through these incredible plans that you have.

Yeah, well... Where we're stood at the moment

is going to be decking off the conservatory,

and off what will be the lounge.

-So quite elevated?

-Yep.

We've knocked down the garage that's there at the moment

and brought the walls in line with the house that's there at the moment,

making that an en-suite walk-in wardrobe.

With the bathroom, we've moved both the walls,

actually all the walls in the bathroom.

The third bedroom,

we've come out as far as where the lean-to is at the moment.

We've made enough space for a lobby,

hopefully we'll have a cupboard there for our coats and things like that.

Where the lounge is at the moment, we've made that into a kitchen diner.

-It'll actually have doors out into the conservatory.

-Fantastic plans.

-What about John's idea of the upper floor, where's that?

-He's dreaming.

# In my dreams

# It's never quite as it seems

# Cos you're a dream to me... #

Well, it's always good to dream,

but even without that upper floor,

this is certainly a comprehensive renovation

and it's not likely to be cheap.

What kind of budget have you set aside for this?

70,000.

-OK. Wow! So a really healthy budget.

-Yeah.

-Quite a lot to do for the budget.

-Any idea of timescales?

We're looking at starting work two months from now,

and it should be about three months to finish the work.

And in the meantime you'll be living where you're still living?

Well, where we live at the moment.

But if we sell where we're living at the moment,

-we're gonna have to move in with my parents.

-Every man's ideal dream!

But John's going away for three months, so it won't matter.

-Suddenly Afghanistan looks quite appealing!

-Yeah!

-Are you off again then?

-Yes, back out in three months.

So you will be leaving in the middle of the works?

-How long's your tour of duty?

-Three months.

-Right, OK.

-So just walk away at a convenient time once again, really.

-Absolutely.

And come back to a finished house. How marvellous is that?

Well, I really like John and Zoe's plans

and I think they're going to create a spectacular place to live.

The only big question is what will it be like

when John returns from Afghanistan and will he get his boys' room?

You can find out later in the show.

Situated on the River Medway, Rainham in Kent has views out over the water

or inland to the fertile fields famous for fruit and hop growing.

Just one mile from all that Rainham has to offer and I'm here on Pump Lane.

It's a popular residential area in a semi-rural location.

I'm here to see a lot with a £18,000 to £22,000 guide price.

No bargain houses for that sum, I'm afraid. It's land,

but land with the potential to develop, and that's what gives it its price tag.

So what might 18,000 to 22,000 get you?

It's a good sized plot and although it isn't level, it does have access.

That's extremely important when you plan to develop on land.

Unfortunately, though, there's something else.

The auction catalogue does hint at development

but it also tells me that water drains run through the site.

Drains of any sort are going to cause problems

to a developer, especially if they are serving an entire community.

Moving them could cost thousands.

Or it might even be impossible.

Anybody interested in this plot has to make a thorough inquiry before bidding.

Fail to research this and you could be left eating a lot of blackberry crumble.

# Goodbye, blackberry way... #

Although I love the idea of living the good life,

I don't think I would pay over 20 grand just to grow some spuds and carrots.

And it's not just the drains that could have you running from the site.

There's a railway line at the back and a house very close by as well.

I can't imagine the neighbours would be too pleased if a development goes up.

What does the local estate agent make of this parcel of land?

It's an unusual plot of land.

It's restricted as to who's going to buy this.

I would imagine it would be very difficult to get a property on here.

It may well be that somebody might use it as a yard or something simple

for storage but I cannot see a detached property being built here so close to the railway.

Because of that it's probably worth no more than about £15,000, even once it's cleared.

However, if a developer looked into planning, they would have to be wary of those drains,

otherwise they could be bogged down by costs which would flood their finances

and leave this land as unlikely to be built on as the nearby marshes.

This lot has a serious question mark over it.

There are series of water drains running underneath and that could scupper a developer's plans.

Get over that problem and you have got neighbours to consider.

They may object to any plans at all for the simple reason of just being overlooked.

There's an awful lot to consider here, but somebody wanted it. Let's go to auction.

Lot 41, the land adjoining 185 Pump Lane in Rainham.

It's a 0.11 acre plot.

£20,000 to start me? 15, then,

£15,000 I'm bid.

16, 17, 18, 19, 20,

20 on my left, 21?

20,000 on my left. At 20,000. 21, do I see?

21 I have, 22,

22 is bid, 23?

That was short and sweet, wasn't it? One bid, finished, end of story.

£22,000 I'm bid, 23 for anyone else?

At £22,000 in the room, being sold at 22,000, 23 do I see?

For the first time at 22,000, the gentleman on the left-hand side,

white T-shirt, at 22,000 for the second time,

22,000 the third and final time - are you all done?

Sold at 22,000.

And your bidder's number, sir?

For 22,000, the new owners are Pat and Paul,

along with their three children, Shannon, Katy and James.

The reason they wanted this land so much is because they live right next door.

Guys, hello there!

-Pat, Paul?

-Nice to meet you.

What a fantastic story.

You must be so pleased.

-We are very happy.

-Pat, how did you feel on auction day?

I was extremely nervous.

We had to sit through quite a lot of other things,

so by the time it got to that I was very, very nervous. Over the moon when we got it.

-You nearly fainted, didn't you?

-I'm surprised I didn't.

Nearly passed out when the hammer went down.

Had to grab hold of him. We were so worried about not getting it.

-Out of 10, how much did you want this plot of land?

-20!

It's freezing cold today. I know you've got a lovely, warm house just there.

-Shall we go inside?

-I'll make a cup of tea.

You've won me over.

So with a reviving cup of tea in hand, it was time to find out more

about the couple's plans for their purchase.

This is better, isn't it? Much more cosy.

-A bit warmer, yes.

-Now you've got the land, what are you going to do with it?

We haven't really thought about that, actually.

You just spent 22,000!

It was more to get it because it was the opportunity to buy it.

It was more peace of mind for us that we actually own it now.

I just didn't want anyone

being there overlooking us. We have recently moved from London, we were in the middle of a council estate.

That was one of the big selling points for us for this house,

that it wasn't overlooked, so obviously that would have gone.

Bus driver Paul and teaching assistant Pat have been together

for 15 years but only got married eight months ago.

They moved to Rainham two years ago to get a better quality of life with more space for the children.

When you bought this house two years ago, did you know anything about that plot of land?

Did you think about the plot of land next door?

We initially looked into buying it.

we found out it was owned by the council. They said it's not for sale.

The next thing we know, the auction board goes up,

someone's up there looking at it, saying it's up for auction.

That was when panic set in for me, wasn't it?

Because we live next door, every time somebody went to look at it,

we could see and I found that really difficult

because then you know more people are interested

and then the price might go up to more than we can afford.

-For me it would have been, it didn't matter how much it cost.

-Really?

-I wanted it.

That's why I had the card!

Done, sold at 22,000.

At the end of the day, if someone else had have bought it,

and developed it and built a house on it,

you've got to weigh up how much that would have knocked off the price of our house.

That's the rational way of thinking.

-I was thinking with my heart, "I want it."

-Because you love this house and...

I love the house and I didn't want to...

I felt that we would have to move.

I felt that we would have to move if somebody built there.

When you consider moving costs, or, as Paul mentioned, the potential devaluation of their house

if there was any development on the land, £22,000 doesn't seem a vast sum.

Now they've got it, they can probably add value

to their own property and generate some income from the plot itself.

When we bought the plot of land we were told that it had access

for the railway people, that they had to get there.

We've recently found out that they have no rights of access at all in writing.

So we've been approached by them to come to some agreement

whereby they can use the land and we either fence a bit off,

and they have said they will pay us an annual sum or one lump sum.

At the moment we will probably just clear it and open up our garden

into it so it gives the kids a bigger playing area.

And what have you promised the kids? Come on.

Trampoline! We've promised them a trampoline

and we've already got them a swimming pool to use next summer when it's warmer.

A swimming pool that you blow up?

Yes, we've got them a really big one, haven't we?

It looks likely at first it would be the children who will benefit

from the extra land as they will have more room to play outside.

If an estate agent said, "It's not going to add any value

"to your house, it would just be a piece of land that you'll never be able to do anything with,"

would you still have gone ahead?

Yeah, because it wasn't for financial reasons.

You passionately wanted to not have anybody living on it. Don't start crying!

-You're still very emotional about it.

-The money didn't matter.

It's the children's happiness, isn't it?

This is a brilliant story for me.

It's lovely to see such a happy ending and I'm so glad it went your way on auction day.

Thank you. Cheers.

-Thank you.

-Well done, you guys.

This has really been an emotional journey for the couple and a purchase of passion.

I want to see the kids bouncing up and down on their new trampoline, enjoying all that space.

And will the railway be able to help put some money back in their pockets?

See how Pat and Paul get on later in the programme.

Coming up, there's not much property to the pound at this lot in Manchester.

Nope. Even plaster on the walls is an optional extra.

We return to Kent were Paul and Pat got more than they bargained for.

Bricks, and I think I found two Hoovers, bits of car, it was unbelievable.

But first, back to Devon where Zoe has only one more detail to worry about.

I hope he likes it when he comes home at the weekend.

In picturesque Teignmouth in Devon, there was a bungalow in dire need of rescue.

Who better suited to that job than a Coast Guard co-ordinator and a Navy helicopter pilot?

Engaged couple Zoe and John bought it for £178,000 and planned their dream property together.

But as he's currently serving in Afghanistan, John wasn't going to be around all that much.

-Are you off again, then?

-Yeah, I'm back out in three months.

OK. So just walk away at a convenient time once again, really!

And come back to a finished house! How marvellous is that?

A-ha! But five months on, has it all gone to plan?

Was the bungalow ready for John's return?

The main things that have happened since you were last here is, outside,

the garage has been knocked down and replaced with a bedroom.

This large master bedroom comes with its own en-suite and walk-in wardrobe.

Inside, most of the walls have changed place and we have gone to three bedrooms from two.

The bedrooms used to be at the back of the bungalow,

but by moving them to the front, they can now use the rear for the living areas.

The main rooms, the kitchen and the lounge,

are at the front of the house. The kitchen was at the back.

Which is a great idea, as it allows those stunning views to be enjoyed from the communal areas.

All in all, it's been a massive change in just five months.

But renovating this property is only half the story.

It has been fairly manic sense you were last here.

We got married a few months ago now.

It seems like forever ago.

John's been away with work the whole time the building work was going on, rather conveniently!

Even to the extent that he's gone away again this week just as we needed to move in.

I'm also pregnant. So it's all been happening in the last sort of five months or so.

That's enough to keep anyone busy.

And if that wasn't enough, they've also been trying to sell their two houses.

The deals for those should go through any day now.

And Zoe has had her Coast Guard work to do as well as project managing here.

The kitchen is very black.

My choice of colour.

I kept looking at the wood ones, but kept going back to the high gloss.

I think I might regret it with sticky fingers and things all over it, but never mind.

It's all built in so I've got built-in dishwasher, fridge and freezer

and obviously the ceramic hob and oven.

I did make one mistake not having a draining board.

John thinks I'm mad. But that's what a dishwasher's for.

I'll put it all in there. And my little bit was the under the cupboard lights and also plinth lights.

As John has yet to see the finished kitchen, Zoe has her fingers crossed that he'll like it.

This is the lounge. It was previously the main bedroom.

Obviously there was a hole through the wall here to the en-suite.

It's a nice-sized living room and we've got the patio doors already there

when we do decide to do the decking, so they are already in place.

A great view when you're sat on the sofa, out to sea over Teignmouth.

The decking was part of their initial planning application

but they were advised that without some kind of screening,

the neighbours might object to being overlooked.

So rather than jeopardise the whole planning application,

they decided to sort out the decking at a later date.

At least that gives John something to do on his return.

John's had minimal input, really. I've been left to do most of it by myself.

He did say he wanted mirrored tiles in the bathroom,

which we have achieved and he has got mirrored tiles in the bathroom.

I think he will be shocked at the kitchen cupboards.

He'll wonder where all his pictures are. They're up in the loft, ready for him, up there.

Other than that, I hope he likes it when he comes home at the weekend.

So, while John's doing an important and dangerous job abroad,

his new and now pregnant wife has been doing a great job creating their home.

But rescuing this place was never going to be cheap.

My budget was 70,000 and it's gone fairly well.

We didn't have the decking, and I've kind of respent that money inside on doors and a few other bits

but overall, including having a garden done, which wasn't in the original plans, about 75,000.

£75,000 spent on a property bought at auction for £178,000

means that with costs, they'll have invested around £260,000 in total.

But although the views are great from here, is the outlook equally good from a financial point of view?

What do two local estate agents think?

My first impressions are that they have done an absolutely super job

and they have managed to turn it around in such a short time frame.

They have done a very good job.

They've made the most of the living space

towards the back of the property to make the most of the views out to sea.

I think the kitchen area,

with the sun lounge on the front looking out over the view

is spectacular, I think it's superb.

The layout works very well.

It's got a nice flow to it.

They've got an open-plan kitchen diner which is obviously what people

want now and bedrooms towards the back of the property.

I like what they have done with the master bedroom

and the en-suite, with the little dressing room as well.

This has been a tremendous success in terms of the now much more practical layout.

But remember, the couple have spent £75,000 to make the changes so,

with costs, their total expenditure will be around £260,000.

I'd put this property on the market for £265,000.

If I was to put the property on the market at the moment, I would suggest an asking price of £295,000.

Quite different valuations then but both indicate this should be a sound investment. What does Zoe think?

I'm really pleased with the values we have got.

We would hopefully have covered our costs if we were to sell today, but more importantly,

it's a house to live in, and that's what we bought it for, so that's good.

Perhaps, at the end of the day, it's not whether the estate agents are happy with the changes here.

It will be John's opinion of the finished property that will be most important to Zoe. Quite right, too.

I think John will be really pleased.

I'm sure he will pick me up on something small that he doesn't like

but I'm here most of the time, so I'll take the flak.

For now, all Zoe can do is wait, keeping an eye out for John

and checking that the coast is clear for any problems ahead.

Welcome to Miles Platting, the new home of Manchester City Football Club.

After years of neglect, this is an area definitely on the up.

It's also the location for the property I'm here to see, specifically in Canada Street.

But there isn't a Mountie or a moose in sight

and I reckon is going to be a bit of a Rockies road

before this property turns over a new Maple Leaf.

The guide in this instance for a two-up-two-down mid-terrace was just £20,000-£25,000.

That's because it looks like this.

From the outside at least this place looks derelict with a capital D.

There's no roof to speak of and signs of fire damage.

Not good.

For that kind of money you probably don't think you're going to get very much at all.

And you'd be absolutely right.

You might have expected floorboards, possibly a ceiling, windows, doors perhaps.

Nope. Even plaster on the walls is an optional extra.

No surprises that you don't get the kitchen either.

This is the space what I guess a kitchen would be.

Not a bad sized room

and you could make a lovely feature of that open fireplace there.

But I mean, joking apart, this is a major renovation job.

It's a shell. You don't know how much damage has been done to the floorboards.

You've got to assume the worst.

It really is a Hammer House of Horror.

This empty, ripped out shell of a building is a scary project.

It's the stuff of DIY-ers' nightmares.

The only way this one could work

is with an experienced builder coming in with a team

to put it back together, bit by bit.

Upstairs there are two bedrooms but it is too dangerous to go up there.

However, our part cameraman, part action hero, has agreed to show you around.

What a hero! Now he's up here, what have we got?

Well, it's just two rooms.

I hope the hat isn't all that remains of the last cameraman who came up here.

There is one nice feature, an original fireplace.

Who'd have thought it? Some architectural salvage in this house.

At the back of the property, the horror continues.

As you can see, it's a right old state,

what I AM seeing here is a reasonable sized garden and also potential.

On either side the properties have built a single-storey extension.

That's exactly what I would do here.

Increase the size of the kitchen and, overall, the size of the house, quite dramatically.

Without compromising too much at all.

It makes sense to do that now while the building's just a shell.

You can easily sort out the electrics and plumbing,

and incorporate an extension into the build.

Whichever way you look at it, this is a massive task.

That £20,000-£25,000 guide price

could pale into insignificance

compared with the refurbishment costs.

So what's a local estate agent's opinion?

It's been empty for some time.

It's obvious that the property's been vandalised

and suffered some fire damage.

There are similar properties on this street

in similar condition but the majority are of a reasonable standard.

Any derelict property on a street is likely to depress a house's value

and there may be a ceiling price around here.

I think once the property is renovated,

we'd be looking at somewhere in the region of 50,000-55,000.

That's this ceiling price that we've had so far on this road, in this area.

That means this isn't a property for a quick return.

But perhaps better suited to the rental market.

You could rent this property out for probably around 400 a month,

maybe 450 depending on the standard of the property once it's completed,

but certainly 400 I would have thought.

Not bad. That's where some value's to be had.

Buy this and do it up for, say, a total of 60,000

and with nearly £5,000 annual rental,

you could get a healthy 8% yield.

So, where do we go with this one?

It's clearly in a right old state

and with a ceiling price for similar properties in the area of 55 grand,

whoever does it up is going to have to be very careful not to spend too much on their budget

otherwise they will never get their money back.

Let's see who fancied the challenge at the auction.

Lot 127. It's a vacant mid-terraced house.

There's been some fire damage.

12 anywhere?

12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22?

With you, sir, at 20.

I'll take 21. 21,000? 21,000?

I've got it.

22. 23.

Nope? I'll take 500.

22,500. 23.

23,500. 24. 24,500.

25. 25,500? 26? 26,500?

27, sir. 27,500?

Nope? Up to £27,000 then.

With you, sir, at 27. Looking for another 500.

Selling to you, sir, at £27,000.

First time at 27, second time at £27,000.

It's your property, sir.

For £27,000, local man Harold bought this old shell of a property

which you can just about call a two bedroomed house.

He joined me there on what was a very special day for him.

# Happy birthday, to you, happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday.#

Harold, congratulations. This is one heck of a birthday present.

Yes, it is a birthday present.

You're obviously a man who likes a challenge.

Yes.

I do, actually, but I didn't realise how bad this was until I've bought it.

You didn't realise?

I had looked at it from the outside but looking from the outside

obviously, it's the same inside, so...

So what did you think when you walked through the door for the first time?

Not a lot. I just thought it was a complete job, rather than patch up,

we're doing the whole thing, then you know it's all new and everything will be right.

-There will be nothing patched up.

-So have you done anything like this before?

-Yes, I have, yes.

I bought a shop in Stretford, near Manchester United's ground there,

which is very similar to a property like this when I was younger.

I paid £200 for that. And I got a grant off the council to do it

and we made it a fabulous house and I made a lot of money on that one.

Also, I've got another property around the corner.

Which, again, was not as bad as this but in a similar condition which is all finished off now and looks nice.

Harold may have the skills to do this one but he's not a property developer by profession.

My trade is painting and decorating, which I've done for a long time, I still do that.

But, I've done houses up before, which I'm doing now here.

I like a challenge, if I can find a cheap house and I can do it up and make money, I will do.

In this case, I don't think I will be making money. It will be, do it up and perhaps rent it out.

Right. So why take on something in this kind of state?

I've got other labour people I use, plasterers, electricians, joiners.

They're not busy at the moment with work being like it is and it's something for them to keep going.

Harold's clearly passionate about reviving derelict properties.

He'd rather see this type of house renovated than knocked down

and his previous experience means he's not phased by the state it's in.

# When things look hopeless

# Just write me and then

# I'll put you together again. #

Where do you start with something that is so

-decimated, for want of a better word, as this place.

-Well, you take everything back to the brick.

See what's needed to be done, and then you just...

The roof's obviously gone, a new roof,

everywhere will have to be plastered, rewired, and we've got all the build on the back here to do.

Take all the back down, rebuild the top,

put an extension on the back, sort the garden out.

New doors, bathroom suite, central heating, everything.

Tell me more about the extension.

The extension's going to be a large kitchen extension which will make the dining room here

nearly twice as big, hopefully.

And we've got a nice garden at the back there.

We might put it into a garden or have car parking at the back there.

-OK.

-So, it'll be nice, and it'll be a sloping roof.

Both sides have got flat roofs, which looks OK but water can get in,

so we're going to put a sloping roof on it which will look quite nice.

-A single storey?

-A single storey, yes. The same as the two houses there, yeah.

How much do think it's going to cost to do all that work?

Well, between 20 and 25.

Harold's getting a lot for his £25,000 budget.

That's the advantage of being in the trade.

But it will still take his total spend to that £55,000 ceiling price for houses in the area

so this will only work financially as a long-term rental.

What do you think the biggest challenge is going to be?

I don't think there is one to be honest with you.

I've done it before so I don't think there is one.

There's no structural damage or anything

and I don't think there's any mining straight underneath

from what I can gather so, no, there's nothing really.

It'll all come together and be a lovely house for somebody to live in.

And if it's all nice, they should appreciate it,

and the neighbours both sides will be quite happy to see this.

I believe it's been empty for about 40 years. So, nobody seems to know who lived in it.

I thought I might find some hidden treasure. You never know. And then leave the job.

We'll see what happens.

Well, what decent birthday party would be without a treasure hunt.

I fear that in this case Harold's more likely to find rotting woodwork

and broken planks than anything of value.

This wreck of a house is going to need a fair amount of work before it's shipshape again.

Happy birthday, Harold, although I'm not sure I'd buy that as my birthday present to myself.

A heck of a challenge to take on although he seems to have the experience to make it a success.

The big question is, will he have his cake and eat it

or will he be singing, 'It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To'?

When we come back you can find out later in the show.

Well, it's a while now since we met our purchasers

and heard about their hopes and dreams for their properties.

How did they get on after we left them? Let's find out.

Back in Rainham, Kent, the family who live next door to it

bought this small plot of land for 22,000.

Bus driver, Paul, and teaching assistant, Pat,

were particularly worried about the possibility of development on it.

So for Pat, this was a must have purchase.

-I mean, for me, it didn't matter how much it cost.

-Really!

That's why I had the card.

But their "must-have" purchase was a sea of brambles and scrub.

Eight months later, how have they got on?

Well, when we first got it, it was very, very overgrown with mostly brambles.

We started off by cutting all those down and trying to get rid of as much as we could. Digging them all out.

Obviously, it hadn't been cut down for such a long time and nothing had been done with it.

There was stuff dumped in there.

Parts of cars, lots of pot plants and things.

Bricks, I think I found two Hoovers, bits of car.

It was just unbelievable. It was almost like cutting down

a rubbish tip, once you got it levelled out, anyway.

Now it's been cleared to form an extra garden and play area for the kids.

OK, well, what we've done out here is, we did originally have a really big shed here.

We've taken that down, completely opened it all up.

So that we've got this big area here, which is sort of for us.

We've also taken out part of our fence here.

We didn't want to take the whole fence down

because we do want to keep it separate,

in case we do want to sell later on.

What we have is that as the children's garden and this is now our area, sort of our garden.

This is a really sensible way of doing it.

It keeps all of their options open for any future plans for the land.

Obviously we had to secure the land so we put this fence up, which was about £700.

We've had to set it at least five metres back from the road,

because otherwise, it needed planning permission.

Which obviously leaves this area here, which in time we'll tidy up and use as off-street parking.

Initially, the main purposes of buying this were to make sure that they weren't overlooked by any

potential new development and to provide extra space for their three children.

The first time the kids came out it was really, really lovely for them.

They'd done lots of jobs to help to get it all cleared and ready for them.

When it was finished being cut down, we went around and picked

up the stones to put the swimming pool down because we didn't want it to go through.

There was a lot of rubbish, so we had to pick up all of that.

We were really glad that we finished it, because now we don't have to do any hard work.

But it's not just the children who have benefited from all their hard work.

We have lots of animals now. We were already quite animal-friendly here.

We already had our cats, we've got three cats.

We've got two guinea-pigs and one of them was pregnant,

and we got two little babies and they're called Rolo and Fudge.

And we've got another rabbit called Thumper.

In time, they'll probably come over here and it'll be nice to have our own little zoo, maybe.

Apart from turning it into a wildlife park,

do they have any long-term plans for their extended garden?

Ideally, I would like, in about eight years' time,

a developer to come and say, "We'll buy your house and the land, there's a load of money, off you go."

And then you won't have the hassles. But, I mean, there's so many options. So many options.

Paul and Pat paid 22,000 at auction to get all those options

and so far have spent just £1,000 on fencing and clearing the site.

What do two local estate agents think about the best use for the land now?

Coming here the second time, it's quite surprising to see how big this piece of land is.

Because when we came originally, there were so many brambles,

it was so overgrown that you couldn't really see how large it was.

I think the plot is a good plot. It's a very good size.

It's reasonably level, although it does slope a bit

to the front, but it wouldn't be too much of a problem for a development.

I would advise the current owners to think in terms of putting another extension on the side.

If the house they have at the moment is big enough for them,

then put another one on the side that they could develop and rent out.

They would then get a decent income which would be ideal for a pension plan or something later on for them.

Though this may be the best proposal and financially could

bring in a decent return, it would go against exactly why Paul and Pat bought the land in the first place.

I think their best option would be to see if they can get planning permission

and then, when they move, sell on the land with that attached.

A plot of this size, if you were to achieve the planning permission, and sell it on as just a plot,

I would expect a figure in the region of £60,000.

So for a few hundred pounds, if they could get planning permission,

they could make a healthy 30 to 40 grand profit.

What are their thoughts on that?

Where's the for sale sign? No, that's a joke.

We didn't buy it for that.

-It's going to remain as it is for the time...

-For the foreseeable, isn't it?

We're not planning to move so for the time being, we're happy with it just being a garden for the children.

Later on we will try to maximise the value of it if we can, because at the end of the day, we'd be silly not to.

And they're dead right. This is an asset.

Not just for now but for the future.

If all it ever is is a play area for the children, then that's no bad thing either.

Now, this is the moment when, if you're a nervous property developer, you should hide behind the couch.

It's time to return to Miles Platting in Manchester,

where there was only one thing to say about this lot.

It really is a "Hammer House of Horror"!

But little details, like no roof, floors, or windows, didn't deter

painter and decorator Harold from buying it at auction for £27,000.

He had plans to nurse it back to health and onto the market.

We gave him six months before returning to find out how he'd got on with this thrilling property.

It's like a new house now.

It was, it was just...

It was just a shell, basically.

# Back to life

# Back to reality

# Back to life

# Back to reality

# Back to the here and now, yeah... #

Wow! What a difference. After nearly four decades of darkness,

Harold has brought this property back from the brink

and was keen to show us how.

As you can see, this is where we were stood last time we filmed it and it is completely transformed now.

It's got the new kitchen extension on and it's like a new house.

All the original brick that was taken down because of having to

rebuild the rear wall has been incorporated back into the house.

Harold even found some old Yorkshire slabs which will be used as a pathway.

But while many of the original features have been removed, Harold has added some of his own.

We decided while we had the house under construction we may as well put

another staircase in and utilise the loft space.

So, we put another two bedrooms, or maybe just one bedroom, it's up to whoever buys the house or whatever

we do with the house, but it's made a big difference to the house, space wise.

It's a fantastic renovation job and Harold is very popular with the neighbours for sorting out the wreck

they've had to live next door to for almost 40 years.

Everybody in the street loves me. I don't know why!

They let on to me, even if they don't know me.

They're all sort of pleased that it's been done I think.

And also, the council now are putting gates on the back entries,

which is good, because it will make the place a bit more secure now for people.

They're pleased about that. So things are happening in the street.

Other people are starting to do things, I've started something off!

# I need a hero

# I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night... #

Still, Harold isn't doing this just for accolades. This is about making a profit.

He bought the place for 27,000.

How much more has he spent on it?

All told, it's 25,000.

That's a total of £52,000 to buy and transform this property.

There's about a month's more work to do,

but how does Harold feel about bringing this place back to life?

It gives you a buzz. You think, oh, aye. I've done that. You can see what you've done.

Some people work at a desk all day long, they do writing, accountancy, this and that.

But when you've got something, you can walk in, and every time you walk in you can say, I did that.

# Back to life

# Back to reality

# Back to the here and now... #

It's certainly a legacy, but will it be a profitable one?

Harold bought this "Hammer House of Horror" at auction for 27,000

and spent 25,000 on turning it into a desirable home.

What will two local estate agents think of it?

Very, very nice. Refurbished to a high standard.

Kitchen and bathrooms are excellent.

And he's added a little bit of extra space with the loft and playroom.

I think the property is good throughout.

It's certainly one of the best examples I've seen

on this particular street and would suit either a rental market

or potentially a first-time buyer, a younger family.

Rentals are doing well. The terraces are probably doing better

than the three-bed semis or four-bed detached.

So very, very good, can't complain.

With a good rental return in the area,

what could Harold get if he planned to hold on to it for a while?

I would rent this property out for approximately £425 per calendar month.

I would rent this, per calendar month, in the region of £450.

This house has cost a total of £52,000 to buy and renovate.

What do two local estate agents think it'll be worth once finished?

At the moment, on this market, I would value the property at £70,000.

I would put this property on the market for 74,950 with a view of achieving offers around £70,000.

Yeah. Sounds OK. We'll look for a little bit more.

I think we'll rent out for a year and see how the market goes and then put it on the market then.

Because the market's moving at the moment, so, yeah.

Perhaps it's not quite as much as Harold was hoping,

but he's made a profit and he has also certainly rescued this property and helped improve the area.

It makes you feel good that somebody can live in it and the council get some money

and it is getting rid of dereliction in the area,

which people need to do, because the area is coming up all the time

and it's a good area now. So yeah, I'm pleased.

That's all we have time for today, make sure you join us next time for more Homes Under the Hammer.

-We'll see you then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

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