Episode 14 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello! With the property market more uncertain than it used to be,

everybody has to make their own decisions.

You have to do your research and trust your instincts.

One way to gauge how the market is performing is to see for yourself

and one way to do that is to visit your local auction.

There's a huge amount of property up for auction.

Thousands of lots go up for sale every month all around the country.

Why not nip down to your local auction house and see what's on offer?

Meanwhile, here are the properties we've found for you on today's show.

I step back five decades at this property in Nottingham.

This really gives the '50s away!

A serving hatch to the kitchen.

In London, I'm learning a thing or two at this mid-terraced property.

I think they call this the kitchen. Goodness gracious!

And I've gone for a stroll in the country in Yorkshire.

Kicking through the leaves on an autumn day in a British woodland.

Doesn't get much better!

All these properties were sold at auction.

We found out who bought them and for how much when they went under the hammer.

This is Sandiacre, ten miles west of Nottingham

and nine miles from Derby.

Back in the late 1800s, Sandiacre was very much an industrial town

with its own ironworks and lace mill.

The canal here would have been used to transport all sorts of industrial things, from coal to china.

Now it's been restored, and very pleasant it is, too,

with a cycle path and a place for recreation.

The good news is that the property I'm here to see is very close by.

# Down by the old mill stream

# Where I first met you... #

But the cycle path and peaceful canals aren't the only transport links in Sandiacre.

There's also easy access to the A52 and nearby M1.

The property I'm here to see

hasn't been sold since it was first constructed, until now, that is.

See if you can guess which year it was built in.

It was the year that the EEC was founded,

Elvis Presley had joined the army,

Madonna and Michael Jackson were both born,

Khrushchev became president of the Soviet Union,

Brazil won the World Cup and Bridge On The River Kwai won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Well, pop-pickers, what year was it?

1958. Let's take a look inside.

At a guide price of just 110,000, it certainly got my interest.

So, what have we got? OK. A large entrance way here.

We like that. Leading through to the kitchen. Stairs to the bedrooms

and a downstairs loo.

No, it's a cupboard. Oh, well, great to have storage space.

And straightaway not feeling that much like a '50s house,

certainly one that hasn't been touched. It's had work done and that's nice.

Double glazing, a bay window. We like that. Light coming in, you can see the garden.

Then this really gives the '50s away.

A serving hatch to the kitchen. Do you keep it or get rid of it?

Jury's out.

If you peer into the kitchen, you'll discover it's a few decades on from the 1950s.

But still in desperate need of modernising.

You could consider knocking down that wall completely

and opening it right up into an open-plan kitchen and living room.

However, that would involve the cost of having to put in supporting beams.

Up the pine-cladding-covered stairs.

A throwback to the '70s, not the '50s. Three bedrooms.

One single, two good-sized doubles

and a separate loo and bathroom there.

Age-old debate, do you knock the two together? In a family house, I maintain keep the bathroom separate.

All in all, not in a bad state. Even if you just look at tarting this place up,

things like the ceiling tiles need to come off that ceiling.

It's got a nasty bow in it. That needs sorting.

Don't underestimate the effort it'll take to get this into a nice state.

Not massive, but it'll take a few weeks and a few thousand quid.

If you wanted to spend even more money on this property,

there's scope for an even bigger development at the back.

Out to the rear of the property through these lovely big patio doors.

While I'm out here, something else I might consider doing here

is adding an extension, as next door have done. A double-storey extension.

It may not be that complicated to put one on here.

You can do it under something called permitted development. You don't always need planning permission.

But you need building regulations.

It comes down to how big the extension is,

how close it is to neighbouring properties at the side and back.

All the latest details are on the various planning websites.

Look at the figures and see if it's worthwhile.

So loads of potential at this house.

I asked along a local property expert to tell me her thoughts.

The property obviously needs general modernisation.

It looks like the previous owners have lived here quite a while and not updated it recently.

It definitely needs a new kitchen, new bathroom.

It would be great to make a big family dining kitchen at the back.

It needs general modernisation throughout.

Would it be a good idea to extend it at the back?

A couple of neighbouring properties have done double-storey extensions

which would make the property more appealing

definitely to the family market and because of where we're located.

You could make a bigger bedroom, bigger bathroom, family kitchen at the back.

There's a garage here, but the driveway is tight, so I'd remove the garage and make a bigger garden.

Remember, this property had a guide price of 110,000.

Once it's been renovated, how much could it resell for?

I would say in the region of about £160,000.

If you were to do the extension, a double-storey extension,

you'd probably get in the region of about 180, £185,000.

What if the purchaser decided to rent it out?

In terms of value, you could get about £595 per calendar month.

I'm sure it would be taken very quickly.

What is there not to like about this house?

50 years after it was built, it still is a wonderful family home.

Needs a bit of sorting out, a bit of money spent on it,

and it would make a great family home

or possibly an investment property as long as you keep a tight rein on the budget.

Let's see who got excited by it at the auction.

How much can I say for this? 105,000?

Thank you. £105,000. Starting bid.

At 106. 106.

107. 107.

108 I've got.

108. 109.

110 is bid. 110. And 11.

12.

113. 114.

114. 115?

At £114,000.

50. 115?

115,000. 16.

116. 116.

17?

£116,000.

It's in the market. 117. 118.

118. It's going to get sold. 118. 119.

120.

120.

21?

Still not dear. £120,000.

121. 22.

122. 23?

23, quickly? 123.

124.

25.

26.

126.

27?

£126,000. 127 somewhere else?

At £126,000, then, it goes. For the first time. 27.

128.

128. 129?

129.

130.

130. And one?

No? £130,000 for the first,

second, third and last...

All done? Second thoughts?

Sold at 130. Thank you.

All that persistence paid off.

It was Ian who made that successful bid of 130,000.

Ian's an electrician from Nottingham, where he runs his own company.

This is his third property investment

and I caught up with him to find out his plans for it.

-Ian, congratulations.

-Thank you.

Good house. Why did you want to buy it?

Mainly because I just like the area.

And it was at the right guide price.

So it was just the one that suited me, really.

-Why have you bought it?

-Well, with the present climate,

it's nice to have a job that we can drop on to.

I've got mine own business

and when we haven't got work, we can drop onto these, do them up and hopefully make a bit of profit.

-How many people do you have working for you?

-Four.

Right. Was the danger that you didn't have enough to keep them on?

It's very easy to go through the work very quickly.

Before you know it, if you've got a few weeks spare, it's not ideal for the guys at home.

So at least this way, we've got a continuity of work.

-What are you going to do to this place?

-Hopefully we're going to turn it round in eight to ten weeks.

We're going to take out this wall and open out the kitchen

to make a kitchen/diner.

Put a wall in to divide the diner and the lounge as it is now,

and make that one room.

Hopefully put a downstairs toilet in.

Where will that go?

Ideally, it'll go under the staircase.

If not, we'll make a bit of room at the front and put it in the downstairs cupboard.

Upstairs is going to have the bathroom knocked into one

so the toilet becomes part of the bathroom, as opposed to separate.

The bedrooms will just be cleaned up, painted,

new carpets and pretty straightforward.

Ian's budgeted between 18 and £20,000 for all the work.

It sounds quite a lot, but then again, he's a man with high standards.

We're probably a bit higher spec than would normally be done.

Cos there's so many properties on the market,

preferably ours is the best and then somebody's going to buy it.

-#

-You're simply the best

-#

-Better than all the rest...

-#

Definitely cost a little bit more. The profit, obviously, isn't as good,

but the saleability is a lot better.

So you haven't got the worry of leaving something on the market for a long time

which is a lot more important than making a huge profit.

-It's about cash flow?

-Yeah, definitely.

-What happens if other jobs come in in the meantime?

-If other jobs come in, we will leave this

and go and do them so this goes on the back burner.

The other work does come first.

-Congratulations. Well done.

-Thank you.

-Look forward to seeing it.

People buy properties for all sorts of different reasons.

In this case, it's to keep Ian's business ticking over and his staff employed.

But he really needs to keep a tight track on that budget

as there isn't a lot to be made here.

Will he keep on track, on time and on budget?

Find out later in the show.

If you're like me and you're tuned in to the property grapevine,

you'll know that house prices in the capital have been rising steadily

for the last four months, which is great news for homeowners everywhere.

Today, I'm in Greenwich, and despite that steady rise

prices are still 15% below what they were 12 months ago.

But things are certainly looking up and there's still bargains to be had.

The average price for a terraced property around here is approximately 250,000.

That seems pretty good value for an area with great links to the West End and Canary Wharf

and with many impressive examples of listed buildings and exquisite architecture.

So with your average house at around a quarter of a million on the open market,

what's the price of a mid-terraced house converted into two flats

in this fashionable corner of the capital at auction, you may wonder.

We're talking around £185,000-plus, and that's as a starting guide price.

Now that is a real bargain.

The outside is promising. I can't wait to get inside.

What I love about Victorian houses is the character they have.

They usually ooze so much charm.

But you can see straightaway this house has been the victim

of an unsympathetic conversion.

It would have been two flats, but I know it's being sold at auction as one dwelling.

And it's in a bit of a state!

Through here is a reception room. A good size, lovely bay window,

but no beautiful fireplace, no deep coving, no lovely lampshades. It's not looking that good to me.

We've got a middle room here, a second reception room.

You could think about knocking through to create a larger space,

because that would allow the light to flood through.

There's this rather dark and dingy corridor leading to - do you know what - I think this is the kitchen!

Goodness gracious!

This is all going to have to be ripped out.

Whoever takes this on, it's not for the faint-hearted.

Money will have to be spent here.

It's not really a good start.

This used to be a single property, so has just one front door,

although the housing association did make it into two flats.

So whether it's to stay as two flats or be restored back to a family home,

some major changes need to happen.

The loo on the ground floor should be moved into the main body of the house.

At the moment, you need to go out through here to get to it.

So at the back of the property you've got this large room

which is currently housing a shower and a sink!

But over here there's a big crack.

See here there's damp coming in from next door

and it's still quite wet to the touch.

I imagine this has been here for some time and you can see that dry rot has set in.

Not good signs. Dry rot is the most serious type of timber decay.

It's a fungus that spreads and spreads fast.

These floorboards wouldn't have been treated because I know they're the original ones.

All this needs to be chopped out and replaced.

This is a major repair job.

Fingers crossed things improve upstairs.

There's lots of space,

though again, the rooms need to be juggled around.

I'd create a separate bathroom rather than the en-suite that exists.

And if it were to stay as two flats, it would need a new kitchen up here as well as downstairs.

I reckon you'd save more money and time converting it back to a family home.

The returns on that may not be quite as exciting,

but returning this to its former glory would greatly reduce the amount you'd need to spend.

Time to find out what a local estate agent thinks.

This property is quite unusual because it was originally one Victorian house

with a scullery downstairs.

At some point, somebody's split it - unprofessionally, not properly -

split it into two dwelling houses, probably to rent out.

It is uncommon. Most people would split them properly

but most of these houses this size would stay as a house.

It's not big enough to be two flats.

Sounds like he agrees with me.

But he's spotted an important detail that may put families off.

We're in a typical Victorian, what I would say, worker's house.

We're close to London, in Greenwich, so you get a great location but not much outside space.

This house shows that. It's a very small, unusual, "dog-leg" garden, not even a square.

It's L-shaped. It's a house you buy for the location, not for the outside space.

With a guide price of 185,000, what could it be worth if renovated back to a single dwelling?

Once the property's been done up to a good standard, and done nicely,

we're looking at a value price, on the market, of about £400,000.

So there's definitely profit to be made.

-What about rental opportunities?

-Rent per calendar month

for a three-bed property along this road is around 1,500 per calendar month.

So a great-looking property and a steal at £185,000 as a starting guide price.

But restore this back into a beautiful family home

and inject some of that old character

with some lovely original features

and it could be a winner in my book.

Let's see who had the vision to take this on when it went under the hammer.

Who'd like to start on this? We're not going to go below 150. 150.

160. 170. 180.

190. 200.

210. 220.

230. 240.

250. 260.

270. 280.

290. 290. 291.

If not, 290 down here.

291. Anywhere else?

291. Well done. 292.

293. 294.

295?

Well done.

296.

297?

297?

298.

299. Anywhere else?

If not... 299.

Round it off to 300?

301?

One more go?

You know, those sort of... 301.

302?

It's not. 303?

303?

Have a think. 302 down with you.

303? Bet someone else comes in now.

302, down here.

Anyone else? 302. First time,

second time. Third and last time.

You crafty what's-it! 303!

I'm sorry. It's his first bid.

304?

Yeah? 305?

306.

307.

Sure?

Dead sure? 306.

First time. Second time. Third...

307.

308. 309?

I only do it once.

308.

First time, second time, third and last time. All done?

Sold, 308. Well done, madam. Well done. You got there.

Finally, for £308,000, 123,000 over the guide price,

the new owners of the Victorian terrace

are Danielle and Michael.

They bought it not as an investment but as their new home.

It's the perfect property for them,

just across the river from where they work in the investment banking sector at Canary Wharf.

Guys, that was an interesting auction, I have to say.

You sighed the biggest sigh of relief ever, once you got the property.

I know. I was just dying for that hammer to hit.

I kept saying, "Hit the hammer! Hit the hammer!"

So I was completely relieved when it finally happened.

So you've got this property. It's great news for you both.

How do you feel now? Now you own it and now you've got to start spending money.

It needs a lot of work.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Are you slightly nervous of that?

-Yes.

So where are you going to start, Michael, with the work?

We've got an architect lined up so we'll get some plans drawn out

and then get a builder in to do all the building work.

Get the flooring done, get the kitchen and bathroom in.

Then we'll come in and decorate.

OK, it all sounds easy. The list is there. Let's talk about the hardcore stuff.

I've noticed, Danielle, you've got a lot of dry rot, a big problem at the back of the property downstairs.

Tell me what's going on there.

OK. We think that there's a leak coming through from the house next door.

It does look quite damp still and we think it's been going for quite a long time

because it's turned into dry rot.

We didn't really inspect it that closely prior to the auction

so that is a bit of a surprise.

So we are quite concerned that there is quite a lot of work

and maybe the whole joists, everything will need to be replaced.

I've also seen a bit of a crack down the side there.

Do you think there's been any chance of movement, Michael?

Potentially. I think if the leak's been there for longer, the wall could have subsided in the corner.

-But we'll just put a bit of concrete under it!

-So you may need to underpin that area.

Yeah. I think so.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with auction properties,

Danielle and Michael just didn't have time to get a structural survey done.

That could prove unfortunate.

Although they have a budget of £80,000,

once you start renovations, you never know what may be uncovered.

Michael doesn't think there's anything here they can't tackle.

-We'll have it up and ready and sorted within a few months.

-He's always confident!

Danielle, how do you feel? Michael's really confident about this.

For me I think it's huge and it's a really big house

compared to what we've been living in in the past.

Michael's always the confident one, thinking we can get things done quicker!

The couple hope to have the house ready to move into within six months,

so they have a busy time ahead.

We're definitely going to knock through one of the walls downstairs

and hopefully open up right across the back wall

so there's glass doors all the way along.

Being from Australia, I want to incorporate that indoor/outdoor feel,

and go into the garden and have that sense of lightness coming in.

Big plans for downstairs.

Upstairs there'll be three bedrooms and a family bathroom.

Danielle also plans to scour salvage yards

for Victorian fireplaces, cornices, skirting boards and flooring

to bring the original grandeur back into their new home.

She can't wait to get started.

I've always wanted to do something like this

and I can't believe it's finally happening. It's amazing!

-Are you really excited?

-Really excited.

Danielle and Michael have a lot of hard work ahead

and in a short space of time.

Sadly, they didn't really do their homework.

Had they had a survey done, they would have spotted that trouble down there.

Will they sort it out? Find out what happens later in the programme.

Coming up: I'm in Yorkshire

where there's a bit of work to do!

This is a character property.

But it's going to take a lot of effort to sort it out.

Has it all been plain sailing for the renovation of this property in London?

We did have a lot of problems with the builders. They didn't meet our expectations.

But first we return to Nottingham to see if that wall has come tumbling down in this three-bed house.

Now it's back to Sandiacre where this 1950s three-bed detached house

sold at auction for 130,000.

It was bought by electrician Ian.

So why have you bought it?

In the present climate, it's nice to have a job that we can drop on to.

I've got my own business. When we haven't got work, we can drop on to these,

do them up and hopefully make a bit of profit.

Four months later, we caught up with him

to see how busy he's kept his team.

The main thing that's happened to the house since you were here

is that we've opened out the wall between the toilet and the bathroom

and open-planned it.

The new bathroom is stylish and bright.

He's managed to squeeze in a shower as well as a bath.

And, true to his word,

instead of that old cupboard downstairs,

he's also got a second loo in the house.

But the most notable transformation has been in the kitchen.

The original kitchen was in quite a poor state.

We decided to rip the whole thing out, a full rewire,

new plumbing, integrated appliances,

fridge-freezer, washing machine,

and basically a nice clean white gloss finish.

Remember that old serving hatch?

Well, that's gone, as has the wall,

and he's created an open-plan dining space looking onto the garden.

The rest of the house has been completely rewired,

redecorated, re-carpeted, and central heating has been installed.

So far, so good.

But did Ian and his team hit any problems?

The biggest challenge here was probably dividing the kitchen up,

taking out the main wall and putting in an RSJ and supporting floor in.

Apart from that, everything else was fairly straightforward.

So far, then, this has all been pretty straightforward for Ian.

But did he go over his original budget of 18 to 20,000?

We've actually spent just short of 18,000

but that doesn't include the fees, so it's just short of 20,000 including the stamp duty

and any other fees.

You know, water, utility bills and things like that.

So yeah, we were pretty accurate.

Because of other work commitments,

his team completed the work over 16 weeks rather than the ten he'd hoped for.

The whole idea behind buying this property was to keep his employees busy in between projects.

So what's the plan now?

Ideally, I'd like to sell it.

If I don't get the offer that we want,

then I'll perhaps think about renting it.

What kind of figure could he sell it for?

Ian bought the house for 130,000

and has spent £20,000 on the renovation including all fees and expenses.

That's a total investment of £150,000.

Time to get the opinions of two local estate agents.

I think the current owner has done a really good job.

Decoration-wise, definitely a huge improvement.

He's made an older property, given it a modern twist.

They've obviously done quite a lot of improving to it.

They've concentrated on the two main rooms, the kitchen and bathroom.

Personally, I would have put a fireplace in the lounge

because it's quite a featureless room without one.

I think the bedrooms are good sizes.

They're neutral decoration so they'll appeal to a broad market.

The downstairs layout is very good.

I like the idea of the dining room being part of the kitchen.

It's perfect for families and entertaining.

That's how most people prefer these house layouts these days.

Is there a good market for this type of house around here?

If this was put up for rent, it would rent very well.

The area is very good, there are good local schools

and the road links here are fantastic.

So it wouldn't take long to find a tenant.

What could Ian charge a tenant if he did rent it out?

If you were to let the property, you could achieve in the region of £625 per calendar month.

I'd expect this property to rent for round about £700 per calendar month.

700? Oh, that's pretty good. I'm quite impressed with that.

I don't think I'd like to go down the rental road,

but if that was the case, that would be quite reasonable.

Ian's hoping for a quick resale.

So what could he get? Remember, his total outlay here is 150,000.

The property could achieve between £170,000 and 175,000.

I'd expect this house to sell in this market

for between 165 and £170,000.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was expecting.

So yeah, we should get a little bit of profit out of that.

That's a potential profit of between 15 and £25,000

before tax and the usual selling expenses.

How does he feel about his third property developing project?

Overall, this project's been a success, I think.

So yeah, move on to the next one.

Ah, kicking through the leaves on an autumn day in a British woodland.

Doesn't get much better.

Imagine having this on your doorstep.

Even better, imagine having almost three acres of your own land,

surrounding outbuildings and a stone-built house.

All for a guide price of 230,000 quid.

Ooh, I'm interested!

What a position. It's like some kind of fairytale house

in the middle of a magical woodland.

But it's definitely made out of stone, not gingerbread,

slate, not liquorice,

and that shattered glass, sadly, is not rice paper.

No candy here, I'm afraid,

just a very sweet setting in Meanwood, a suburb of Leeds.

OK, so this is the main farm building.

Three bedrooms and bucket-loads of character.

Not much light, though, partly due to the security grilles on the windows.

I think there's been some fire damage.

Look at these beams, the old fireplace,

a nice-sized space, as well.

Thick walls. I mean, this is a character property.

But it's going to take a lot of effort to sort it out.

It's in the second reception room that you see the full extent of the fire damage

caused by vandalism when the house was lying empty.

And the kitchen is, well, basic to say the least.

Upstairs, it's more of the same, really.

A real hotch-potch.

The bones are here, but the layout feels all wrong.

Not only do you get the house and the land,

you also get a load of outbuildings.

Now, they are in a fairly decrepit state, as you can see.

At the moment you could only use them for storing a horse or equipment or whatever.

But if you could get planning permission to convert these for residential use,

can you see a courtyard here, maybe some mews houses around the edge.

Now it's starting to turn into a really interesting development project.

Now, it would obviously change the total feel of this house,

but if you're a developer, wow, suddenly it's a very interesting opportunity.

This development could turn into a lucrative proposition.

If I were the new owner, I'd be taking a bagful of coins

down to that wishing well and willing my dreams to come true.

Once developed, this could be something special.

The garden immediately surrounding the house is indeed lovely.

But before you get too excited, there is one small problem.

Sitting out here on a lovely summer's evening,

you'd have to cope with the continual noise

from the adjoining dual carriageway!

BUSTLE OF TRAFFIC

Shame!

Having one of the main ringroads around Leeds at the back of the property is hardly ideal.

Good transport links, though!

What does a local estate agent think of it?

The actual house itself is in quite a bad state of repair.

I'd estimate it would probably need about 150,000 spending on it, just to get it habitable.

Then there's all the outbuildings. The barn could possibly be converted into a house,

subject to planning permission,

but they may have a problem with Highways because of the access from the ringroad.

A headache, but it isn't insurmountable.

Ideally, in a situation like this,

I'd advise talking to the highways department before the auction to see where you stand.

The road is obviously quite busy. It is a ringroad.

But the house is fairly well elevated from the road

so hopefully it won't cause too many problems, but it could put some people off.

If the road doesn't deter a buyer,

how much could the farmhouse be sold for, once renovated?

The house would be worth around 500,000.

If planning permission is obtained to convert the barn into another dwelling,

that would be worth in the region of between 750 and £800,000.

So, totally developed, this site could be worth in excess of 1.2 million,

making that £230,000 guide price seem a real bargain.

Well, it's a lot of property and a lot of land for the money.

But it's going to take somebody with a considerable amount of imagination

and very deep pockets

to sort this place out.

Still, I'm sure it's one that got them very excited in the auction room. Let's find out.

What shall we say? Guide price 230? Someone start me at 230.

230 I have. 235, then, I'll take.

235. Thank you, sir. 240, then?

240. 245.

245. And 250.

I'll take yours, madam. 250.

255, sir? 255. 260?

No? Shakes her head.

257?

257, she's back in. 260, then, sir?

260. 262.

264. 266.

266. 268?

268. And 270.

270 back in. 272, sir?

272. 274?

274, he's coming back.

276. Still going strong. 278.

280? 282?

282, if you will.

Conferring.

£282,000. 282.

284. 86?

284...

286.

288.

290?

290. 290.

292?

Yes? 292.

294, then?

Still going strong. £292,000. No, he's shaking his head.

Could well be yours, sir, at £292,000.

294 anywhere else?

Selling then. First time. £292,000.

Second.

Third and final time if you're all done.

Thank you, sir. Well done.

For £292,000,

the new owner is Eric.

He's originally from Poland and owns an interior design company.

He plans to make the property his new family home

with his wife, Elena, his son and his wife,

along with their three children.

I went to meet him at the farmhouse to hear about the plans.

-Eric, lovely to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations!

Hmm, on my problems?

-On your problems, you say?

-Forthcoming!

Forthcoming problems! So, why did you want to buy this place?

I drive past this building every day

and I didn't know this was here until I saw a sign for the auction.

So I was interested

and once we'd seen it, I knew that was the plot that I wanted.

Eric moved to the UK over 50 years ago and lives just a mile from the farm.

But when he built a house for himself and his wife on his garden plot

to give the former family home to his son,

he missed the outside space. So it was the garden here that really enchanted him.

So the garden obviously is the key to this for you?

-That's the essence of it, yes.

-Wow.

-It's a lot of money to spend on a garden!

-Well...

It is, but it is not intended to be a development

for the purpose of making money.

It is the lifestyle. I had a lot of stresses because I had to learn English initially and all that.

Controls different stresses.

I go in the garden and I'm totally relaxed. I forget everything.

Never mind psychologists! Go in the garden! It's cheaper and it's much more enjoyable.

I think you're very right. Absolutely.

Let's hope Eric's got green fingers

because this will end up being a lot of garden once he clears the site.

I was, up until recently, the chairman of a small interiors company.

I'm now withdrawing gradually and hopefully at the end of this month

I shall formally retire and my son and daughter will take over the business.

-How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

-I'm 68.

-OK.

-So this is a new venture for me.

This is quite some retirement hobby.

Eric plans to maintain as many of the original features as possible

in the main building and move in along with his wife.

Subject to planning permission, he'd convert the outbuildings for his son's family to live in.

Eric's budget is £100,000

and he knows that realistically, they won't be moving in for at least a year.

-Are you excited about moving here?

-I am very excited.

So is my wife, which is surprising!

She's a bit wary,

-but we've been for 41 years together, so...

-Yeah.

She'll put up with a draughty, spider-filled, dusty...

Never mind draughty! She's had to put up for 41 years with me! What's a little draught to do with it?

I guess after being married for 41 years,

Eric's wife will have experienced a few things!

So what's a small draught?

There is something that could cause a bigger headache, though.

The only downside, I guess, to me, is the road, which is a bit noisy. Does that bother you?

We can't have everything. You have 100-year-old trees,

a lovely piece of land, a reasonably historic building,

what more do you want? All right, you have to raise your voice from time to time.

But I already have a loud voice!

I'm delighted you got this place

-because you're clearly made for each other, aren't you?

-We'll see!

Well, this auction lot was always going to be bought by somebody with a passion

and Eric certainly has that.

Although not necessarily for the house, for the garden!

Anyway, it's going to be a family project, lots of work to do

and lots of problems to uncover.

Find out how Eric and his family get on later in the show.

Well, time and tide wait for no man. The weeks and months have passed.

How have our buyers got on with their DIY efforts?

The work should have been done, but you never know!

-Shall we go back and find out?

-Let's do it.

We're back in Greenwich, where earlier we met Danielle and Michael.

They paid £308,000,

123,000 over the guide price for this mid-terrace house

converted into two flats.

Their plan was to turn it back to a single dwelling

and make it their home in just six months.

Despite damp issues and a major room reconfiguration,

Michael was confident things would all go to plan.

-We'll have it ready and sorted in a few months.

-He's always confident!

-Danielle, how do you feel? Michael's really confident.

-For me, I think it's huge

and it's a really big house compared to what we've been living in in the past.

so Michael's always confident, thinking we can get things done quicker.

Well, one year has passed and we're back to see if Michael's confidence has paid off.

You'd never guess this gorgeous family home

was once two flats.

They've managed to achieve a light and airy open-plan feel

whilst still maintaining the overall integrity of the house.

Fireplaces have been reinstated and fantastic bi-folding doors have been added

to the brand-new breakfast room,

really allowing the couple to enjoy their outside space.

The upstairs now has a gorgeous master bedroom

while the huge room at the back which had that lovely green shower room,

has been divided into a bathroom at the back...

..and a spacious second bedroom to the front.

What was the kitchen in the second flat is now a pretty pink nursery

belonging to four-month-old Siena who was a happy surprise for the couple!

It's wonderful. It's great. It's more than I would have imagined a year ago.

It was a bit of a shock and a bit of a worry.

However, we did think that we would have the house in a good liveable state

before she arrived.

But as it turned out, we were still rushing

to get carpet laid, walls painted,

and the kitchen fitted before she arrived!

-We only just did it, didn't we?

-Only just did it, yes.

So all in all, it's been a pretty hectic 12 months for Danielle and Michael.

And Siena's arrival wasn't the only change in plans.

We did have a lot of problems with the builders.

They didn't meet our expectations.

And in the end, we had to find other builders to get us through.

The biggest rush was because of Siena arriving.

So we just had to look elsewhere.

The biggest mistake we made was not getting dates from our builders.

We ended up paying over the odds for labour that kept extending on and on and on.

As Michael suspected, the entire ground floor was completely rotten and had to be ripped up.

In fact, that wasn't a huge hindrance

as a massive RSJ had to be fitted to support the load-bearing walls

in the new open-plan downstairs.

The beams were so heavy

it meant excavating down three metres to increase the depth of the footings.

Thankfully, the damp issue in the back room was minor by comparison.

We had a specialist come in, a damp specialist,

who came and did some tests on the wall.

He said it's definitely coming from the other side,

so we spoke to the neighbour, they had a look at it and they re-routed a water pipe

which was going through the cement slab. That fixed it straight away.

It just dried up within weeks, didn't it?

So it was a nice easy fix.

Well, at least something went according to plan for them.

It took an extra six months on top of the six they'd hoped

and nearer 95,000 than 80,000 to do the work.

But Michael's still pleased with their investment.

From looking at some houses that have come up for sale on the street,

I think we did quite well and got it for a really good price.

Danielle and Michael paid £308,000 for the property

and spent a further £95,000 making it into their family home.

That makes a total outlay of just over £400,000

plus legal expenses.

Let's see if two local agents think it was a good buy.

Amazing. Very surprised when I came in

because a lot of people,

especially to these smaller Victorian houses, they open up all the rooms, all open plan,

and you lose a lot of the integrity of the house.

Here, they've done that but kept the separation of the different areas

and it looks fantastic. When you walk around, it feels really big.

It's an ideal purchase in what is actually a very good street locally.

It's close to the dome, close to the river,

and the regeneration going on in the local area is phenomenal.

It's a very good investment.

So how does all this praise translate to value?

In the current market, we'd look to sell this around the £450,000 mark.

My opinion of the value of this property, considering what we've sold locally and what's available,

would be £455,000.

That's a potential profit of over 40,000.

Hopefully, that makes up for some of the stress of the past 12 months.

Yeah, definitely do it again. Make a few changes,

like try not to live in the property while we were doing a lot of the work.

But it's definitely been worthwhile.

Yeah, we'd definitely buy at auction again, I think.

I think they've done a fantastic job.

I'm sure they won't be in a rush to move on from here.

No, it's really good. It's cosy and it's warm

and now it really, really does feel like home.

Earlier in the show, we met Eric

who had just bought this derelict farmhouse

set in nearly three acres of land, at auction for £292,000.

£62,000 over the guide price.

Not only was he planning to renovate the farmhouse for his wife and himself to live in,

but also to convert the existing barn into a home for his son and his family.

But it wasn't the building that was exciting Eric,

it was all about the land and the potential for an amazing garden.

I go in the garden, I'm totally relaxed.

I forget everything. Never mind psychologists!

Go in the garden! It's cheaper and it's much more enjoyable.

I think you're very right. Absolutely.

As he was undertaking such a huge project,

Eric didn't impose a strict timescale,

but hoped to have the farmhouse in a habitable state within 18 months.

Well, it's now almost two years to the day since we were last here.

Oh. Has anything changed?

Very little as far as the buildings are concerned,

due to planning regulations et cetera.

But as far as the garden's concerned, I've built a successful vegetable patch.

Well, it's a bit more than a mere vegetable patch.

Eric has created a little haven

and it's clearly his pride and joy.

# I'm gonna live where the green grass grows

# Watching my corn pop up in rows

# Every night... #

Well, in here you've got the four beds

for my grandchildren.

And the first one, that's Ollie's.

He presented me with his first courgette, and he was so proud

that Granddad could have a courgette.

Ollie, Raffie, Harry and Louis

have all been helping out whenever they can.

It's been quite hard work because it means a lot of digging and moving tons of soil.

But actually it's very enjoyable, so it doesn't matter.

So things are definitely progressing in the garden.

But this is Homes Under The Hammer, so what about the property?

Well, Eric has had plans drawn up but has not yet shown them to the council.

He estimates it would cost him £25,000 to submit them

so understandably, he doesn't want to go ahead

until he's sure they will be approved.

Eric's discovered the farmhouse is 18th-century

and Grade II listed by English Heritage.

All the buildings on this plot fall under this listing.

He's more likely to get planning permission for the farmhouse.

He wants to restore it sympathetically and add a link extension

with disabled access for his wife, making one-level living possible.

As for the outbuildings, Eric thinks they're beyond repair.

Even though they are listed, too,

he wants to demolish them and build an ultra-modern eco-friendly house for his son and daughter-in-law

with underground parking to reduce its footprint and impact on the land.

It is purposefully designed to be a family house.

It is not designed to be ultra flashy

because it's in a nice surrounding and I want it to blend.

Even the roof lines and the roof angles are lowered

so that we blend in with the rest of the structures, the existing structures.

It will certainly have a wow factor

with a swimming pool, and a balcony in the master bedroom for enjoying those fantastic views.

But being listed isn't Eric's only hurdle.

He's also discovered the building is on a green belt site

and guidelines stipulate that anything new must be of an exceptional standard.

The problem with the "exceptional" description, I don't know what that is.

Because I don't do any rubbish. I only build quality.

I would only build quality for my family.

But what is "exceptional" quality to the planners, I don't know.

It won't be easy getting planning permission for a listed building on a green belt site

with access problems from a busy main road.

Let's see if two local estate agents agree.

Eric paid £292,000 for the farm two years ago.

He's since spent about £22,000 on the garden

and having architect's plans drawn up.

So has it been worth it?

I think the designs are fabulous if he can get them passed.

I think to actually get planning passed, in the easiest manner possible,

I would drop the plans for the barn,

keep the current property, renovate it and maybe add to it.

Apart from the noise from the road,

the access is quite bad.

The planners will find it very difficult

to allow another dwelling to be built.

The farmhouse is existing so they will allow that usually to be refurbished

but the barn could cause a problem.

It's certainly not straightforward and I wouldn't blame Eric if he sold up as things stood.

He's already forked out £314,000.

I think in its current state,

it's probably in the region of £250,000.

As it stands now, in the region of £300,000.

If the first valuation was correct,

it means I've lost quite a lot of money.

But it was never about the money.

There's no chance of Eric giving up now.

But if he gets planning permission, this would be quite a costly project

for him to project manage.

He estimates the farmhouse renovation with extension

will cost him around £150,000.

Whilst the barn would cost a minimum of £400,000.

Added to the £314,000 he's spent so far,

plus the £25,000 he needs to submit the plans,

that's a projected total spend of £889,000.

So, if everything goes ahead as planned,

what could it all be worth?

The farmhouse, if fully renovated, we assess the value to be in the region of £500,000, possibly more.

The barn, subject to getting the planning permission,

we would estimate to be a minimum of £750,000

and possibly up to one million pounds.

Impressive figures. But there's also an opinion that if both buildings were developed,

the farmhouse value could be significantly less as it would now have close neighbours

and the barn would take the majority of the land.

If they got the planning based on the drawings that I've seen,

I'd think the farmhouse is worth in the region of £300,000

and the barn in the region of £800,000.

These valuations of over one million for both properties

could see Eric with a potential pre-tax profit in the future

of between 211 and £611,000.

These figures are very speculative

but what does he think?

They're values. Some of them are astronomical million values.

They're just values. They have so little value to me.

Monetarily, they're of interest.

Because I don't intend to sell it. I intend to develop and my family to live in there.

Most probably, they'd be of interest to my children

or maybe grandchildren.

Eric's designs are adventurous and very well thought through.

If the planners and conservationists consider them to be exceptional,

he may get the permission he wants.

I intend to do it and it will be exceptional in my eyes.

Whether it's in the planners', I don't know.

But I will submit the plans at the end of this year or beginning of next year,

formal, with all the necessary application,

with professional backing. We'll see what happens!

Well, Eric has passion by the bucket-load

and optimism to go with it when it comes to his plans.

He's an inspiration and I really hope his dreams come to fruition.

We'll have lots more auction properties to show you next time.

-Join us then to find out what happens when that hammer comes crashing down!

-Join us then!

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