Episode 61 Homes Under the Hammer

Have you ever considered buying a property at auction

but just don't know where to start?

Well, perhaps we can show you some tricks of the trade.

Join us now, as we follow some brave buyers,

who bought their homes under the hammer.

Auction houses aren't intimidating places -

anyone can buy there.

All you need is the money, but make sure it's ready.

Today, we meet three intrepid buyers, who've taken the plunge.

Will they sink or swim? Well, here's what they bought.

In Canterbury, Kent,

this teeny-weeny one-bedroomed house

has a problem that might spiral out of control.

In Chaddesden, Derby, with this three-bed semi,

you have to take the rough with the smooth,

as it's more Artex than artistic.

In Rotherham, South Yorkshire,

yet another British pub faces last orders.

Can it be rescued or has its last pint been pulled?

These properties were all bought at auction.

One more?

We find out who bought them and for how much...

-81...

-..when they went under the hammer.

Sold, sir.

For such a small city,

Canterbury in Kent has masses of history oozing through its walls.

Dominated by the oldest cathedral in England,

the well-preserved medieval centre is a tourist's heaven

and everywhere you look, there's an ancient building

looking right back.

# You want history... #

Parts of the town centre are designated World Heritage Sites

and the history doesn't end there.

Playwright Christopher Marlowe hailed from these parts

and some theorists contend he wrote his later plays

under the pen name of William Shakespeare.

# It's a mystery... #

And the property I'm here to see

has a few mysteries of its own that need solving.

A minute's walk from the centre

and we're in this busy, but charming, mid-19th century street.

It shouldn't surprise you that we're in a conservation area here

and much of this street is Grade II listed,

as is the property we're here to see.

It's this teeny-weeny one-bed house, squeezed into this corner.

A little courtyard area

and it had a guide price of £75,000-£80,000.

Think small, everyone.

As a Grade II listed building, it has a puzzling history

which I'd love to get to the bottom of.

I don't know if it was once part of the shop to one side

or the coach house on the other.

It's as intriguing as it is teeny.

# Hey, darling

# Squeeze me in... #

It's not as tiny inside as you might think.

Uh-oh...the staircase has landed!

I wasn't expecting to see that.

It's as if somebody has literally - uh-uh! -

sawed a massive hole through here

and just stuck a spiral staircase there.

You can see where the original stairs would have been.

A much better use of space, because here,

the area's a little bit redundant.

I don't think it goes with the character of the property.

But this is fantastic - always love to see a wood-burning stove.

Lovely little feature there.

I think this is where the original kitchen would have been.

Whoever bought this at auction probably would have paid in cash,

because I know mortgage companies are not keen on lending

if you don't have a kitchen in situ, but through here,

a really pretty little conservatory, looking out onto the garden.

It's got the makings of a great house -

just a lot of work to do.

# How many kinds of sweet flowers grow

# In an English country garden? #

The garden in the courtyard is delightful.

However, while the pond and that cute little shed

might have come straight out of the Canterbury Tales,

perhaps the Brothers Grimm would be more appropriate

for the guttering and window frames.

But there are a couple of mysteries about the spiral staircase.

What caused those cracks?

Well, it would appear there are some structural issues.

It will be well worth checking out

if building regulations approval was obtained before this work,

because if they weren't,

the council could force you to put it all back.

The other mystery, then, is how to negotiate them.

You certainly wouldn't expect to pass anybody on these stairs.

Incredibly tight.

Now, once up here, it's a really good space,

apart from the fact

you've got a whacking, great big hole over there,

which I think, now I'm up here,

I'd like to reinstate the stairs along the back wall,

cover that up, and then you've got a really good area.

Enough room for a big bed, some bedroom furniture.

You've got a lot of windows, as well,

letting in lots of light - a brilliant space.

I don't think it's going to be big enough

to convert into two separate rooms.

I think I'd leave it as it is.

You've got a nice bathroom here, which is fantastic.

You know, what you have is a great little house

a stone's throw from the city centre -

ideal for a couple.

This could make a bijoux pad

for anyone looking for easy access to local amenities

and there's a lovely park, if that courtyard proved too small.

# Madame, I will give you the keys of Canterbury... #

The key to making more room inside

might be by incorporating the conservatory

into the living space, but you would need permission.

All in all, though, I think this is a great find.

We asked a local estate agent along

to see if he agreed.

This is a nice part of Canterbury. You're right along the line

of the old city wall, so you're very close to everything

and all the lovely parts of the city

with a nice garden behind, as well.

This is an interesting property.

It probably was a store or ancillary to the house of the front,

but now been made into a dwelling.

It's not in a brilliant state of repair,

so it needs quite a lot of money spent on it,

to bring it up to standard.

But it's very quaint.

It's nice that it's set back from the road -

it's got a lot of potential.

Unlike me, the agent thinks there is mileage

in turning this into a two-bedroom house.

So, how would the figures stack up?

Once renovated, as a one-bed,

it's probably worth £140,000 to £150,000.

Once renovated as a two-bed,

it's probably worth £160,000 to £170,000.

And how about the rental value of this property?

On a rental basis, if it was let as a one-bed,

the rent here would be about £650pcm.

As a two-bed, £750pcm.

A quirky, interesting little lot,

in a lovely city with tons of charm -

not without its issues,

but you'd forgive a lot for this location.

Let's see who wanted it at the auction.

Got a guide of 75 to 80.

Start me at 75 and see where we go. 75.

Thank you, £75,000, the bid.

77, I'm bid. And 79.

79, and 81, 81.

82, I have, and 84. 84, and 86.

And 88. And 90.

92. 94.

96, madam. 96.

98.

100. 102.

104. 106.

106, gentleman's bid.

At 106,000, then, for the first time.

106,000 for the second time.

106,000 for the third and final time - all done?

Sold at 106,000.

That successful bid of £106,000

was placed by property developer Gary.

Gary deals in property in the care home sector

and purchased the house to help his son Chris

develop his own portfolio.

I met them both back at the house to find out more.

Guys, congratulations. Good news, you got this on auction day.

Why did you want to buy this?

A while ago, Chris was training to be a plumber, doing his CORGI.

Unfortunately, he had quite a serious accident

and that left him without the sense of taste and smell,

so he couldn't be...

Well, he couldn't smell gas, etc.

So that put paid to that career

and he's been doing a couple of things since then.

But this was a joint decision,

that he would go into property developing

and I thought I would give him a helping hand.

How's it been for you, having such a life-changing thing happen to you

and now also, you've got to change career?

There's been... a lot going on, obviously,

but, like I say, from one thing to another.

Hopefully, this'll be what I want to do now and...stick to this.

-Onwards and upwards for you.

-Exactly.

What a blow for Chris and very bad luck

that his chosen career relied on the senses he lost.

But sometimes opportunities appear from the darkest moments

and this project with his father is a new beginning.

So when you saw it for the first time,

what did you think?

Uh...bit of a job on our hands, really, but like I say,

when it's finished, it'll be fantastic.

Gary, why this property?

Well, we know the location.

Uh, it's...

There weren't that many within the city wall -

certainly not the type we were looking for Chris,

a fixer-upper, one that would help him get his hands dirty.

It may appear that it's, you know, quite a bit more

than an initial or a first project might be, but we think -

and our friends think - it's an easy, easy one.

Your friend think it's an easy one? What do you think?

More importantly, what do YOU think?

We've got experienced builders who think it's easy,

but I walk in and I don't think so, at all.

No, I don't think it'll be easy. There's a lot to do.

A big learning curve, but like I say,

you've got to start somewhere.

I need to ask this question - I want a "yes" or a "no".

Are you going to get rid of that spiral staircase?

Mm...yes.

Is the right answer!

Look, it's fine, I don't mind it, it doesn't really offend me,

but it's really tight.

If you get a few drinks and come down it, it'd be lethal.

It's not fun, especially with that gaping big hole at the end.

Exactly.

What are your intentions with this place?

Currently, it's just a big room down here and a big room up there.

How are you going to carve up the space and use it?

Um...yeah, we would like to get two bedrooms out of it.

Obviously, if I do rent it out,

I can get two people in instead of one.

The way we'd do it is obviously alter the stairway,

whether we bring it further over,

so we can have a small bedroom over the back

and just have the master bedroom upstairs.

Um...that is the plan we've got in mind, anyway.

But the wall behind me, which goes on to the conservatory,

we're thinking of taking it down

so we can open up the lounge and the dining area a bit more.

-That would be lovely.

-Yeah.

If you were to convert it into a two-bedder,

where would you out the bathroom?

At the moment, it's almost like an en-suite.

Yeah, but the plans we've got would be as it the stairs would come up

above our heads and then you'd have a hallway at the top.

The bedroom would be down that end,

the bathroom would stay where it was.

How about renting it out to a couple

and having just one really nice bedroom upstairs?

I think you're just going to get two really small bedrooms

and probably damage the value of a property like this.

Yeah, that could be another option, yeah.

I think you're right, there.

# I think it's gonna work out fine... #

Either option could work out fine,

but I think this little listed building

would lose some of its quirky charm

if the upstairs was split into two tiny bedrooms.

It could create more profit or it could put people off.

The next stage for the father-and-son team

is to get the survey done, to determine what needs doing.

What is the budget for the work here?

Well, Chris and I have a difference of opinion there.

Um...uh...me having some experience and Chris having not quite so much,

we're ranging between £15,000 and £25,000 to complete the work.

Um, depending how much he puts in to the project himself,

we'll hopefully be somewhere in between.

We've got that budget, but it's difficult when it's listed

and if there are any prerequisites and requirements they come up with

that we're not sure about, we weren't aware of,

then it may impact on the budget,

but he's pretty good at working out the yield

all the sundries that'll be involved. He's pretty good at that.

Chris, how long do you think a project like this will take?

-Um...I'd say about eight weeks.

-Eight weeks.

-Hopefully.

-£25,000 and eight weeks?

-I've got a lot of tradesmen.

-And lots of tradesmen - a lot of friends?

-Yeah.

Are you excited to get stuck into something like this?

-Are you ready for this challenge?

-Definitely, yeah.

Will you make it so fantastic, you're going to want to stay?

It's going to look lovely. I will be jealous if I do let it out.

They're going to be very lucky people.

Really nice meeting you today. Good luck with this project.

Can't wait to see what you do here.

-Thank you very much.

-Gary, lovely to see you.

-Chris, thanks a lot.

-Thank you very much, cheers.

I think this is a really interesting little house

and a great first project for Chris.

The big question is, one bedroom or two?

You can see what they decide later on in the show.

And there are more big decisions to be made at the next property,

here in Chaddesden, one of Derby's largest suburbs.

The city is less than three miles away

and it has a mix of private and social housing,

built from the 1950s onwards.

Well, I'm here in Chaddesden, to see one of these, kind of, properties

that I really, really love.

It's an ex-local authority.

They're big, they're well-made and they're good value for money.

Case in point - three bedrooms, substantial semi-detached,

guide price of £58,000.

Let's take a look.

# I hear you knocking... #

Well...

I would...if I could get in.

Let's try the side.

Luckily for me, there is another way in, through the back door

It's looking a bit more hopeful.

But before I actually even get into the house,

there is something that's worrying me.

There's a few trees which are very, very close to the house.

That's a laburnum

and you can see, it must be about a metre away from the house?

That's not good -

it could be doing all sorts of damage to the foundations -

judging by the state of this driveway,

it's already pushing up the concrete here.

There's another one at the back, a lilac and other trees.

You know, I love trees,

but when they're close to a house, it's bad news.

Anyway, in we go.

Ah, it's good to see a few useful out-buildings

before you get into the main body of the house - one there, one there.

You can never have enough storage in a property

and that's one great thing about ex-local authority houses -

they generally have lots of space, along with solid walls,

built-in cupboards, that kind of stuff.

But straight into the kitchen here

and it's almost like a catalogue of kitchen units across the ages.

We've got a bit of 1950s there, '70s there, this is '80s, '90s...

Basically, it all wants to come out and be brought bang up to date.

But it's a good size and, as I said, it just feels solid.

So, room number one - let's carry one.

If I had got in through the front door,

I could have got into the kitchen that way

or turned right, in to the living room.

So, room number two, and...

It's a doozy(!)

The lounge. I have NEVER seen a wall covering like this.

It's kind of...Artex gone bananas.

And it's on the walls, on the ceiling there...

It's...extraordinary.

And it's got to go!

# The icing on the cake... #

There's a less welcome icing on this cake.

Not only is this textured surface pretty ugly,

it's also likely that, if it was done before the mid-1980s,

it may contain asbestos.

It's only dangerous if you sand it, drill it or break it up

and generally poses no risk, otherwise.

# Icing on the cake... #

However, if you want to get rid of this - and why wouldn't you? -

you need to follow safety regulations,

so do check those out.

You could get professional advice or, alternatively,

you could plaster over it.

There are other decorative throwbacks, like the latch,

and the light switch. Well, that's just weird.

I'd also advise, as a matter of course,

having the electrics checked by a professional.

There are three bedrooms upstairs.

All are a pretty good size, but each one is in need of an overhaul.

The most modern bit of decor I've seen so far

is the bathroom suite, which might well be serviceable.

Back to the past, though, with the original metal Crittall windows.

They'll have to go. So the list of to-dos is definitely totting up.

# I got a lot of things to do... #

And looking outside, that list doesn't get any shorter.

The very substantial garden is pretty wild,

but there might be room to extend out,

once you've cleared the overgrowth.

But would it be worth it when there is so much to spend already?

And how much value would it add,

even if you got it for anywhere near the 58,000 guide price?

Hopefully, the local auctioneer who sold the property

will help me to see the wood from the trees.

It has got space for extensions,

but extensions are not going to be cost-effective.

So what do you do with what's here?

Well, a lot of people have extended the kitchen

or the living accommodation into the out-buildings

that are attached at the side.

The kitchen could be doubled in size

or you could make just a dining area, a utility area, off the kitchen.

So there are possibilities, but it's adapting what's here.

And how much does he think the property could be worth

if it was put back on the open market

after it had been refurbished and those store rooms have been adapted?

Improved, sale value here would be about £95,000.

And the rental income the property could generate?

When this is renovated, it would have a rental value of about £550pcm.

Well, there's work to be done, particularly in that lounge.

But what you've got here is a really solid house

which I think works really well.

Get rid of the trees, spend come time and money

sorting out the kitchen, bathroom, etc,

and a lovely family home or rental property.

Let's see who agreed when it went under the hammer.

Lot 19 -

three-bedroomed semi

in an established, popular residential location.

58,000 - thank you.

58, I have. 59, over by the pillar.

At 59,000 - 60, I've got.

At 60, 61.

61, 62.

62, thank you.

63,000. One more, 64.

65,000. 65,500.

66.

500.

67. 67.

500.

68.

500.

69.

At 68 - 69.

500.

70,000. 70,000.

And a half.

70,500. 71?

At 70,500, once.

Twice, third time...

Sold at 70 and a half.

Gavin was the successful bidder at the auction,

there with his parents, because his wife, Nicki,

was unable to get time off work.

The couple live locally

and met me at their new three-bed Chaddesden property

to tell me their plans.

Nicki, Gavin, great to meet you both.

-Hi, Martin, you all right?

-Great. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Tell me why you wanted to buy the house.

We wanted an investment property. I'm expecting a baby...

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

It'll be a nice income for us when the baby's born, hopefully,

if we get it done by then, Gavin.

-Yes, we're looking to rent it, really.

-OK.

Have you done anything like this before?

Sort of - bought a house before, couldn't sell it,

-we had a property crash.

-Right.

Decided to rent it, made a bit of income,

thought we'd fall for it again.

-Right.

-Gavin does a lot of the work himself as well, so...

It's quite good, from that perspective,

that we don't have to pay loads of money out,

although it does take him a bit of a long time, sometimes.

What are your jobs, when you're not doing this?

-We both work for a big energy company.

-Oh, OK.

-I'm on sales.

-I work in customer service.

# Energy, energy

# Energy... #

I hope Gavin and Nicki have got plenty of energy,

because they have a lot on their plate right now -

their first baby on the way and this property to do up.

Not only that,

Gavin spends most weekends renovating the house they live in,

about five minutes away,

which they bought a couple of years ago.

He rents out his previous home, but it was Nicki who set her sights

on the couple's first investment purchase as, unlike at the auction,

it was Gavin who missed the viewing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the time off,

so Nicki came round.

-I came round with a video camera.

-Oh, did you? OK.

I filmed it all for Gavin and I knew he'd love it.

-So he fell for it, didn't you?

-Yeah, I loved it.

The living room is a piece...to behold.

I've never seen anything like that before, I have to admit.

What are you going to do to it, then?

Basically, a new kitchen, new flooring, new doors,

tile the bathroom, seems to have a new suite in there.

What about outside? You've got these out buildings haven't you?

I don't know, as yet.

It depends, with it being a rental,

it might cost more than what it might make.

Might make it a utility, something like that.

You're going to be doing it. Nicki, what are you going to do?

-I'll be supervising.

-Oh, right.

-Chief tea maker.

Especially with me being pregnant,

-so I don't want to do too much, but...

-Of course not.

-How pregnant are you?

-Four and a half months pregnant.

-OK.

Timescale for doing the job - is that going to fit in with the baby or before the baby, or what?

We'd like to fit it in before the baby, but if we can't,

-then we'll do it after.

-After. Let me get this right,

you'll have a new baby, you've both got full-time jobs,

although you presumably will stop for a little while,

and then, in the spare time, when you're not up at three o'clock

-in the morning doing a feed, you're going to be restoring the house?

-Yes, yes.

-Right.

-Can you do it in the time?

-Hoping six months.

-Well, that's too late, isn't it?

-That is too late, yeah.

So I'm going to need more time, really.

-# No time

-No time, no time at all

-# No time for you

-No time, no time at all... #

What about the budget?

-Hoping to get it all done for eight.

-OK.

Including fees. £1,000 has already gone on legal and buying fees.

So we're already down to seven.

-It's tight, but if you're doing a lot of the work yourself...

-Exactly.

-Well listen, good luck with the baby.

-Thank you.

-Good luck with the house, as well.

-Thank you very much.

-Look forward to seeing how you get on.

Well, Gavin seems like a pretty handy guy and I'm sure

that, in normal circumstances, he'd have no problem sorting this out.

But he's trying to balance a full-time job

and the arrival of a baby. Will he get it done in time?

Well, you can find out later in the show.

Oh, and maybe we get to meet new baby, too.

Still to come, is time also running out for this pub in Rotherham, Yorkshire?

Will we be raising a glass or ringing last orders?

And in Derby, we find out if our expectant couple,

Gavin and Nicki, have beaten that baby deadline.

But first, we go back to Canterbury in Kent, to discover that

this teeny house needed a stairlift, as well as a facelift!

Here in Canterbury, this one-bedroom terraced house

was purchased for 106,000 at auction by Gary,

who deals in properties in the care home sector.

Gary's son Chris was forced to give up his career as a gas engineer,

after losing his sense of smell in a car accident.

The house certainly needed a bit of work, not least

because this listed house sported a rather awkward spiral staircase.

I thought it was a challenge for a first time developer.

Undeterred, Chris had firm ideas about how he was going to knock this quirky little house into shape.

How you going to carve up the space and use it?

I would like to get two bedrooms out of it. If I do rent it out,

then I can get two people in, instead of one.

I wasn't sure about the two tiny bedrooms.

I thought a bijou one-bed was a better way to go.

One thing Chris doesn't doubt is that this is not going to be easy.

If I had 30 years' experience, I'd think it was easy,

-but I walk in here and I don't think it's easy, at all.

-No.

I don't think it's going to be easy. There's a lot to do.

Yeah, it will be a learning curve, but, like I say, you've got to start somewhere.

Gary thought the work would cost about 15,000,

but Chris could see it going to £25,000.

And three months later, we're back to see if they have made it shine.

# Shine

# Let it shine.#

The conservatory, just as Chris planned,

has been incorporated into the living space.

I'm glad to see one bedroom and not two.

And that staircase is back where it should be.

It's always been a bit of a conundrum as to why it was put in the middle of the room,

which obviously affected or divided the lounge and the bedroom.

We've removed the staircase. Initially, it was a thought whether

we would keep it, reposition it, something like that,

if we were going to go along the lines of two bedrooms upstairs.

We decided against that and to keep the one bedroom

and put the new staircase back into its original position.

So we've made more space upstairs and down, in that respect.

I think it was put on a certain website and sold,

so it actually had come to some use.

And we restored the... installed another staircase, where the old one had been.

A smart move and part of any good developer's strategy -

throw nothing out you can sell on.

It helps prevent costs spiralling out of control.

Another way of saving money was Chris working with the tradesmen

and he used this as an opportunity to learn as much as possible

-about his new career.

-There was a lot involved.

Obviously, masses involved, from start to finish.

I kept finding myself coming back to doing different things every day.

Completely ripped the garden out. All the kitchen,

I did all the main ripping out and gutting of the work.

And the bathroom, I've put that back together.

Came along when I could to do all the bits and pieces

with the builders. And, literally, as you see, it is...

I've just tried getting in when I can, basically.

I've picked up a lot of stuff.

It's been a great learning curve and a good start.

So, yeah, it's been really enjoyable.

This building is Grade II listed,

and that can often mean complicated conservation and planning issues.

These can cost time and money.

Because we decided not to make the second bedroom

and just restore things back to its original -

ie, the staircase back to where it was originally planned

when the building was built -

and the fact that we didn't need to put up the partitions

and the sectioning as we might have done,

we didn't need to go through planning.

It was one benefit. The other benefit was the cost.

It did save quite a bit on our budget.

Relocating the staircase was a good move,

but it also revealed something more worrying.

The spiral staircase, it turned out, was not properly supported.

Consequently, the roof had started to spread.

That's when the roof frame is not properly tied

and allows horizontal movement

that can cause the walls to curve outwards.

So remedial work had to be carried out

and supporting joists reinstalled.

Chris reckoned the renovation would cost £25,000. Was he right?

-I think it... What was it, 24?

-I think, 24.

But obviously, there's a little bit of work needing done in the garden,

so it'll probably be 25, once we've finished it completely.

A survey found that a tree leaning against the wall

and guttering was causing damp issues.

This will have to be cut down, but Chris doesn't think this is

too big an issue, as the walls have been injected and are reinforced.

However, there have been some hairy moments.

I hadn't shaved for three or four days before Chris started the

work proper and decided I would keep it on until the work was finished.

We're virtually there now. My wife hates it.

Everybody in the family hates it, so it's a good incentive for him

to get the work finished.

It's not surprising with the additional work

that they spent that £25,000 budget predicted by Chris.

With the purchase price of £106,000,

their total investment now is 131,000.

We asked two local estate agents to tell us

what they thought of the property.

It's not a bad size for a house. It's been well decorated, well presented.

I would probably advise letting it out, for the time being,

and see where we are in two or three years' time.

Layout-wise, the improvements are good.

It's been kept as one bedroom upstairs, which works well,

there's a lot of space in it.

Downstairs - new staircase in a corner,

which has created lots of open-plan living.

You've got space for a sitting area, dining area and a study area.

So, a favourable reception for Chris's first development.

He decided against turning

this property into a two-bed. How does this affect the valuation?

One or two bedrooms is always a dilemma.

I think here with the restricted head height that we've got, with

the space that we've got downstairs,

I think, realistically, one bedroom is going to be the optimum.

Two would have been great from a letting point of view.

I don't think you would have done the values any favour.

I think one bedroom was the way forward.

What were the agents estimate for a resale value?

In terms of resale, I would put this property in at about £175,000.

I think if this was resold now, it would be £185-190,000.

That's a lot higher than what I thought. Definitely.

Yeah. It's wonderful news.

We were anticipating 150-plus,

never knowing what the market's going to be doing at any time.

That is really encouraging. Very good.

With the combined expenditure of 131,000,

that maximum evaluation of 190,000

could make Chris a profit of £59,000,

minus taxes and expenses.

Both experts predict a rental income of £700 per calendar month.

The yield Chris could achieve would be just under 6.5%.

Pretty good price, as well.

Slightly more than what I thought it was going to go for.

I think it's been terrific.

I think that is...way over what we were expecting.

It's been a wonderful experience.

Chris has got a lot to do with that success.

-It's onward and upward, I think.

-On to the next one.

And from a tiny space

to a property with masses of space to spare, in Rotherham -

a city that, with the help of a 25-year plan...

Oh, and £2 billion.

..is set to see something of a renaissance.

# Anything could change at any time... #

Well, just a short walk from the town centre,

through that little underpass there,

brings you to the lot I'm here to see.

If you've guessed that it's a commercial premises,

then, you're right.

Well, half right, anyway,

because it's actually a pub with a flat above it, three bedrooms.

£60,000 was the guide price. Let's see what it's like.

From the outside,

it looks very much like a traditional old-fashioned boozer.

It's just like walking into a pub that's like a normal pub, really.

What have we got? Lots of space around here.

Table and chairs still left. Even a dart board round the corner.

We've got the bar area there with all the optics

and the bits and pieces for the beer being poured. Space here.

Then...even more space over this way. It's quite strange.

Actually, you could imagine this, literally, opening up

and having people in here.

Sometimes you go into these pubs and they're in a right old state.

This one is looking good.

It's tired and dated, but, you know, it's not bad.

There's a kitchen to the right of the bar

and it seems perfectly adequate for knocking up some decent pub grub.

To the left of the bar are the loos, again, in decent condition.

It wouldn't be a pub without a place to store the beer.

There's also a significant bit of land that comes with this plot,

including the beer garden.

This area is currently used for parking and a storage building.

So, what about upstairs?

From my experience, flats above pubs tend to be fairly dingy

and tiny affairs. Not in this instance, I have to say.

This is fantastic. Three bedrooms.

One bedroom there, a living room, you've got a kitchen.

You've got a separate loo, there. A very large landing area.

Down there you've got another bedroom, you've got the bathroom.

Then, through to the third bedroom. A lot of space.

It needs a bit of work.

I've got to say the view out the window isn't that brilliant,

but I would have thought that this flat alone

was worth the guide price.

Remember, it was guided at £60,000 plus.

So a lot of property for the money.

Of course, even if it had a separate entrance,

it's unlikely anyone would want to buy a flat above a pub

in the middle of an industrial estate on the edge of a busy road.

Even if they did, if you kept the pub downstairs,

you would be losing valuable staff accommodation.

But would you keep the pub?

It's unlikely to be a great business opportunity in this location.

Sadly, I think this pub will share the same fate as many others.

# Closing time

# Open all the doors and let you out into the world... #

Well, a staggering 40 pubs a week close in the UK

due to lack of business.

I think that's fair to assume that that's what's happened here.

It's easy to see why.

When this was built, there probably would have been houses around here,

miners who would have used it,

people who worked in the local factories.

Now, it's actually surrounded by lots of commercial premises.

It really is a bit like it's marooned in a fairly unfriendly sea.

I know what it needs.

It needs to send out a message in a bottle and the message is, "Help."

Sadly, the days are gone

when people popped into a local pub for a beer or two at lunchtime.

Now, everyone's quite rightly aware of the dangers of drink-driving,

few people nip in for a drink after work.

What could you do with this place?

Clearly, a pub has failed in the past,

so maybe we need to be a bit more creative.

There are quite a few workers around here still,

so maybe something that served food at lunchtime would potentially work.

You could think about knocking it down and building flats, perhaps.

I don't think the location really works for that.

How about a health centre or a creche?

That's an option. Certainly, there's lots of office workers

who might use a creche or something like that. I don't know.

All in all, though, I think

the days of pints being pulled in there are over.

So, will an investor be scraping the barrel if they buy this property?

To find out what other options the pub could be used for,

we invited a local estate agent to come and have a look around.

The property does have potential to be converted to office use.

It would be ideal for an architect,

quantity surveyor -

a business which needs access to the town centre and motorway network,

without necessarily having a town-centre profile.

It does have potential for a restaurant,

but, I think, as a public house, I think its days are gone.

What about a complete change of use?

Could the pub ever be changed into housing, for instance?

It's difficult to see residential use ever being a long-term future here.

This is a commercial area, primarily.

How much commercial income could the property generate?

I would anticipate the rental income you'd expect to receive from here

would be around £10,000 a year,

if it was improved to a reasonable standard for office use.

What about the income from the living space up on the first floor?

If the flat were to be let out separately, after improvement,

I would think you could get a rental of about £75 a week for it.

Well, it feels like the pub is a throwback to Rotherham's past.

Whilst Rotherham itself has moved on, the pub hasn't.

It's going to take somebody with big ideas to sort it out.

Let's see who that was, when it went under the hammer.

This substantial building, just off the ring road,

fairly accessible position. Large, triangular-shaped site.

Who'll start me at 50,000? Looking for £50,000.

Thank you. £50,000. 52?

52?

54?

56?

58, sir? Stood up. 58, shall we say?

60? 61. Thank you.

£61,000. 62, stood up in front of the column.

Thank you. 62. 63, sir?

Stood up behind the column. 62, sir. 63. 64.

65.

66.

67 behind the column. 68? 68.

69? 70,000.

Anywhere else? £69,000, the first time at 69,000.

For the second time at 69,000.

For the third and last time at £69,000.

Are you sure you're done, sir?

You are done. 69,000. Sold, sir, behind the column.

Paying £69,000 for the pub are Carl, seen here on the left,

and his business partner Rob. They met through work.

Carl has been working at a building suppliers for the past five years.

Rob had his own building company.

This was a relatively speedy decision that they

chatted about for a week, and, hey, presto.

I'm curious to find out what their plans are for turning

the fortunes of this pub around.

Rob, Carl, lovely to meet you both. Congratulations.

-You've got yourself a pub.

-Yeah.

Tell me the story behind you buying this place, then?

Well, we were just looking at different investment opportunities

that are available at the moment.

We had a look at it and had a look at the potential for it,

-and decided, "Yeah, go for it."

-Potential for what in your eyes?

-Cafe-wine bar downstairs.

-A cafe and wine bar.

So that's going to be more of the day trade.

Try and build the business up in the evening.

Upstairs was a living accommodation,

but we're going to be looking to turn that into a function room.

We've got plans for outside, as well.

There are outbuildings that we're going to be

looking into having as a snack bar, as well, out there.

So, get the trade within the day.

Obviously, nicer inside and the snack bar outside.

Carl and Rob clearly hope that,

by diversifying into different businesses,

a combination of pints, paninis and parties, if you like,

that they will be spreading their financial risk.

It's all going to be pretty clean cut.

It's going to be all revamped downstairs.

Tile flooring all the way through.

We'll move the bar area, probably about three foot,

and give it a really clean-cut, modern image.

Then upstairs, it's going to be knocking through upstairs

and revamping that.

Have you done any market research

about what kind of demand there might be

for the services you're going to provide?

Yeah, we've just been...

Around this area, there's quite a lot of people working around here

through the day time.

They're having to go further afield

to get sandwiches and drinks and that.

So the daytime custom, in all honesty, should be OK.

It's more the evenings, how we take that further.

If someone books a function, ideally, they'll bring 100-200 people in.

The other thing to think about would be live music,

cos people tend to travel to see live music, don't they?

It's somewhere I think is going to be nice for people to come

and have a quiet drink, relax and stop for the evening,

instead of just coming for one drink and, then, off they go.

Music... Yeah, there's plenty,

obviously, in the town centre that do that kind of thing.

I think we'd like to be something a little bit different.

# If there was no music

# If there was no music... #

I would have thought that, with no neighbours to annoy at night,

this could be an ideal place to make a noise.

Well, Carl and Rob definitely have a lot of know-how.

Carl with his building supplies contacts

and Rob with his experience in construction, itself.

Also, Rob's wife is in catering and Carl has, in the past,

helped his dad out with his pub.

They've set a budget of £40-50,000

and hope to get it done in three to four months.

But do they have a Plan B?

The biggest investment's going to be in the building.

So, if the cafe bar doesn't take on,

then we could look at a change of use and maybe let it out or sell it on.

Listen, it's a really exciting venture.

-I wish you all the very best with it.

-Thanks.

-Thank you.

Well, Carl and Rob certainly have ambitious plans.

Not only are they restoring the building,

they're starting, literally, three businesses.

These are tough times, economically, though,

and it is a new business venture,

which is slightly unfamiliar to them.

How are they going to get on?

Well, you can find out later in the show.

Well, it's been many months since we last saw those properties.

Have the renovations been plain sailing or bumpy rides?

Time to go back and find out.

We're heading back to Derbyshire, where in the suburbs of Chaddesden,

we found, tucked behind a very overgrown garden,

a three-bed semi, which was bought as a buy-to-let

by Gavin and his wife Nicki, for £70,500.

The decor was a lexicon of fashion through the decades.

The very thick, textured wall covering,

every period of kitchen cabinet, a hatch,

metal windows, dated wallpaper, dodgy wiring.

Only the bathroom looked as if it might be OK.

Gavin is a handy DIY-er

and the couple intended he would do the work

while they both worked full-time and -

oh, yeah, small detail this -

before the arrival of their first baby, in four and a half months.

Just let me get this... You have a new baby.

You've both got full-time jobs.

Although you will stop working for a little while,

and then, in the spare time,

when you're not up at three o'clock in the morning doing a feed,

-you're going to be restoring the house?

-Yes.

-Right.

Can you do it in the time?

Hoping six months. Mmm.

-Well, that's too late, isn't it?

-That is too late, yeah.

I'm going to need more time, really.

They'd already spent £1,000 on legal fees

and hoped to spend no more than £7,000 on the refurbishment.

So, did they make it?

Well, ten months later, we're back to meet Nicki, Gavin and baby Ellie.

MUSIC: "Smooth Operator" by Sade

Gavin's been busy installing new windows and doors throughout.

Time-wise and decor-wise, this might have been a bumpy road.

# No need to ask He's a smooth operator

# Smooth operator... #

But no. Gavin has done nearly all this lovely work himself.

This stylish kitchen is looking great. Nice touches here.

# Smooth operator... #

OK, here in the lounge was one of the hardest rooms to deal with.

The amount of texture, plaster work, right the way from the floor,

right the way through over the ceiling.

It's probably two weeks of solid hammering and chiselling,

just purely to get this room back to bare walls.

Now, I think it's come up great,

especially with the lovely wallpaper, nice fire, full patio doors.

I'm really proud. This is a nice room to be in.

Thank goodness the colour scheme upstairs has been muted,

allowing Gavin and Nicki to make a statement with the wallpaper

in the master bedroom.

Gavin has installed new windows throughout,

and the bathroom one is smaller than the original,

allowing a shower to be installed.

The original suite's remained,

but new flooring and tiles do the job nicely.

Gavin's re-plumbed throughout.

What about the kitchen,

which had every era of unit you could think of?

So we've created so much more space in the kitchen.

There was a wall here and here,

so Gavin's knocked that out completely

and we've created all this space

so we could put the oven, the hob and the hood in.

I think the finish in here is fantastic.

I love the worktops, the black tiles with the white grout. I love that.

The cupboards, as well. This is my favourite room in the house.

I suspected the layout could be improved at the back here,

when I first saw it.

Gavin's converting the former storeroom into a utility room,

which will be much better.

But that old saying, "New house, new baby,"

had to be swapped around in this case.

Well, we wanted to get the house finished before I had Ellie.

I was only four months pregnant at the time and we thought

we'd be able to do it, but I didn't have the best pregnancy.

I was quite tired, so I couldn't do a lot, at all.

I wasn't able to put the time in that I wanted to here,

so we decided we would have Ellie.

A month into little Ellie, she started sleeping better,

so I was able to come here and spend more time here.

With very little work getting done before the birth,

Gavin decided to take a career break from work

so he could concentrate on getting the house finished.

It was good to have a goal in mind, wasn't it?

We'd already got tenants, so we knew that they were moving in.

I think we thought it was going to be

a pretty straightforward development.

But with Gavin doing everything on his own,

it took a lot longer than what we thought.

Although it's been ten and a half months since our first visit,

very little was done before baby Ellie was born,

so the actual work has taken about four months.

I wonder how the £7,000 budget has fared?

We're well on track for that. I've spent about £5,000, so far.

Got a little bit to go. Couple of rooms to finish off and a new boiler.

But again, that should all be around about the 6,000 mark,

so I'm really happy.

I'm really impressed that Gavin has done all the work himself,

apart from the electrics, which his dad is qualified to do.

Of course, Gavin will get a qualified gas fitter

to install the new boiler in the utility room.

Providing they stick to £6,000, with the £70,500

they paid at auction, it will take their total investment to £76,500.

What will two property experts think of the house?

First, the auctioneer who sold it and viewed it originally.

Does the refurbished house reflect the money

Gavin and Nicki have invested?

I think, with the work that they've done here

there is no doubt in my mind they are appealing to the rental market.

But it's all fresh stuff.

The property's been refitted out completely,

it's been redecorated, it's been re-carpeted.

This is a fairly standard property for the area.

Nice big living rooms, three bedrooms, perfect for a family.

If you're doing it to sell on to an owner-occupier,

I think you would try and create a higher standard.

Changing the kitchen to make it a larger family kitchen

is always a good option.

To improve the appeal to a more wider audience,

this property needs to have a better finish.

Will the resale value be more than the £76,500

that Gavin and Nicki have spent?

I would expect to achieve between 95 and £100,000.

I think an appropriate asking price would be £99,950.

I think you'd finish up taking about £95,000 for it.

That £95,000 figure would give them

a possible profit of £18,500 before taxes and expenses.

I think I thought it would be a little bit more for the valuation,

but it's still a decent profit.

I'm still quite pleased with that.

The couple, of course, always intended renting,

and already have a tenant.

So have they set the rent at the right level?

Because of the quality of the finish,

I would expect to achieve up to a value of £525 per calendar month.

If this was on the rental market,

it would command a value of about £550 a calendar month.

That's a yield of 8.6% on that high rental figure

of £550 per calendar month.

I think for the rental value, that's spot-on where we are.

-Where we're thinking.

-Exactly what we're thinking, isn't it?

-What we're hoping for.

-Yeah, that's good.

And how do Gavin and Nicki see the future shaping up?

Do they see themselves developing another property?

This is a long-term investment,

so hopefully, the tenant will stay and we can keep renting it out.

The older that Ellie gets,

I think the easier it will be for me and you to...

Yeah, to have a little helper.

..start working on it again.

So from a modest £7,000 refurbishment, back to Rotherham -

a town that's undergoing a rather more lavish

£2 billion transformation.

Earlier in the programme, Rob and his business partner Carl

bought this pub and three-bedroom flat for 69,000.

The property was located on an industrial estate

and options seemed limited, but not to this pair.

Well, we were just looking at different investment opportunities

that's available at the moment.

We had a look at it and had a look at the potential for it

and decided, "Yeah, go for it."

They had ambitious plans to try

and capture the day trade, by converting the ground floor

into a wine bar and coffee shop, with a snack bar outside.

They hoped to turn that three-bedroomed flat

into a function room, which would take care of the evening trade.

They had a pretty clear idea of what it would look like.

It's all going to be pretty clean cut.

It's just going to be all revamped downstairs,

tiled flooring all the way through.

We'll move the bar area and just give it a really clean-cut,

modern image.

They had a budget of 40 to £50,000

and reckoned it would take about four months.

Well, that was two years nine months ago and we've returned.

Now, when Carl was describing the tiled flooring,

this wasn't what I envisaged.

As Rob explained, their initial plan got floored.

After we got approval with planning permission and everything,

just as we were about to start with the works,

Carl had second thoughts and thought it weren't really for him.

So he decided to pull out and I took it on on my own.

# Better call the whole thing off... #

It was an amicable split.

Builder Rob bought out his business partner Carl,

but it did further delay the start.

Then, Rob had a change of plan

and decided to let the refurbished ground floor to his friend Dave,

who was looking to relocate his tile shop.

This side over here was where the games area and the dance floor was.

Above that area there was a double chimney breast and walls.

That's come out through the roof. The bar was across here.

All that's gone.

There's walls and chimney breasts removed from over this side.

It's all opened up. It's a lot brighter.

The windows have been replaced.

He's looking at opening the shop in a week's time,

so we've got another week just to get all the finishing touches done.

Blimey. A complete change of plan then.

No wine bar and coffee shop, but a tile showroom.

Before you completely glaze over, the good news is that Rob did

continue with his plan for a snack bar in the outbuilding at the back.

OK, so it's not outside

and not the coffee shop he originally planned,

but it is up and running.

Well, the changes we've made in here...

This, what we're standing in at the moment, was the garage.

This was a solid brick wall into the other area, where they used

to feed the dray horses.

Refurbished it and it's now become the snack bar, cafe.

# Good God, it's a snack attack...#

Once he was going solo, Rob thought he would tackle the snack bar first,

and that is now up and running.

As a landlord,

he now has the income from that as well as Dave's tile business.

With the original plan for the wine bar and cafe gone,

so has the idea for a function room in the flat above.

So does Rob have any vision for that?

At the moment, it's completely derelict.

Stripped back to how it was down here.

Dave's eventually looking at the possibility of having

that as an extension to the downstairs floor.

But...we've another six months to think about that yet.

This was always going to be a tricky one.

The flat had great proportions,

but while it would most definitely be quieter living above a tile shop,

rather than a pub, it's not exactly ideal.

You would need to spend money making a separate entrance.

So with the function room no longer viable, it seems to me

like it has to be some kind of commercial or retail space.

Rob has adapted his plan to fit the circumstances,

but I'm wondering what that has meant for his 40 to £50,000 budget.

Today, it's about 35,000.

There's about another 5,000 upstairs.

But the remaining 5 to 10,000, what we were looking at spending,

was for the coffee machines, the seating area

and everything for the coffee bar.

Rob co-purchased this property for £69,000,

and the eventual refurbishment spend looks like being 40,000.

Altogether, that's £109,000.

It's time to see if a local commercial agent thinks this has

turned out to be a good investment and a smart business move.

Pretty good. They've done a good overall job.

I'd say they've improved the premises.

They've given it a modern touch.

I think it would have been difficult to really entice people,

certainly for evening trade, if you had a tapas wine bar,

so I think getting it open plan

and getting a commercial business is the right thing to do.

With the two commercial businesses standing alone,

Rob could potentially sell them separately.

What value could they achieve? More than the £109,000 invested?

I would look at valuing the cafe at around 30 to £35,000.

The frontal pub, with a commercial occupant,

depending on lease and rental,

would probably market for around 70 to £80,000.

If both sold at the higher valuation,

there would be a £6,000 profit, before tax and expenses.

Would Rob consider selling?

No, keep it. Keep it and carry on renting it, as we are.

Rob is fortunate that he already has tenants for both areas,

but is he getting the best possible returns?

What I would suggest, as a rental figure for the combined businesses,

which is the cafe and the commercial outlet at the front,

would be around £9,000 per annum.

In fact, Rob is doing considerably better than that.

He has retained ownership of the cafe business

and he rents the space, the furniture, fittings and goodwill

for £150 a week.

The tile shop space he rents, bringing him in £175 a week,

so in total, he's making £15,600 a year.

But it's not just about the money.

It's never really been like this before. It's brought life back to it.

There's people employed and it's an empty building that's being used.

We'll be back next time, with more thrills and spills

-from the auction room.

-Yes. Make sure you join us then,

-for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.