Episode 50 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Now, from first-time buyers looking to buy their first home

to retirees looking to buy property to supplement their pension,

there are all sorts of reasons for buying houses.

But no matter who you are, Martin, every penny you spend counts,

especially if you're looking for a good return.

Yes, and one way to get a bargain is to head to the auctions.

Well, the property market can bring great returns

if you spend your money wisely.

So, is that what today's buyers managed to do?

Well, here's what they bought.

Today, it's a tale of two studio flats

and two very different prices.

One in the north...

At £18,000.

And one in the south.

Yours, gentlemen, at 275.

Whilst in Trent Vale, Stoke-on-Trent,

there's not a hair out of place.

I don't know how he done it

but Jake's still managed to keep his hair looking beautiful

like it is now.

All these properties have been sold at auction.

We'll find out who bought them and what they paid for them

when they went under the hammer.

We're just two miles from Newcastle-Under-Lyme

in Stoke-on-Trent

in an area close to the A500 and M6

called Trent Vale

and I'm visiting a former local authority estate here.

As well as being famous for the production of tyres nearby,

it's also got its history

in the brick and tile manufacturing industry

but bringing us up to date, the property I'm here to see -

a three-bed semidetached, guide price £40,000-plus - £40,000-plus!

Wow. It looks really good from the outside.

Looks can be deceptive, though, so fingers crossed.

For that kind of money, just £40,000, he said,

repeating it for a third time,

you're not going to expect much, are you?

However, you might be surprised.

Through the front door, useful storage cupboard under the stairs.

And then through into a pretty decent-sized lounge.

Dual aspect, so lots of light.

I mean, it's crying out for a set of French doors there, isn't it?

Patio doors out onto the garden, that would be lovely.

But you've got a fire.

Might be updated just to improve the feel of the place

but in general, it's a good size

and as is classic with these ex-local authority properties,

they're all good, well-proportioned rooms.

This is the kitchen. Clearly, it needs lots of tender loving care,

some nice units in here but again,

you've got storage, you've got space.

It's all solid walls.

You know, you can't go wrong, really, can you?

# Solid, solid as a rock... #

Ex-local authority properties

are more often than not sturdy, reliable and, well...

# Solid as a rock... #

Now, on the stairs leading up to the bedrooms,

there is this stairlift,

which is obviously a bit of a life-saver

to whoever lived here previously.

Now, before you just take this out and throw it into the skip,

bear in mind this could actually be really useful for somebody else.

So, there are places all over the country

which will actually take these things and recycle them

and put them to good use.

That is exactly what you should do.

# Be not selfish in your doings

# Pass it on... #

Once the stairlift is removed and hopefully recycled,

you'll find yourself with a bit more of a spacious hallway

taking you up to the bedrooms.

So, what have we got up here?

Well, three bedrooms. Smallish one towards the front there

and then two really good-sized ones towards the back.

Again with loads of built-in storage, which is lovely.

The only disappointment I can see is the bathroom

because that's it.

As you can see, it's not huge.

Obviously in need of refurbishment

but while you're doing that, how can you get some extra space?

Well, ha-ha!

I have the solution because here in this third bedroom,

I think there's enough space to put a subpartition wall here and there

pretty much in line with that.

It wouldn't detract from this room too much

but it would give you that much-needed extra space

in the bathroom.

You'd then be able to have a bath and a shower

and just a feeling of space.

Brilliant. There is always a solution.

Traditionally, there wouldn't have been a bathroom upstairs

and that's really why it's so small.

I think it's been squeezed in just to get one up here.

One's ablutions would have been carried out downstairs

with a visit in the cold to the outside loo.

So far, this is the only negative I can find about this house.

Time to explore outside.

Now, one of the reasons I love ex-local authority houses

is that they were just designed to be practical living spaces.

Out the kitchen there,

you've got this little corridor which gives access to the front

but there, you've got a downstairs loo, a little storage area.

Another great thing when you come out the back here,

a really nice-sized garden...

..so it's just plus after plus after plus, really, isn't it?

# It's getting better all the time... #

It needs updating and sprucing up of course

but at that guide price of £40,000,

you are getting a lot of house for your money.

Let's see what a local property agent thinks of it all.

It is just dated.

Really good space. I'm amazed by the garden as well.

There is a good demand for properties like this in the area,

mainly due to the value for money that they offer to families

who are wanting their children in the local schools.

In that case, then, what does he think the property could be worth?

I think the property should really be worth in the region of £85,000.

And what about rental?

I think it would be achieving in the region of £450 per calendar month.

Well, it really is a great house.

Yes, it needs a bit of modernisation but you would expect that,

and when you consider that guide price of just £40,000-plus,

a real auction find.

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

Semidetached house. Three bedrooms. Large garden. Convenient spot.

I'm going to say 40 to start.

40 in the doorway, thank you.

At £40,000.

42. 44?

44. 46.

Shaking head but he's in 48.

50.

With plenty of interest in the lot, we leave and rejoin at £69,000.

69 right at the back.

69.5? 69.5.

70. No?

70 right on the back wall. All done now. £70,000 once.

£70,000 twice.

Third and final time at £70,000.

On the back wall. Well done.

Sold to dad Mark and his son Jake.

They bought this nice little three-bed semi for £70,000.

That's a whopping £30,000 over the guide price, so will it be worth it?

I went to the property to find out their plans.

-Mark, Jake, great to meet you both.

-And you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

Tell me why you wanted to buy the house.

We obviously looked at a few properties. We liked this house.

It's a good stone-built property like the old council properties,

they're usually really sturdy properties, so we looked at it

-and we thought it had potential to turn into a good family house.

-Right.

You paid quite a lot over the guide price for it.

Yeah. When we first saw the guide price, we thought it would go over that.

We thought we might get it a little bit less

but it went up quite quick at the auction.

Yeah, we thought it was worth it, so we decided to go for it.

-Happy with what you paid?

-Yeah.

So tell me about what's going on here between you two, Jake.

We started it last year. Dad's been doing a few properties before that.

We wanted to do something a little bit different

to what we was doing previously.

-Dad was into his football coaching.

-Oh, right.

I was doing football coaching with him at a professional football club

and doing a bit of modelling on the side.

We thought we'd do a little bit different so we come into it

-and here we are, really.

-Wow.

What kind of football coaching and who for?

-We used to do it for Tottenham Hotspur.

-Oh, right.

My job used to be mainly the youth side of things.

Used to travel around the world a lot with my job so I spoke to Jake

and my other son Luke, who's still coaching at the moment,

and just decided I'd rather be with the family for a little while

so we decided for a career change and tried this

so we could be together a bit more.

-What kind of modelling did you do?

-Gloves and shoes.

Jealousy that is.

Yeah, all different - commercial, catalogue sort of stuff.

Oh, great. Fantastic.

# I saw myself in the mirror

# In profile for the first time

# I thought, hey, that's a real good-looking boy... #

They obviously get on well.

Mark is a bit of a model himself, a role model,

in that before his coaching career,

he had a letting agency

so he's passing his property expertise on to his sons.

We done our first one, as Jake said.

We've done one together before to see whether the boys liked it

-and he seemed to do well. He was a grafter, to be fair.

-Right.

Anything that didn't involve messing up his hair.

I woke up like this.

But other than that, yeah. It's been a career change

but it's something we're really enjoying at the moment.

-Great.

-So long may it continue.

-Now, you both have a slight London twang to your voice.

-Indeed.

-That's where you're from, obviously.

-We're not locals, yeah.

We are from London, or moved out to the Essex borders now.

So what's tempted you north?

Just seems you get so much more for your money up north.

I mean, you can pay silly amounts down in London as you well know,

so we looked up here

and the yield on the rentals as well, it doesn't seem too dissimilar

and you're paying a lot less money,

-so that was what attracted us first and foremost.

-Right.

Practically, of course,

it throws up a bit of an issue, certainly in the early stages,

of the fact you don't live close by.

What are you going to do? How are you going to handle that?

Well, at the minute, we're going to stay up here

so it will be nice and fun.

We've got some camp beds so we may stay here

and then obviously find somewhere a little bit local as well if not.

We'll be working long hours,

so it will make more sense for us to stay here

cos it's going to be a nightmare

-travelling back and forth all the time.

-Yeah, yeah.

So it seems for these two, the only way isn't Essex,

with the boys decamping to Trent Vale for the length of the project.

But what are their plans?

Strip it all back then completely rewiring, replumbing

but lucky for us, we've got people in the trades like family.

My father-in-law's a plumber and plasterer,

so getting them up here to help us out and then modernising throughout.

Potentially, we're not too sure as well with the wall down here.

We're going to knock it through, make it a bit more open-plan

but like we said, the kitchen is a nice size, so to do that

where the lounge isn't overly big,

we're not sure whether it will do it justice.

Then we also said about putting some French doors through the back...

That would be nice.

..to get a bit of light through,

so depending on whether we sell or rent

depends on how far we go with the work.

So plenty of people to help

which will in turn help Mark and Jake

keep within a £15,000 to £20,000 budget that they've set

and their reasonable six-to-eight-week timeframe

but it's a far cry from the glamour of modelling for Jake.

Now, your dad jokingly brought up

the whole issue of your hair and that.

Roughing and tumbling it in this, knocking down walls,

you are going to get a bit dusty and mucked up. You all right with that?

It's quite a special hairnet he's got.

Are you all right getting roughed up?

I'm fine with that, yeah. If it gets that bad, I'll put a hat on.

-To be fair, he's been learning the plastering trade, following his father-in-law, John.

-Oh, wow.

He certainly doesn't mind getting dirty. He's done very well doing that.

Congratulations to both of you.

-Really look forward to seeing how it turns out.

-Thank you.

Nice to meet you.

So another project under way for father and son team Mark and Jake.

Two important questions.

Number one - how will they get on

with that commuting from London to do this place up?

And number two - will Jake mess his hair up during the renovation?

You can find out later in the show.

Over to Glasgow now

and the area south of the city called Priesthill.

After the Second World War, Priesthill was developed

to house some of Glasgow's expanding population but since then,

it's seen years of decline.

In recent years, though, there have been moves

to regenerate and redevelop Priesthill

with the building of new purpose-built and landscaped housing

and a huge shopping centre that's brought new employment to the area.

Well, just five minutes' walk from Silverburn,

a short drive to the M77,

and 10 minutes' walk to a train station

which'll take you into the centre of Glasgow

is the property I'm here to see.

It's a studio flat. Guide price £10,000 to £20,000.

Outside could do with a bit of a spruce up.

Let's hope it gets a bit better inside.

Yeah, well, that's not a very good start, is it?

Very badly damaged glass there.

Into this little entrance foyer.

I mean, communal areas, they just set the scene, don't they?

It's not looking brilliant.

Coats of paint required. Hmm.

Let's carry on up to the flat.

Yes, the communal areas and exterior of this property

certainly won't help it rent or sell.

Hopefully, though, the flat itself is in better condition.

So what's on offer?

Well, through the door and facing you is the kitchen.

First thing you notice is it's in pretty good nick.

It looks like somebody's actually started the renovation.

You can't expect much in terms of space.

What we have got - bathroom over that way, kitchen here.

It's very open-plan.

Into this area here which is your lounge/bedroom.

Nice big windows, which is a plus but that's about it.

Sorry it didn't take too long but it is what it is.

# Size matters, size matters but not how you think... #

The kitchen is modern and just about complete.

The walls have been skimmed and plastered just ready for decoration.

It's bright and clean and I reckon

with a carefully-chosen colour scheme and clever use of furniture,

you could give this kitchen-cum-lounge-cum-bedroom

the illusion of being more spacious than it actually is.

So at this end of the flat,

a storage area there with a large hot water cylinder and tank

and then you've got your bathroom and your loo.

It seems disproportionately big

and this certainly seems like a complete waste of space.

I suppose it's storage.

I wonder, with a bit of playing around -

these are only subpartition walls -

could you create perhaps a bedroom here with an en-suite in it?

Maybe ditch the bath and just put a shower in.

Move this wall slightly maybe a foot or two that way

away from...basically into the kitchen

but shift the kitchen that way as well

to create yourself a one-bedroom flat.

It sounds like a nice idea but it really comes back

to is it going to make that much difference to the value?

Is it going to make that much difference to the rentability

and how much is it going to cost?

Factor it in, work it out and then make your decision.

A little studio flat like this will have a definite ceiling price

so you need to watch your spending.

If you decide to keep the bathroom in this location,

I'd definitely spruce it up and maybe even replace the suite.

On the plus side, it is white.

However, it will all be worth nothing

if potential suitors are put off by the exterior.

The exterior of this block

and the communal area is definitely a bugbear.

There are sorry signs of neglect.

Traditionally in Scotland, communal areas

are maintained by property managers called factors

or by the residents themselves.

The thing that does raise the spirits

is that it looks like the residents are aiming to improve things.

However, this can be difficult to organise

where there are large bills to pay

and legal wrangles can ensue,

so getting a factor and paying them not only to organise the work

but collect money is the more common choice.

If the outside could be improved, perhaps getting this lot

for anything like that guide price of £10,000 to £20,000

could be a good investment.

It's generally in good condition.

The owners don't have to do much work to it.

They can put somebody in here very quickly indeed.

Just a wee bit of decoration

and move somebody into the property if they want to rent it out.

All positive about the studio flat. What about the communal areas?

The majority of these properties and now owned by buy-to-let investors

and there's a large percentage of them that are now rented out.

That's had an adverse impact

on the actual work done to the communal areas

and that's quite evident when you walk into the properties.

As I feared, but moving on, let's talk figures.

Studio flats, maximum £20,000 to £22,000.

I would expect the rental valuation, once done up,

to achieve £280 per calendar month.

So a nice enough flat in a fairly decent location.

Obviously, the communal areas need a bit of sorting out

but for the guide price, a potentially good investment

and a good return on your money if you were to rent it out.

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

Guide price £10,000 to £20,000. Modern studio flat.

It's got to be worth £10,000.

Anybody in at ten? Ten here.

At £10,000 I've got now.

11 here. 12. 13.

14. 15.

Shake of the head with you at 14.

At £14,000.

15. 16.

16, sir.

No. 16 here. No.

With you at 15. At £15,000. Half, I've got. 16.

Half. 17. You're out.

With you at £16,500. 17 back in.

Half? 18. Half.

You're out. You're in at 18. At £18,000, then.

With you, sir, at £18,000. The first time.

Against you and against you.

Second time. Are you sure?

Third and final time, then.

-GAVEL BANGS

-Well done, sir.

The successful bid of £18,000 actually came from Janet.

IT consultant Janet

employed the services of friend and work colleague Bud

to do the bidding on the day.

Property novice Janet will also be leaning on Bud

for help and advice with the project

as he is a seasoned property developer.

# Lean on me when you're not strong... #

Janet, Bud, great to meet you both.

-All right?

-Congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this flat.

When we were going to the auctions,

we had maybe a list of about five properties

-that we were interested in.

-All flats?

They were all flats, and I think we liked this one

because it was close to the M77 and it was a reasonable price.

-Yeah, for definite. Did you see it before you bought it?

-No.

-You didn't?

-No.

-Why?

-I think... I had been on holiday.

-Oh, that's a good excuse.

And then we had...

When I had come back, we were back at work

and then we had left to go to the auction from work

so I hadn't seen any of the properties that we'd bought.

-You've bought more than one?

-I bought three.

You are so on my naughty step, honestly.

Three properties without seeing them!

# Naughty... #

Yes, Hammer's golden rule broken not once but three times.

Luckily for Janet, the other two properties haven't turned out bad

and neither has this one.

How was it when you walked through the door?

It's actually quite good.

I mean, a lot of work has already been done on the renovation,

so I think we're quite hopeful

that we should be able to turn it round quite quickly.

What did you think of it when you first saw it?

I was actually pleasantly pleased

from the point of view that when I did get it looked at properly

and get a proper survey done of it then the value is marked real low

so that when I came in and seen it, I was pleasantly surprised.

A lot of work has been done and there's very little left to do.

The valuations game is a tricky one

and nothing should be taken for granted.

The home report on this property said the value was £22,000.

Janet paid 18,000 which seemed a safe bet

but then she was alarmed when her independent surveyor

valued it at only £10,000.

However, she plans to rent this out and is taking a long-term view.

So is she going to try and add value by making it a one-bed flat?

You probably could make it into a one-bed flat.

-That's what I was thinking.

-I'm not going to do that.

I think we're going to leave it as a studio

and maybe try and purchase

one of those beds that goes up into the corner.

I think that's our plan is to leave it as it is

and get it on the market, as in the rental market,

as soon as possible.

A quick turnaround shouldn't be a problem here,

particularly with Bud's contacts

such as builders, electricians and plumbers.

The pair just plan to finish what's been started here

and keep the work to a minimum

so as not to exceed their tight budget of £1,500

and even tighter timescale of two weeks.

Once work is done, though,

Janet is hoping for a rental return of between £250 to £300 per month

which could bring in a very healthy yield.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though.

There won't be any rental if people are put off by the exterior

and the communal areas.

What do you know about what's going on in terms of that?

We have been speaking to a couple of the neighbours and basically,

I don't think there is anyone maintaining the building,

so we were discussing earlier...

Bud could probably explain better.

The guy that does the factoring for me,

I'll be asking him to meet with the rest of the neighbours

-and see if he can take over factoring of the building.

-Oh, right.

-And I'm sure he's up for that.

-You're looking at driving that?

-Yeah.

-Wow!

Janet and Bud's decision to put a factor in place

will help protect her investment

and the job of sprucing up the communal areas

has received a little unexpected help.

At the auction, the flat was sponsored by a local builder

who provides 30 litres of paint,

so what we're proposing to do in conjunction with the neighbours,

if they'll allow it, is to use that paint to paint the communal close.

Oh, right.

And also replace some of the windows with maybe clear Perspex

rather than glass to hopefully maintain the close.

Congratulations. Good luck with that

and good luck with sorting the flat out.

-Thanks very much.

-Nice to meet you.

-Thanks.

-Thanks very much.

Well, it seems like Janet and Bud have got the right idea

for both the flat and the communal areas.

That's good to see. How will they get on sorting everything out?

You can find out later in the show.

Coming up, it's a tale of two cities

as in Aldgate, London, a studio flat is bought

for almost £1,000 per square foot.

Whilst in Glasgow,

lower prices plus a quality finish means there's also money to be made.

Before those two properties, though, we return now to Stoke-on-Trent

and the industrial area of Trent Vale where earlier,

I found this three-bed semi guided at just £40,000-plus.

It was dated and tired but I really took a shine to it.

You've got storage, you've got space. It's all solid walls.

You know, you can't go wrong, really, can you?

It was bought at auction

for a whopping £30,000 over the guide price

by father-and-son team Mark and Jake.

The pair had only recently moved into property developing together

having previously worked as football coaches.

And despite being based in Essex,

they travelled north to continue their fledgling careers.

So what's tempted you north?

Just seems you get so much more for your money up north.

I mean, you can pay silly amounts down in London as you well know,

so we looked up here and the yield on the rentals as well,

it doesn't seem too dissimilar and you're paying a lot less money,

so that was what attracted us first and foremost.

The boys had a long list of jobs ahead of them

in order to get it ready for the rental market

but with help from Mark's other son Luke,

they were hopeful of getting the work completed.

Three months later, we return to Trent Vale

to see if the boys are right

to swap football boots for paint brushes.

Plans to knock down the kitchen wall and create French doors

have clearly been shelved

but the boys have turned this tired and run-down property

into a fresh, contemporary and bright house

ideal for the rental market.

And upstairs, the good work continues

with the mobility chair having been recycled.

The neutral tones upstairs help create light

and in turn a feeling of space.

In a three-bed house, I would have liked to have seen a bigger bathroom

but I'm nit-picking.

The finish upstairs and downstairs is fantastic.

And out the back, it's not looking half bad either.

A much more manageable garden is complemented

by the whitewashed and spruced-up outdoor facilities.

The whole property looks like a new build ready to move into.

We started at the top

so obviously had to make a lot of repairs to the roof,

order new guttering.

We've done completely new central heating, new combi boiler,

rewired the whole house, replastered the house.

Obviously new bathroom, new kitchen, new flooring

and then the cosmetic stuff so, yeah, we've done a fair bit in it.

Me and Jake obviously done most...

Well, I've done most of it, to be fair,

if we're honest but we also had a lot of help from my other son Luke.

He come up at the weekends when he could when he wasn't working,

and one of our highlights

was Jake's sister Ellie come up to help us as well.

She's a 12-year-old little girl but she come and helped us in the gardens

and done a little bit of work around, so that was good.

It really did become a family effort.

Jake and Luke worked in the garden.

Jake also used his recently-acquired plastering skills

and can I say, well done! It looks great.

While Mark did the kitchen and bathroom work.

The joint effort means they were able to complete the work

in just over seven weeks and they only spent just under £10,000,

far below their original prediction of £20,000.

But with the kitchen walls still standing

and no French doors in sight, the spend was bound to be reduced.

So when we first moved in,

we did talk about potentially knocking down the wall

between the lounge and the kitchen but after working out the logistics

and having a look around,

we didn't think it would be right for the size of the lounge,

where your sofa, your dining table and stuff might go

so for us personally,

we thought it would work out better to leave it up.

We also considered doing French doors going out to the back garden

to open it up.

The logistics didn't work out on that one to be fair.

The window man couldn't get up at the same time we were here

but considering it now,

we are actually still going to go ahead and do that.

Within the next couple of weeks, we are going to put them back in.

As the house is a long way from home in Essex,

the pair saved travel time by living on-site

with the help of neighbours providing the odd meal

and countless cups of coffee.

For the first few weeks, we didn't even have a shower here,

so washing in a bucket, things like that.

I don't know how he done it but Jake still managed to keep

his hair looking beautiful like it is now.

Somehow he's done it.

I think he actually used his plaster to plaster your hair, didn't you?

It was quite difficult not showering.

You can see Dad has still got some of the dust in his by the colour,

so he's looking forward to having a shower when we get back.

All right, fellas, break it up.

With a total spend here of just under £80,000,

father and son will be keen to find out valuations

and the opinions of two local property agents,

starting with the agent who saw it originally.

I'm really pleased to see

what the new owners have done with the property.

They haven't gone overboard because the area does have a ceiling price

and it looks fantastic.

The standard of finish throughout the property is a good standard.

A nice kitchen has gone in, good bathroom.

Just finishes the project well.

Originally, the agent thought this house could make £85,000 on resale.

What does he reckon now he's seen this?

If I were to put this property on the market for resale,

I would be comfortable with a figure of a £105,000.

I would suggest that the property's value

is in the region of £105,000 to £110,000.

The higher valuation of £110,000

would give a possible pre-tax profit of £30,000,

making Mark and Jake's overspend on auction day

seem like a good decision.

However, it's rental they're most interested in.

I would suggest that the rental

would be set around £525 per calendar month.

I'd be expecting to achieve £475 per calendar month.

We've estimated it to be around £500 to maybe £550 if we were lucky

but the first valuation,

the higher figure is what we have already been offered by someone,

-so pleased. We happy with that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Well, that top valuation of £525 per month

could mean a yield of around 8%,

making this project something of a success.

However, the boys certainly aren't finished in Stoke just yet.

Yeah, we've already got our next property in the pipeline

and that's just round the corner from here, not too far away

so we're undecided whether the camp beds are coming out

or we're going to stay here and move in here for a little while

but I don't know.

I need a bit of luxury. Your hair again, can it cope?

I'm quite happy with the camp bed. I just get on with everything.

I'm not a diva like Dad is, so we'll cope.

We head south now to Aldgate, London,

named after one of the gates in the Roman wall that surrounded the area.

Since then, there's been a lot of building.

You can see the famous Gherkin just over there.

Transport links are great, with trains, buses and Boris bikes,

and the property I'm here to see is just around the corner

from this tube station.

No, this is never going to be the quietest place to be

but what do you expect when you're in Central London?

But this is a pleasant street

and I'm here to see something that's in this attractive building today.

Now, it had a guide price of 230,000,

which sounds reasonable for this part of London

but that is for just a studio flat.

Anyway, enough of the talking.

Let's head on up to the first floor,

take a look around because I've got a feeling this won't take too long.

The communal areas are neat, tidy, bright and fairly modern

so a good start.

Well, compact is the word that springs to mind

but it's all clean and tidy.

Well, that's quite a bit of storage for a studio flat.

I mean, that really is almost a luxury here in London.

I'm not sure the fridge looks great there

but the kitchen, well, there's nothing wrong with that.

You've got a granite worktop. Look at it. Fantastic.

Two lovely feature windows, although this does cover them up.

I wonder whether if you got rid of that,

you might see a bit more of the window.

And in here, look, this is a real luxury!

There's a bath in here!

The reason I say that is because if you're looking at space saving,

you'd normally have a wet room or just a shower.

So I'm thinking with my head not my heart, even though I do love a bath.

What about if we take the bathroom out of there,

we put the kitchen in there and we just have a shower room in there?

That would work. You've got to think about the expense of doing that.

Or you could just leave it as it is because actually,

quite frankly, it works perfectly well.

If I were going to live here,

I would move the kitchen and bathroom and make them high spec.

It's the only way to maximise the value

when there is no going upwards or outwards.

It would also make the space nice to live in.

I mean, not sleeping in your kitchen has to be a plus.

It all requires clever thought in how to reconfigure and furnish it.

So what sort of furniture should you choose for a studio flat?

There are plenty of clever options on the market these days

and you should always opt for pieces with on-board storage.

You could choose a convertible bed that folds up against the wall.

That could be a good choice,

and you might even find one that has a flatscreen TV on the front.

Instead of a standard sofa, you could use a two-seater,

and glass shelves and glass tables

are always great for blending into their surroundings

without feeling cluttered.

Yes, you will need to be clever here

but it will be worth it in the long run

and I think you could do a lot better

than what's here at the moment.

# You and me, me and you in my little room... #

To you, this lot might seem tiny and overpriced

at that guide price of 230,000

but it has 122 years left on its lease

and it's in the up-and-coming location of Aldgate.

Add in the current hot London property market

and I think this little flat might go for surprisingly big numbers.

What does a local estate agent make of this studio flat?

Aldgate as an area appeals to a lot of people because it's central.

A lot of the City professionals like to be around here.

You can actually walk into the City.

It traditionally has been an area that's always performed quite well

in the sales market and it's probably one of the fastest-growing areas

in London over the last 12 months.

That should bode well for the rental market.

What sort of rent could you expect?

Once renovated, I think you should be looking

in the region of £1,200 per calendar month

because of location more than anything else.

So is the guide price of 230,000 what you would expect?

230,000 is quite cheap for the location,

if I'm completely honest with you. It's an area where again,

the prices have risen quite dramatically in the last year.

Lots of new developments have pushed the prices up.

If you look at the new developments that are in and around

this apartment,

they're going for prices in the region of £1,000 per square foot.

So at around 290 square feet, it should enable a developer

to make a potential profit after refurbishment.

If renovated to a high standard,

I think the property could achieve in the region of £315,000.

If done to a standard with a very good kitchen and bathroom,

I think that's the kind of region you could look at.

Well, it might only have two small rooms but you'd be hard pushed

to find even a studio flat for that guide price

in this Central London spot,

and I hope my tips have shown you how easy it is

to make a studio space perfectly liveable.

So let's see who agreed when we went to auction.

What am I bid for this one? Lot 55, Aldgate.

Nice little pied-a-terre for you. 210. I don't mind.

Thank you, sir. 210.

210. 215 now. 215.

220. 25. 30.

230. 35? 35. 40?

40? 240. 45?

45. 50? 50 now. 55?

55. 60?

60. 65? 65. 70?

70. 75, gentlemen? 75. Make it to 80, please?

No. 275. Back with you. Front row on the left. First time at 275.

Second time at 275. Third and final time at 275. Want to come back?

Shakes his head. Yours, gentlemen, then, at 75. All out?

HE HITS GAVEL

Sold to the gentlemen. Thank you very much. £275,000.

And the successful bidder, sat with his son Ashish,

was property developer Anoop.

Unfortunately, he broke through the 3% stamp duty barrier

with his spend of £275,000.

We met back at the studio

and squeezed into his new bedroom, lounge and kitchen

to find out more of his plans.

-Anoop, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-So here we are in a rather small studio flat today.

-Very small.

-Didn't take you long to look round, I'm presuming.

-No. One look.

One look, one glance. "I'll have it." So come on, tell me the story.

Why did you want to buy here in Aldgate?

Well, the City prices, residential prices

are catching up with the West End and the Knightsbridge

and the Chelseas so it's a good buy.

-London is going ballistic at the moment...

-Definitely.

..in terms of property prices.

-Do you think there is money to be made here?

-Yes.

So you paid 275,000 for this flat.

Yes, it's nearly £1,000 per square foot.

-So you paid nearly £1,000 per square foot. That's quite expensive!

-It is.

It's quite expensive but when you look at the position of it,

Aldgate, what's going around here,

the studios in the new buildings are nearly £500,000 to £600,000.

Studios will be the thing.

I know. A lot of people that wouldn't even look at a studio

but it depends if you want to be in the heartbeat of London.

That's what you're possibly looking at.

-Well, I mean, if you look at Tokyo, they've got cubicles.

-Yeah.

People live in them.

I'm aiming for a professional to come in, to rent it out or to sell it

if I could get a margin of 15% to 20%.

So you're hoping that the property market will continue to rise?

Definitely. There's not enough stock in London.

Well, I hope we never have to make Cubicles Under The Hammer.

Anyway, Anoop is partly banking on those property prices powering on

but he's not going to sit back.

He has a plan to add more value and he's not going to be working alone.

His son Ashish looks after the money side of the family projects

and his daughter Artie has just completed a Masters degree

in design and architecture

and she has already been working on some designs

for her father's acquisition.

So what are you going to do to change this?

How are you going to make that margin?

My daughter Artie,

she's just done a rough two designs on this to change it slightly.

So how do you think you can change it?

Because walking in here today, it kind of works.

The lighting has to be changed.

You've got the tiling, which is completely I think wrong here.

The fridge, which stands out there which should be under the units,

so I mean, there's quite a lot to be changed.

You'll be surprised when we finish with it.

Are you going to leave the bathroom where it is?

Bathroom, I'm thinking of changing it to take the bath out,

put a shower, a good shower in.

Something I thought of earlier, why not put the kitchen in there

and the wet room or the shower room in there?

It's a fantastic idea.

The first thing I thought of was to do what you just said

but with the way everything is laid out, the pipe work, it...

We might look at it.

Ah, you see, I can hear your brain going,

"Oh, I might go back and look at that."

It would make it a very big flat then.

Let's talk about your budget.

How much money have you got to do the work?

-25,000.

-That's quite a healthy budget.

£25,000 to do the work here.

The thing is, you can't buy off-shelf.

It has to be made, so once you start making units and the cupboards,

the cost goes up.

So a bespoke studio flat in Aldgate

-is exactly what you're going to have.

-Exactly.

How long do you think it's going to take you

before this project is complete?

-Within six to eight weeks.

-So fairly quick.

-Yeah.

You have to finish. Otherwise, then it's costing you money.

-So, Anoop, I know you're a property developer full-time.

-Yes.

-Is this something that you still enjoy doing?

-Oh, yes.

-Property is in my blood.

-It's been lovely meeting you.

-Congratulations. Good luck with this.

-Thank you very much.

-I'm looking forward to seeing the refurbishment. Well done.

-Thank you.

Well, Anoop might have bought himself a small space

but he has big plans for this studio flat.

However, he still has some layout decisions to make

and will we return to see that granite worktop?

Join me later on in the programme and you can find out.

Doing up a property always takes longer than you think.

We've seen how one person got on. How about the others?

Did our buyers take longer than they'd planned? Time to find out.

Let's head back to the south side of Glasgow where earlier,

I looked at a studio flat

with a guide price of just £10,000 to £20,000.

However, before I'd even got inside, alarm bells were ringing.

Well, that's not a very good start, is it?

Very badly damaged glass there.

Communal areas, they just set the scene, don't they?

It's not looking brilliant.

Despite the lacklustre welcome,

the studio was bought for £18,000 by Janet.

She had just acquired three properties at auction,

of which this was one.

The aim was to provide a pension for her future

but since this was a journey into the unknown,

she had enlisted the help of friend and colleague Bud

who had some property development know-how,

so I wondered if they would like my idea

about turning the studio into a one-bedroom flat.

You probably could make it into a one-bed flat.

-That's what I was thinking.

-I'm not going to do that.

I think we're going to just leave it as a studio

and maybe try and purchase one of those beds

-that goes up into the corner.

-Uh-huh.

I think that's our plan is to leave it as it is

and to get it on the market, as in the rental market,

as soon as possible.

A bonus for Janet was that some work had already been done

and as the auction house runs a scheme

whereby a local building supply company sponsors one lot,

the flat also came with 30 litres of white paint,

so her tight budget of £1,500

and even tighter timeframe of just two weeks was looking achievable.

Well, four weeks later, we've returned to see how she's got on.

With small spaces such as this, you need to maximise light and space,

which they've done well here

and not without a little creativity.

What I did was fitted this bed and it's very much a case of

because it was a studio flat,

I thought that the bed would be a central point

and this is one of the fold-down beds that goes away during the daytime

and leaves the full capacity of the room to be used

so the whole bed can get made up in a oner

and then in the morning, you just shove the bed away

and that's it, turns into a cupboard and that's you ready.

A simple and effective solution to a space problem

and coupled with a nice clean finish to the rest of the property,

Janet and Bud really have made this studio flat far more appealing.

It's been four weeks since we got the keys

and what we've done is some decoration, living room and kitchen,

fitted a wall bed and within the bathroom, we've fitted a shower...

-Wet room wall.

-Wet room wall,

and obviously there's still a bit of decoration

still to be done within the bathroom.

It still needs some wallpaper.

Along with some new flooring in the bathroom,

the studio flat has really improved.

However, it was actually the communal areas,

or close as it's known in Scotland,

that really needed work

and with the addition of 30 litres of white paint

from the company that sponsored the property at auction,

the pair were keen to improve the surroundings of Janet's purchase.

So we're going to use that paint to do the communal areas of the stairs.

However, so far, the builder has not turned up with the paint,

so the outside area is still to be done.

We have been trying to contact other local residents

and dropped my name through each of the doors

to try and form a wee group

to get a factor to look after the communal areas for us.

There does seem to be some interest but it's quite limited as of yet.

We're going to have to try and get some sort of factor arrangement.

I think some of the other neighbours that we've been speaking to

have been putting their own lights in and trying to maintain it

but obviously that takes an awful lot of work from individuals.

Luckily for Janet, the state of the close

hasn't put prospective renters off

and they've already found a tenant,

which is just as well

as they unfortunately came across some unexpected costs.

We got a notice from I think it was Glasgow City Council

that said that there had been communal work done

to the roofing area

of which we then have a portion to pay, which was about £2,800 to pay.

Glasgow City Council, the contact person has been great.

She explained the works that they had done,

which was an infestation of pigeons in all of the roofs

so they had to obviously clean all of the loft spaces

and fix the roof so no more pigeons could come in,

so I think the total bill was about £30,000, so as Bud rightly says,

our share of that I think is just...

I think it's exactly £2,914, which isn't ideal

but that's the position that we're in.

There is some discussion between Janet and her solicitor

about whether she is liable to pay these costs,

so aside from those, Janet's renovation has cost £1,800

and taken just over two weeks to complete.

Not far off her original estimates.

And with a total spend of £19,800,

coupled with the fact she's already been able to rent it out,

I think she and Bud should be rather pleased.

We've asked two local property experts for their opinions,

starting with the agent who saw it originally.

I like the way that the owners have decorated it.

They've managed to maintain the nice airy feel about the property.

The introduction of the fold-down bed is particularly good

given the size of the property.

And it will be attractive to anybody

either buying or renting the property.

Well, speaking of renting...

I would say currently,

you would comfortably achieve £300 per calendar month.

I would expect this property to achieve £300 per calendar month.

That's fine. In actual fact, we've already got it rented out.

We're charging 280 per calendar month.

That would mean a huge rental yield of just under 19%.

That, coupled with a modest valuation of £22,000,

bringing in a pre-tax profit of £2,200,

shows that their decision to keep the property and rent it

was the right one,

making Janet's first foray into the property market a success.

Well, a great result on the Scottish studio flat

but now it's time to find out

how the other studio in Aldgate, London fared.

It had a guide price of £230,000.

To be honest, I had low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised.

Look! This is a real luxury! There's a bath in here!

Step up, Anoop, a seasoned property developer,

who, along with son Ashish,

bought the studio flat at auction for a whopping £275,000.

HE HITS GAVEL

Sold to the gentleman. Thank you very much.

45 grand over the guide price.

So you paid £275,000 for this flat.

Yes, it's nearly £1,000 per square foot.

So you paid nearly £1,000 per square foot. That's quite expensive!

It's quite expensive but when you look at the position of it,

Aldgate, what's going around here,

I mean, the studios in the new buildings,

they're nearly about £500,000 to £600,000.

Studios will be the thing.

Anoop was totally unfazed by the price paid

and along with his son and daughter helping,

he had aspirations of creating a bespoke high-end property

attractive to the nearby City workers.

Two months later, we have returned

to see how the project has progressed.

# Everything is good and brown

# I'm here again

# With a sunshine smile upon my face

# My friends are close at hand

# And all my inhibitions have disappeared without a trace

# I'm glad I found

# Somebody who I can rely on... #

Anoop's daughter Artie has played a blinder when it comes to the design.

Clever storage makes much better use of the space.

The lay out has remained the same

and while some people in other parts of the country

may baulk at sleeping in your kitchen,

for a studio in this location, well, it certainly works.

To find out more, we're going to catch up with Anoop's son Ashish

as Anoop is currently away on business.

We've changed the flooring at the moment.

We've kept the granite worktop

but we've added some new retro tiles,

new units, a completely new bathroom,

walk-in wardrobe and we have changed sort of the furniture in here

as well, just to make it nicer.

We think the type of person that would be wanting a flat like this

is sort of like a City trader, someone who works in the City.

It's only ten minutes' walk from here.

So we've gone for a high-end finish with some nice amenities.

And just basically a pied-a-terre

for a high-end client, really.

In terms of the bathroom,

we were thinking of putting it into where the walk-in wardrobe is now

but we tried it.

We sort of measured it out, masked it all out.

It just didn't work.

It would have to have been a very small shower room

and the actual WC would have had to stay in the bathroom anyway

so the layout didn't work with the planner, with my sister

who helped design it

and so we just decided to keep it where it was.

It just was the best use of the space.

Good thinking. There's no point changing something

for change's sake.

It's got to work and in such a small space remain practical.

It's also important to know your market

and Anoop and son Ashish have clearly recognised

that prospective buyers or renters in the area

will be expecting a high-end finish,

even if it's just a place to lay their head during the week.

Whilst Anoop has been managing other projects,

it's been down to Ashish to oversee this renovation

and with a background in accountancy,

it's clear where his main strengths lie.

My father initially thought it would cost about £25,000

to actually do up the flat.

I've brought that in quite a lot under

with strict ruling, I would say,

so we've actually come in under budget at 12,000...about 12,300.

I still think we've spent where it's necessary.

I think in terms of the initial estimates

of the actual look of the flat,

we were pricing a lot of bespoke furniture

but we've actually managed to bring in sort of non-custom furniture,

which has saved us a lot of money, I think.

I think that really has brought that in budget.

It's actually taken six weeks to do the project.

We've bought it in under time as well.

We've done that just by keeping

a very, very sort of strong overview of the labour force

and just ensuring that they met their targets

and we've got everything in here before the build started,

so it's just been quite a very...

well, strongly-managed project,

this one, which is why it's come in under budget and under time.

So a tightly-run ship has certainly paid dividends.

However, they are still undecided whether to rent or sell.

Can we help them decide?

With a total spend of around 287,000 here,

it's going to be interesting to hear the opinions

of two local property experts.

I think it's an excellent property, finished to a very high standard.

They've made the best use of the space, very contemporary feel

and I think it would be very, very popular

for either an investor or potentially a City professional.

It's not a large space but they've done really well

with utilising some of the space in the wardrobe area.

There's a very strong demand for flats like this at the moment.

It's located on the City fringes,

which means easy access into the City

so there's a very high demand for professionals

that are looking for pied-a-terres in the area.

In the current market, you'll be looking at achieving,

for rentals,

anything between £1,450 to £1,475 per month.

This property would rent for in the region

of between £1,200 to £1,400 per calendar month.

The top valuation there would equate to a possible yield

of just over 6%, which is pretty reasonable

but it's the sales valuations I'm dying to hear.

For a current resale in this location,

with the quality of the apartment, you'd be looking at £350,000.

I would resell this property in the region of £350,000.

At 350,000, I think that's a good profit in a short period of time.

I think that's been achieved by the actual kit-out

and how we fit out the property

and I'm really pleased with that, actually.

I think it's more than what we thought

so I'm glad that we have added value to the property.

Yes, I'd say a possible profit of nearly £63,000

for six weeks' work, well, isn't too bad at all.

With plenty more properties in the pipeline

for Ashish and his father coming up,

does he think Dad will be happy with the valuations?

I think my father will be very pleased with the values.

I think, as I said, it's more than what we thought it would be

so I'm glad that with our hard work,

it's sort of paid off, so he'll be thrilled.

Well, that's it for today's show.

We'll meet more new buyers

and find out what they did with their properties next time.

Look forward to seeing you then on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye for now.

-Goodbye.