Episode 68 Homes Under the Hammer

Welcome to the show! It's often said that people make their mind up

about buying a house within the first few seconds of seeing it.

But when it comes to investing in property, mm-mm,

-it's worth spending a bit more time than that.

-Absolutely, Martin.

There are so many properties on offer

and a good place where you can start looking for yours

is down at your local auction house.

Well, before you bid at auction, you really need to do your research

and check everything out.

Let's have a look at what today's bidders on the programme bought.

'I'm in Rotherham,

'where I visit one of the biggest two-bed semis I've ever seen.'

Wow!

And it's not the size of this Putney property that impresses me,

it's the size of the bids.

830, 835...

'And the buyer of this church in Cornwall

'faces a huge renovation and a huge commute.'

-Where are you from?

-Lytham St Annes in Lancashire.

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.

Sir, congratulations.

I'm in South Yorkshire, near to Rotherham,

the beating industrial heart of the area.

But just four miles away,

it's quiet and picturesque in the village of Bramley,

which holds quite a surprise for today's auction.

So, if I said that I was here to see a property

that was described in the auction catalogue as a two-bedroom semi...

Stop there, stop there!

Two-bedroomed semi, with a guide price of £125,000,

what would you expect it looked like?

I guarantee not like this.

# Oh, my God I can't believe it... #

Ah, you weren't expecting that. Let's hope it matches on the inside.

I'm so excited I can hardly control myself. What have we got?

Er, well, first thing, a decision. Do we go up or do we go down?

-We'll go down.

-HE CHUCKLES

MUSIC: Wake Me Up by Aloe Blacc

Parts of the house date from the 17th century

and sections have been added over the years.

Lots of stairs, lots of levels and lots of surprises.

Wow!

What an impressive room!

High ceilings, lots of original details,

this is almost one of those reception rooms

where you don't want it to do anything other than have,

maybe, a chaise lounge in the corner

and an invite to Lord and Lady Farquhar-Harsen's garden party

on the mantelpiece here.

But already, big windows, lots of light... It's fantastic.

Let's see what else there is.

MUSIC: Wake Me Up by Aloe Blacc

Whoa! Another really massive room.

This is the kitchen. Er, now, it's built into an extension

and I suppose it suffers slightly from not having the high ceilings.

But it's still a really good-sized space

and probably a house like this warrants something which

makes this the real heart of the whole property.

So, maybe a really nice handmade kitchen,

if you could afford it, or something like that.

Because you will live in here, I just know it.

Certainly, a lot of space to play with.

And follow the stairs down from that impressive room

and there's more space.

# In the basement Down in the basement, yeah... #

It's a bit dark, a bit damp but just imagine this as a cinema room,

a gym, or even a wine cellar.

Back above ground, this house keeps on giving.

-# You're unbelievable

-Oh!

-#

On the ground floor there's another reception room,

complete with high ceilings and period features.

And moving up to the first floor, the story of space continues.

A family bathroom, two amazing bedrooms

and one even has an en-suite.

Surely, there can't be more to this property?

You certainly get a lot of house for a guide price of £125,000.

But if you can believe it, there is more.

# You're unbelievable. #

We might still be wondering how this could...

HE CHUCKLES

..realistically be called just a two-bedroom semi-detached.

It doesn't make sense really, does it?

But, of course it's got more space

and the extra space, a lot of it, is up in the attic

where somebody's done a partially OK job

of converting it into a liveable space.

You've still got all these fantastic old beams here,

and there's this strange sort of thing going on here with,

like, an en-suite.

But my guess is that this, building-regulations wise,

could not be described as a bedroom,

probably that staircase is not within building regulations.

It probably doesn't have the right size floor joists,

soundproofing, all of those kind of things.

But, I think, spend some money and do this right

because money has been spent already.

You've got the dormers in here and it could be simply spectacular,

maybe one huge bedroom in here with an en-suite,

or maybe even two bedrooms.

Because the house definitely warrants it

and how exciting would it be then?

The compromise for having all this space inside

is that there isn't much on the outside.

But, still, I am really enthusiastic about this property

and I hope a local estate agent shares this excitement.

First impressions of the property,

it's a lot more substantial than I first thought.

It's a large period property, the room sizes are a lot bigger

than what I thought. The only real negative that we might have

is that the back garden doesn't relate to the size of the property

and it is quite hemmed in with neighbouring properties.

In order to maximise the potential in a property like this,

I think the best idea would be to really open up that loft space,

turn the one-bedroom into two good-sized double bedrooms

and I think that would really, then, help it achieve its most potential.

Now we're talking.

With four bedrooms rather than two,

what could this house achieve on the open market?

Renovated to a high standard and put on the market as a four-bed property,

I'd expect a resale value of around about £190,000-£200,000.

Once renovated to a high standard

and kept as a three or even four-bedroom property,

I'd expect a property like this to achieve, on the rental market,

in the region of £700-£800 per calendar month.

Well, what an amazing house

and for anything like that £125,000 guide price,

surely an absolute no-brainer.

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

Where do you want to start on this? Shall we say £100,000?

£100,000?

This was a quiet end-of-day auction and bidding was slow.

We join the auction at £120,000.

Out on my left, then, it's at £120,000.

121 anywhere else?

You can try one more, feel free to come back in otherwise at...

121, 21, new place. 122?

122 now. 122, 123.

124,

125, 126?

You're shaking your head at me now.

Do you want to come back in on this side, 126?

Otherwise, just in, towards the aisle, then, £125,000 I have.

126, now, it's against you and against you.

Anybody else, another thousand?

Otherwise at 125,000 for the first...

One at the back?

125,000 for the second...

..third and final time, we all done? At £125,000...

..sold.

What a steal.

That successful bid, bang on the guide price of 125,000,

came from Paul and Michelle, and I went along to meet them

to find out their plans while also trying to hide my jealousy.

-Michelle, Paul, great to meet you.

-And you, Martin.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I can't believe that it went for the guide price of 125,000.

-Oh, we can't really, can we?

-No.

Why do you suppose it didn't get more?

It's being initially marketed at 195, um,

but I believe there's no planning permission for the bedroom

upstairs, so they've only been able to market it as a two-bedroom

-instead of a three.

-Apart from the obvious, why did you want to buy it?

Well, we've just finished a project not far away, actually,

a couple of miles away,

and we've been looking for the last few months for another project.

I saw this in the auction guide and we come and had a look, didn't we?

-And...

-We did.

-..decided to go to auction...

We didn't really think we'd get it for this price,

to be quite honest, we were going to go a little bit higher

but we thought it might go for a lot more but we didn't, we dropped on.

So, is this your business?

-It's Paul's business and his...colleague.

-Right.

-Yeah.

I've got a partner that...

He don't live round here, he lives in London...

-He does... He supplies money and I supply the labour.

-Right.

That's how it works.

And what's your involvement, Michelle?

Tea mashing, all what he wants me to do, really.

-Are you actually involved during the project?

-Yeah, sometimes, yeah.

-I paint, I decorate...

-You've been on the roof before, haven't you?

I've been on a roof before. Passing roofing tiles up and... Yeah.

# I think it's amazing

# I think it's amazing De da daa de da daa... #

I'm glad they share my love of this amazing place.

Paul teams up with his business partner Phil

to renovate properties for profit,

although it sounds like he needs his trusty tea-maker Michelle

for more than just putting the kettle on.

And it'll be all hands to the pump as they have ambitious plans.

Er, basically, we're hoping to get planning permission for bedrooms

on the top floor and put two bedrooms on the top floor

rather than the one that's there at the moment.

Um, if we can get planning permission for that,

it looks like we probably have to take the roof off totally.

-Rebuild it, in a different way to give us that space upstairs...

-Right.

..to get the bedrooms upstairs.

Turning it from a two-bedroom, as it is now, possibly to a four-bed.

But it's not a four-bed quite yet,

what with planning needed for that loft.

And Paul believes the whole house needs rewiring and to be replumbed.

And he reckons that taking off the roof alone could cost £10,000.

If there's any money left over,

Paul plans to renovate the cellar making it usable again.

But it all does hinge on the planning permission for the loft.

Is it going to require full planning permission, do you think?

I've spoke to my architect, he's not sure.

Um, because it's got dormers already and it's got a bedroom

in the roof space, we might be able to do it under permitted development.

-Right, that'd be good.

-Yeah.

-Time, if nothing else.

Well, it would save us a few month waiting for planning.

They'll also need to drop the ceiling height

on the first floor bedrooms

to create the extra space for the loft to meet planning consent.

But if they don't get planning permission, what's plan B?

I've not really got a backup plan! LAUGHTER

You're confident? It'll be all right.

-Yeah, we just assumed that it will get passed.

-Hm-mm.

Given everything that you said, hopefully it'll be all right.

-What's the budget?

-We're hoping round about 40...

But having a look round today, another look round,

-and seeing what needs doing, it's probably 50, possibly more.

-Right.

What's the timescale, then,

if you don't have to apply for planning permission?

-I'd like to think four month.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-And I'm really excited to see how you get on.

-Aw, thank you.

-One of those projects you just can't wait.

-Yeah?

-Well done.

-Thanks a lot. Cheers.

-Thank you.

Well, it just goes to show there are bargains

to be found at the auctions if you just search them out.

What an amazing property and I can't wait to see

what Michelle and Paul do to it.

You can find out how it all turns out, later in the show.

For some people, living by the sea or on a riverside

provides a real feelgood factor.

For many decades, Putney has been one of the most important centres

for rowing in the UK.

Here on the embankment, by the River Thames,

there are about 20 rowing clubs

and the famous annual Oxford Cambridge University boat race

starts from nearby Putney Bridge over there.

But there's no time for messing about on the water today,

we've got places to go and property to see.

# Living on the riverside

# Taking it all in my str-i-i-de... #

I'm here to view a two-bedroomed terrace on what's known

as one of the river roads that runs straight down to the waterside.

Now, Putney property is usually pretty pricey

and the house I'm here to see is no exception.

It went to auction with a guide price of 675,000.

Now, you don't get a lot for your money around here.

Now, what was for sale is this rather modest end of terrace house.

Let's take a closer look and have a poke around inside.

Well, a property in this location commands a top-end refurb.

This peachy colour scheme is a bit dated

and something modern and fresh and bright needs to be put in its place.

But, you know, the bones of the property are good.

You've got this lovely, lovely little stair banister,

so bits and pieces... There's character dotted about,

which is quite nice.

These two rooms have already been opened up.

You've got this wonderful big space and, look, a lovely sash window.

That is absolutely gorgeous, I would keep that.

But you need to start from scratch - carpets, wall coverings,

fireplaces, it all needs to go.

It could be fantastic, let's hope the kitchen's nice.

Hm-mm... Weary and worn out might be a better description.

# Take a seat in this dream kitchen... #

The kitchen's very narrow,

with just room for a little table at the far end.

To maximise the potential here,

I would fit a kitchen with the wow, not an ow, factor.

Out the back we have a very small garden - about 15ft, I'd say.

Now, you can see the property has already been extended out this way

but you could build a side extension this way.

When you're in London, every little inch you can add really counts

when it comes to sale values.

Looking around upstairs, there are some nice period features and some

not so nice ones!

# Mirror in the bathroom please talk free

# The door is locked just you and me

# Can I take you to a restaurant that's got glass tables?

# You can watch yourself while you are eating... #

The small bedroom is at the back, overlooking that side return,

where I think that kitchen extension should go.

The bigger of the two bedrooms is very light,

with a pair of original sash windows

and there's more space that could be utilised up here, too.

Now, the auction catalogue mentioned the potential for a loft conversion

here, which is exciting.

Indeed, plenty of other houses along the street have already converted

their loft spaces and extending into the roof space

can often be done within permitted development.

So, there's no lengthy planning process to go through.

Would it be worth it?

Well, you only need to look over the road

and check out the neighbours' houses to see that they think so.

I think so, too.

Making this into a three-bedroom house would lift it

into a different price bracket altogether.

You don't just have to take my word for it,

we invited a local estate agent along to get his opinion.

It's a good little house. It's a Victorian...

with a sort of workmen's artesian cottage, originally.

But it's obviously very tired, needs a lot of work done to it.

Provided they do the right things, it could be super.

The ideal way to, I think, maximise the house is to push

the kitchen out to the side, so you take the whole width of the plot.

Sexy lighting everywhere makes a big, big difference.

So, good decorations, tasteful, nothing outrageous,

but a really good quality finish is vital to get the top dollar.

And what would that top dollar be?

Bearing in mind the house, as it stands,

has got a guide price of 675,000.

The interesting thing about this house

is that the people have got a choice.

They can either do it as a super two-bedroom

with a nice big bathroom, in which case, I think, they're looking at...

Probably a target of about £950,000.

Possibly £975,000, depending on just how the market is at the time

and how far they go.

If they go into the loft, make three bedrooms and two bathrooms,

then I think they will be able to get over £1,000,000,

probably £1,050,000 is quite feasible.

Over £1,000,000, for what basically is a small two bed terrace

with a few add-ons. Well, London is a unique market!

What sort of rent would the Putney punters

have to stump up to live here?

As a two-bedroom,

it's probably going to be about £2,000-£2,200 per calendar month.

If they go to the extent of the three bedrooms option,

then that's going to take it up to 2,700/2,800 per calendar month.

With Putney, location is key and it doesn't get much better than this.

And the property, well, I think the only way is up.

You can add some value by just renovating what's there,

but to really make a profit you need to convert that loft

and add an extra bedroom.

But what will the new owner's plan be?

Let's head to auction and find out who bought the Putney pad.

Lot 147, seen this one.

Like Putney, really, really good area.

650?

Not going to go below 650, not going to get anything...

Don't think you get a flat in Putney at 650.

650? 650 on my right, 650.

655 anywhere?

If not, with you at £650,000, anyone else?

650... First time,

second time...

How much?

655. 660. 665?

665...

The telephone bidder and the man who placed the opening bid

continue in £5,000 steps until we rejoin the bidding at 830,000.

830?

835.

840?

835, back to you, sir.

840, elsewhere?

If not, 835, with the gentleman, the first time,

second time,

third and last time, if you're all done...

GAVEL BANGS Sold 835. Well bid.

The final bid of a sizeable £835,000 was made by Jurg,

who usually lives in Switzerland with his wife Gillian.

I met the couple back at their Putney property to find out

why London and not Lucerne.

Jurg and Gillian, great to meet you guys today. Congratulations.

This really is a fabulous little house in a great location.

But, obviously, Jurg, you are from Switzerland.

I am from Switzerland, I'm a hotelier in Switzerland,

although Gillian is English. She grew up here.

When we're here, we live in Barnes.

-OK, so up the road. So, you're not too far away?

-No.

So, what are you two going off nosing around auction houses for?

Come on.

-Well, that is your fault.

-It's my fault?

Yes, that is your fault entirely

because, about three, four years back,

I discovered Homes Under The Hammer and I got hooked by it.

This is our second, or will be our second, property in London.

We've started a business, so we're buying to sell - to do them up

and then to sell them.

We do this in Switzerland and we've brought it over here, too.

And this one just, it just called out to us, "Buy us, buy me!"

And that's what we did.

Although, I must say, I went over - £5,000 over my limit.

Did you go over your limit? Now, is that out of character for you, Jurg?

-Is not that the sort of thing you do?

-No, that was my head.

I knew exactly how far I could go

and I wouldn't go over the limit, other than one.

-Although you did, £5,000.

-Well...

-You call it one, it's more five.

-You know, £835,000...

-Five, not one.

So, tell me, what are you guys going to do to turn it around?

Well, first of all everything will be ripped out.

New wiring, new everything.

-The kitchen will have an extension, a side extension...

-Great.

-We'll make a huge kitchen, with an island in the middle...

-Fabulous.

And then upstairs,

we'll move the walls between the two bedrooms a bit over

because there's one huge bedroom and one small one,

so we'll make the small one a bit bigger

and it'll give more place for the stairs going up to the loft,

-which we'll extend.

-So, you are doing a loft conversion, as well?

Absolutely, with an en-suite.

OK, so you are ticking every box of... Every bit of out and up

-you could possibly do, you guys are doing.

-Absolutely.

So, what have you set aside for the work?

-How much do you think that's going to cost you?

-210,000.

-Precisely.

-Precisely.

-Will it cost you that, will it cost you more, or less?

-No.

-We won't pay more.

-I'm nailing down my builder to that price.

So, £210,000. How much do you intend selling this property for?

-Er...

-One point...?

-1.2 to 1.25.

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

to a really good standard before you can put it on the open market?

I reckon about four months.

-You're going to do this, sell it, onto the next one.

-That's right.

This is quite a fun sort of sideline for you, would you say?

-It is, actually. Yes, it is.

-Do you really enjoy it?

-That's the first time you said that.

-Darling, I always think it's fun.

-It's a hobby and it's a pleasure...

-It's a hobby to make money.

..and also it's an investment.

But I'm sure you're going to do a magnificent job,

and it's been brilliant meeting both...

Ah, but you haven't finished with me!

Before we are parting, of course, we've got to keep up the cliches.

-What have you brought along for me, Jurg?

-Well...

Of course, the Swiss chocolate.

The Swiss chocolate, which I'm not allowed to say what it is.

-That's lovely. Thank you very much. Thank you, that's brilliant.

-OK.

-And he did actually transport it from Switzerland.

-Did you?

-Of course I did.

-Good luck. I cannot wait to see what you do here.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thanks very much.

So, from the Swiss Alps to the Putney Riverside

having renovated property in Switzerland for years,

Jurg and Gillian have now taken on the London housing market.

Will this renovation go smoothly,

having already paid 835 grand for this house?

You can find out how they all get on later in the programme.

Still to come...

In Fraddon, Cornwall,

a possible change of occupation for this developer.

I can't imagine me being the vicar of Fraddon.

And we return to Putney for a grand unveiling.

Oh, we're chuffed.

We're thrilled, absolutely thrilled, with it.

We're back in Rotherham, where earlier I met

Paul and Michelle, who were about to embark on an exciting

renovation of the biggest two-bedroom house I'd ever seen.

Wow!

What an impressive room!

Purchased at auction for, let's be honest,

an extremely modest £125,000,

the couple, together with business partner Phil,

plan to convert the loft space to add two further bedrooms,

but all this hinged on obtaining planning permission.

If we can't get planning permission for that,

it looks like we'll probably have to take the roof off totally,

rebuild it in a different way to give us that space upstairs.

So, this was never going to be a quick paint job and sell on.

These guys plan to do things properly.

It's been five months since our last visit.

Have Paul and Michelle managed to realise

the enormous potential of this place?

I think the answer is - yes!

They've done a fantastic job.

The planning permission went through without a hitch,

allowing the attic space to be transformed,

with two double bedrooms and a family bathroom.

There were two dormer windows originally,

but because we've put in an extra bedroom,

we needed a new window in, so we had to get planning for that.

But, yeah, it were pretty simple.

I just love what Paul and Michelle have done to this house.

Uncovering period details, like this stone fireplace, contrasts

beautifully with the neutral decor and clean lines.

Original, decorative plasterwork has been retained,

adding character and a touch of grandeur

to these ground floor reception rooms.

The kitchen has been completely modernised.

And outside, the garden has been tidied up

and artificial turf has been laid in the front.

On the first floor, the two family bedrooms have been spruced up

and the en-suite replaced.

But that's not been the biggest change to the first floor.

There's quite a major change here.

If you can remember before, coming through the front door,

there were another level with the bathroom.

We've done away with that level

because of the head height as you were coming upstairs.

We've moved the bathroom up onto the top level, and I think it

opens this area up tremendously, and makes it very light and airy.

Since property development is their business,

Paul and Michelle have been pretty hands-on

in order to stretch their budget as far as possible.

-Well, we both get involved.

-Yeah, yeah.

I sometimes get involved in places where I shouldn't do, but...

Jobs such as electrical, we got electricians in,

although we helped them out.

And we got gas fitted in for the central heating.

We fitted the bathrooms -

-Michelle and me did tiling and grouting in the bathrooms.

-Mm-hmm.

But, yeah, we're getting involved in most things,

-usually the mucky jobs that no-one else wants!

-Yeah.

MUSIC: Dirty Work by Steely Dan

Paul and Michelle have ticked everything off their to-do list,

except the cellar.

We've opened the old coal chutes up to get some light into the cellar.

We've put some windows in, we've cleaned them out,

but we thought we'd spent enough.

Their budget was £40,000, although they had some flexibility.

How much did they end up spending?

The original budget, when we first come and looked at it, were £40,000.

Then when we had a closer look, when we got the keys,

we revised that to 50.

By the time we're finished it's going to be more like 60,

but I don't think it's too bad for what we've done.

I totally agree.

They've done a lovely job and I'm still a teeny bit jealous.

As for timescale, they've taken five months rather than four,

but with good reason.

-That were because we went away.

-We went away.

We had a few week away, so it put us back a bit.

-In fact, we went away twice.

-Yeah, we did.

Well, I'm impressed with the final result,

but what will two local property experts think?

Let's get them in from the rain to find out.

It's a beautiful property.

I think it's a really nice merge of old and new.

Obviously, the property's over 400 years old,

but you'd never know that from actually coming in the property.

They've kept some really nice, original features - sort of,

the stone fireplaces, very, very nice decorative coving.

But at the same time you've got this very modern kitchen,

really swish bathrooms and en suites.

So, yeah. Really nice merge of the two.

I think adding a fourth bedroom is a great decision.

It's increased the value of it,

but also opened it up to bigger families

that are looking for a bigger property for their family,

especially with the attraction of Wickersley catchment area,

the school up there - I think it's a great decision.

It's always been Paul and Michelle's intention to put this

house on the market and move onto the next project.

So, how much do our estate agents think the house is now worth?

We'd be putting it on the market at a guide price of £250-270,000.

That will create interest, bringing people through the door.

This year we've had quite a lot of properties

go to best and finals, where they've achieved practically

the top of the guide price, or in some cases, even over.

In today's market, I'd like to advertise this property for sale

in the region of £275,000.

But also, being conscious of the fact that there is

the stamp duty threshold at 250,

I would really like to push to try and achieve that higher figure.

We've had three independent valuations ourselves,

ranging from 240 to nearly 300.

So, 250-270 is probably bang in the middle.

-Yeah, we'd be pleased with that, wouldn't we?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Paul and Michelle have spent a total of £185,000 on this project.

Selling at the property agents' top valuation of £275,000

would give them, and partner Phil, a pre-tax profit of £90,000.

So, what's next for our Rotherham couple?

We've got another property, hopefully that we're

going to be starting next week, so we need to sell this one

and get this one out of the way.

Obviously, we've spent that much on it, we wouldn't want to rent it,

so it needs to sell.

I'm in Fraddon,

about 20 minutes outside the county town of Cornwall, Truro.

Cornwall, of course, famous for its piskies,

pasties and glorious scenery.

Now, Fraddon itself isn't actually on the coast,

but it's surrounded by this gorgeous, gorgeous landscape.

It's been bypassed by the A30, so it's quite quiet,

and is now a very desirable place to live.

MUSIC: Sparky's Dream by Teenage Fanclub

The property I'm here to see

is a Grade II listed former Methodist Church.

But I'm not here for spiritual enlightenment,

I'm here to see if it will make a viable property development.

Well, the guide price at auction was 50,000 quid, so that's a good start.

Let's take a look inside.

Well, you never know quite what to expect

when you come into these kind of places, but first thing I noticed,

the flooring here at the entrance all given away, it's rotted,

which means that the building itself might not be in that

good a state. But we've got some original pews, that's nice to see.

And then the room itself?

Wow!

What a great space.

Your imagination immediately starts working overtime, doesn't it?

What would you do with this? If you were to turn it into a home,

are we talking mezzanine floors, are we talking great galleried areas...?

I don't know.

It's wonderful and it really is a blank canvass...

onto which you can do what you want.

Oh, a piano!

HE PLAYS SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT

Perfect.

MUSIC: (I Love The Sound Of) Breaking Glass by Nick Lowe

The piano isn't the only thing that's a bit off-key in this place.

As well as the rotting floor, there are broken windows,

invading vegetation, signs of water ingress,

and the fabric of the building looks to be slowly deteriorating.

Left without remedial repairs,

it won't be long before real structural issues develop.

The area used for worship is at the front half of the building,

but to the rear is a good-sized hall and several smaller rooms.

Plenty of space and plenty of work to do.

Now, you might be wondering why a nice enough little

building like this in a gorgeous part of Cornwall only had

a guide price of 50,000 quid?

Well, the answer of course is that it doesn't have

planning permission to be anything other than a church, at the moment.

The good news though,

is that no planning application has been put in and refused,

so possibly the planners would be interested in seeing this converted,

and I personally think they would,

rather than having it just sitting here, crumbling away.

And, of course, if you can get that planning permission to convert it

into a residential building - oh, boy -

it suddenly turns into a gold mine. Or, should I say, a tin mine?

We are in Cornwall.

So, what are the options? I think the answer is - plenty.

A single dwelling, two flats, a business venture

or a community enterprise are all uses that would suit this place.

MUSIC: Rescue Me by Fontella Bass

But obtaining planning permission is key and that Grade II listing

would probably mean a long list of conditions.

In particular, retaining as many original features as possible.

Hmm. Water feature, perhaps?

Well, with a place like this, on a main road,

parking is always going to be an issue,

especially if you're thinking about converting this for some

kind of commercial use. The planners would definitely

want to see places where customers could park their cars.

Well, the good news is the plot of land

extends by the side of the church.

Parking for at least one, two, three, four, five cars -

good result.

All in all, I'm impressed by how many options this property offers.

However, the planning issue makes evaluation less straightforward.

What will a local property expert think?

Is this former church a heaven-sent opportunity,

or will it be a devil of a job to restore?

I think the property's got just graphic potential

to possibly be two units, but more likely

a great big house with lots of parking,

and maybe some office space for someone to work from home.

Planning should be relatively straightforward,

although it's never a foregone conclusion.

But you are a redundant church...chapel

and you are, quite plainly, in the run of a residential area.

So I would have thought permission to turn it into a home -

albeit with restrictions over what you can do, inside and out -

should be almost guaranteed.

Let's be bold and speculate that planning permission will be granted.

What sort of value could we expect to see here?

Property prices in Cornwall tend to be

influenced by proximity to the sea.

The further you get inland, the more the prices are a little bit

on the lower side.

It's really easy to make a two-bedroom unit out of here,

but with a bit of clever use of space,

you should be able to get a three-bedroom house.

Either way, the end value's going to be something like

in the region of £165-180,000.

And what about the rental market?

Would this be a suitable holiday let once renovated?

Done nicely, there's every possibility of getting

between £600-650 a calendar month.

I don't want to preach,

but I think that this place is a fantastic opportunity.

Get that all-important planning permission

and you would be singing hallelujah.

Let's see who had the divine inspiration to buy it

when it went to auction.

This is the Methodist Chapel.

Who'll kick us off at 50 then, at the guide?

Not going to go below the guide.

50 somewhere?

50, we're away. Thank you, sir. 50, I've got at 50.

Ask two? At 52?

Five? 55.

58, perhaps? 58.

At 58. And 60, do I?

58, I've got. 60.

At 60. At 62.

At 62, looking for five.

At 62.

At 62, side and back out. At 62.

At 62,000. Last chance then?

At 62...

Four! Hells bells. 64.

64.

66.

66? 66. That's 66.

That's energised both of you. 68.

And 70.

69? I will.

70?

70.

One.

And two.

And...three.

And...three and a half.

74.

At 74.

And a half, again.

74 and a half.

At 74 and a half.

At 74 and a half, once, then.

75.

At 75. No good glaring at me like that, sir. Good heavens!

At 75, once.

At 75, twice.

Make no mistake, at 75, here we go.

Serious now.

At 75, last chance.

Good and serious, going to be serious,

At 75.

Sir, congratulations. Well done. There you go.

That £75,000 bid was made by Bart, a plumber by profession.

Handy if he has to re-plumb that organ.

I was keen to hear what plans he had in store for the church,

so we met up for a chat.

Straight off, there were a couple of surprises.

-Bart, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

-Now, you've bought yourself a church!

-I believe so, yeah.

Why did you want to buy it?

I think one of the reasons was the price - it was affordable -

and maybe we could do something interesting with it.

-Do you know the area at all?

-Not all, no.

-Where are you from?

Lytham St Annes in Lancashire.

-So how did you stumble on this place?

-Well, it was just by chance.

Somebody sent me the auction guide and I looked through,

and in the photograph it looked as if you could see the sea.

But of course, I found out it's not the sea, now. It's 15 miles away.

Right. What is it that you could see?

-Well, it was just a colour in the photograph.

-Oh, no!

But, of course, at 75,000, it would be a little bit more than that

-if was that close to the sea.

-So did you see it before you bought it?

I called in, in the morning,

-for five minutes.

-Right.

-I drove overnight,

and then just popped in and had a look round.

Now, normally after hearing all this,

I would suspect that this was a bit of an impulse buy,

except Bart has renovated a church before in the Scottish Highlands.

So, why switch from the extreme north to extreme south?

I love Truro and this area, and we've got big plans for going fishing

and doing all these other activities that we can do here.

-Right. So you'll use the holiday home yourself?

-Absolutely.

My idea would be to turn it into two holiday lets.

-Oh, wow.

-If we're successful with the planning, I could live here.

Bart has budgeted £50,000 to convert this church into two flats

and, to keep costs down, plans to do much of the work himself.

Although he will have to find a way to do that

and run his plumbing business.

Conversions like this can be problematic and expensive -

a fact of which Bart is all too aware.

From the minute the hammer goes down, you're paying interest on the money.

So, we have to make it viable, yeah.

So, we need a bit of luck with the planning.

We maybe have to offer a little prayer.

-Well, you're in the right place to do that, for sure!

-Yeah.

What are you going to do if you don't get the planning permission?

Erm, I don't know what else to do with this.

I can't imagine me being the vicar of Fraddon.

So, hopefully, fingers crossed that we will get some form of planning.

Well, I think you know that you've got some challenges ahead,

-but I do wish you all the best with it.

-Thank you.

-And look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you very much.

Well, let's hope that Bart doesn't have to resort to becoming

the vicar of Fraddon. However, there are a lot of challenges ahead.

He's got to get that planning permission. He's got - I think -

a fairly tight budget and he lives so far away,

so managing the project isn't going to be easy.

So, it's by no means a clear-cut success story.

You can find out how he gets on later in the show.

Martin, we've had a look at what's happened to one of today's projects.

-Yes, but what about the other two? How did they get on?

-Let's find out.

Anywhere within rowing distance of Central London

comes with a price tag and Putney, on the South Bank, is no exception.

This unassuming two-bed terrace, close to the river, was bought

by Swiss-based couple Gillian and Jorg for a hefty £835,000.

This one just called out to us, "Buy us. Buy me."

And, that's what we did.

Their plan was to extend upwards to create a third bedroom,

stretch the existing rear extension to the full width of the garden

and give the rest of the house a good makeover.

Sounds expensive!

So, how much money would the couple need to get

this house finished to the high standard they're aiming for?

£210,000.

-Precisely.

-We won't pay more.

I'm nailing down my builder to that price.

That's definitely a precision budget.

But did this renovation run like clockwork?

Jorg and Gillian had given the builders four months for this job

and we came back eight months later to see how they'd got on.

Well, it looks like Gillian and Jorg have done a great job on this house.

-Oh, we are chuffed.

-We're thrilled, absolutely thrilled with it.

It is just lovely.

And anybody who would say,

"No, it's not really our thing, this house," we would be surprised

because it really is quite stunning.

Requiring no planning permission, that attic conversion boasts

a spacious bedroom, with a large family bathroom.

Plus, this fantastic Juliet balcony.

Thanks to some clever rearranging on the first floor,

two bedrooms have now become three.

Well, first of all, behind me, this was the bathroom.

And we thought that we could increase

the number of bedrooms on the first floor to three,

by moving the bathroom here in the middle,

taking a little bit of space from both bedrooms.

So, we are very pleased that we now have four bedrooms instead of two.

The showpiece on the ground floor is this beautiful kitchen extension.

The larger area has allowed the creation of an island

and the new windows, spots and reflective surfaces

spread light throughout.

We strived to reach a very high level of finish.

The look had to be something that would suit young businesspeople

because the house is really geared, we think, for that.

The road that this house is located in is just such a fabulous road.

They're all young, extremely friendly people,

and they've all come in - unbeknown to us - to look at this house

and they have passed on this information to others.

You know, "There's this house that's just been done."

So, this was important, that the finish looked good,

even for the older - and younger - people who walked in off the street.

Jorg and Gillian had given their team of builders four months

to transform this property. Did the project run to time?

It took us exactly seven and a half months. Why is that?

Well, there was summertime and, of course,

it was a bit underestimated by the builder.

And we didn't push them too much

because we'd rather have a good job than keep within the timeframe.

We had a very tight budget with the builder, who had to keep

within the budget, and he has, and that's where we are - £210,000.

The neighbours have been to visit, so I'm sure Jorg and Gillian

won't mind if we invite two local estate agents to view the house.

Having spent £1,045,000...

..will Jorg and Gillian see a healthy return on that investment?

I think it's a really stunning property.

The owner's done an amazing job of refurbishing everything throughout.

Beautiful finish throughout, lovely granite work surfaces

and porcelain tiles. Yeah, it's a stunning house.

It is a complete transformation, it's a totally different house.

They've done a wonderful extension at the back,

created the most fabulous kitchen.

They've converted the top floor to make a lovely master suite,

fabulous big bedroom and a big en-suite shower room.

So, stunning home. Absolutely stunning.

"Stunning" is the expert consensus.

Will the figures be equally knockout?

The top prices in the area are about £1,000 per square foot,

so therefore we'd put this on the market between £1.35m-£1.4m.

I'm thinking that we're probably looking at a value

that is in the region of £1.2m-£1.3m.

And, in fact, it's so special that if there's enough people

interested, they might get bids over that 1.3, I think.

If they achieve a sale of £1.3m,

Gillian and Jorg stand to make a profit of £255,000,

before tax and fees.

But they have already put this house on the market.

Is their asking price anywhere near our valuations?

Of course we have thoughts, we have hopes,

but we'll see what the market will bring.

But we have a very good idea of where we want to go.

But we're not particularly going to tell you

the price that we are expecting.

The agent might tell you what HE'S expecting,

but we don't agree with him!

Earlier on, I took a trip to Cornwall, where plumber

and part-time property developer Bart had purchased this

Grade II listed former church in the village of Fraddon for £75,000.

Purchased without planning permission, Bart had a lot

of bargaining to do with the local planning authorities

before any work could start here,

a process made more complicated by the church's listed status.

To stretch out his meagre budget of £50,000,

Bart was planning to do much of the work himself.

A major undertaking, but Bart was determined to make a go of this,

as he wasn't too keen on the alternative.

I don't know what else to do with this.

I can't imagine me being the vicar of Fraddon.

Our first visit was in 2009. And now, five years later,

we're back to catch up with Bart and his church.

Question is, will he be wearing hi-vis vest and a hard hat,

or a cassock and a dog collar?

MUSIC How Long by Ace

With little signs of progress on the project,

I sense we may be about to hear a tale of Cornish woe.

We have had some problems

and it just seems to have gone on forever, yeah.

MUSIC: U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer

It's been problematic all right.

When developing listed buildings, every detail of work needs to

be approved by the authorities before going ahead.

However, Bart admits to being a bit over-enthusiastic by starting

on things before he'd been given the green light.

This Lytham St Annes plumber got himself into a bit of hot water.

The floor in the Sunday School was in a dangerous condition,

so I took all of the floor out

and ended up putting a new floor in, which is a breach of the conditions.

Was that all, then? Of course not.

There must have been some more unforeseen problems.

We had a survey done on the organ

by the guy who repaired the organ at Truro Cathedral.

He came to look at it and said it had no value whatsoever,

but he did say he could use the parts for other organs within this area.

He came and took it all away

and spent a lot of time in doing that,

but the planning department thought that

I'd vandalised the organ in the church,

which I hadn't done.

So it looked as though I'd created a big problem for myself.

Falling foul of planning conditions meant that Bart had to

resubmit his application, which cost him time and £3,000.

The lesson for anyone undertaking this kind of project is

to check and check again before you do so much as lift a screwdriver.

Add to that changes to the architect

and trying to run a plumbing business from Lytham St Annes,

and it becomes clearer why, five years on,

the church is still an empty shell.

When we spoke in 2009,

Bart was worried about financing this project,

so has he resolved that particular situation?

I used the facilities from the bank initially to buy at auction

and, as things have seemed to fall apart a little bit with

the money markets, I realised that this was going to be long-term,

and I was fortunate enough to have sold a property.

So, rather than put the money left over from that into another venture,

I thought it would be a good idea to pay this one off.

With gas, electricity and drainage in the process of being

run into the building,

Bart is hopeful that full planning permission is very close

and he can finally get down to some serious work.

The plans are to convert the back area into a three-bedroom property

and build a one or two-bedroom flat in the existing chapel.

We've lost a lot of time, but hopefully,

if we're given the go-ahead now, I would think that

I'd like to get it done within the next 9-12 months to completion.

Bart's new plan means that his original

budget of just £50,000 is history.

He's already spent £20,000 getting it to this stage

and reckons another £80,000 will finish the job.

But will it be worth it?

Two local estate agents have come along to tell us what they think.

These are not going to be bog-standard new houses,

they will have just that little something extra about them,

and that always helps selling.

My first impressions are that it's a really good project,

lots of potential here.

You could really make this a profitable project.

Those words will be music to Bart's ears.

Just how much profit could we be talking here?

Luckily, our experts were agreed on their valuations.

The two-bedroom dwelling at the front of the property,

in current market conditions, would achieve £130-£135,000.

For rent, £600-£625 per calendar month.

The house to the rear and side,

which will be a three-bedroomed finished dwelling,

I would see that on the market at around £165,000, when it's done.

Its rental value being approximately £750 per calendar month.

Bart purchased this property for £75,000

and has budgeted for a renovation spend of £100,000,

bringing the total to £175,000.

Based on our experts' valuation of £300,000 for the two properties,

that could mean a pre-tax profit of £125,000.

Well, that's great because the two figures combined make it very

viable from the rental point of view as well, so that's great.

Looking back over the past five years,

how would Bart sum up his experience?

I think that what I've learned from here, and the things I'm actually

pleased with, is the fact that I've had time to look round Cornwall.

And that's why want to stick at the job and get it finished,

so that I can spend some more time here.

Sadly, that is all we've got time for today,

but there's plenty more property stories to share.

-Yeah, so join us next time. Goodbye!

-Goodbye!