Episode 29 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello, and welcome to the programme.

None of us who have a crystal ball so knowing when or where to invest

-in property, it can sometimes be tricky.

-Yeah, that's correct.

And taking the plunge needn't be that scary, there's

some good deals out there.

Yeah. And one way you might be able to pick them up is by heading to

your local property auction.

Well, property auctions are for all sorts of possibilities,

-but you need to be eagle-eyed to spot a bargain.

-Yes.

So what caught the eye of today's buyers in the auction catalogue?

Yes, what do they walk out the room with? Let's find out.

In Buckinghamshire, this house really has some design issues.

As it stands at the moment, it's not working.

Whereas we catch up with a property in Cheshire I first saw in 2004.

Meet the man on a mission.

And in South London, there is a house

I'm really struggling to get my head round.

It's all a little bit topsy-turvy in this room.

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.

Yours, sir, thank you. Well done.

We are visiting Stony Stratford now, which forms part of Milton Keynes

in Buckinghamshire.

Now, one of Stony Stratford's claims to fame is that the phrase

"a cock and bull story" describing tales are far-fetched

and rather fanciful, allegedly originated right here.

Now, it supposedly came from the fact there were two former

coaching inns in the old town right here.

One called The Cock and one called The Bull.

Whether it is a true story or not, it could be a cock and bull tale

all of its own, but it certainly makes for a great story.

# I heard a rumour

# Yes, I did, boy, ooh-oh-ooh. #

The property I'm here to see lies quite close to the high street

on this residential road full of Victorian terraced houses.

Now, here it is.

It's got three bedrooms and it

went to auction with a guide price of £140,000.

And it's very blue!

Yes, there's an awful lot of woodchip, but I'm not put off.

There's polystyrene tiles on the ceiling, but I'm not put off.

There's a whole load of damp just there with plaster on the floor,

but I'm still not put off.

An inside, into the sitting-room, there's a brick-effect wallpaper

and a period of fireplace, but it just seems to be the wrong period.

This is a Victorian house, so I think I'd have to change that for

something a little more in keeping.

That's definitely got to go.

Hmm, I'm not quite sure about this glass window.

I think I'd be more inclined to brick this up and have this as

a separate little sitting-room.

So there's loads you can do to bring this up to scratch,

but, yes, you need to start as soon as you can

because as it stands at the moment,

it's not working.

Something else that won't be working is anything in this kitchen,

if you can call it that.

Actually, I call it pokey, so an extension

has to be on the menu here.

A pinch of the garden and you'll have the perfect recipe for

a family-sized kitchen.

So, upstairs some rather unusual paint choices, I see.

But you have got two fabulous bedrooms there, one here,

and some lovely sash windows

to the front, which once refurbished will look amazing.

Ah-ha-ha. And the bathroom!

Now, that's a rather unusual place to put a loo.

You've got a kind of curve bath here against the back wall.

It's quite a luxury to have a bathroom of this size.

I think in a previous life this may have been another bedroom.

So, you could try and sneak this bathroom in somewhere else

in the house and turn this back into bedroom four or you could think

about potentially going up into the loft, but you may need to steal

a little bit of this space to get some stairs to go up there.

So, I think this house really does need a big layout change.

This bathroom needs an overhaul no matter where it goes.

But there are plenty of options,

so you should find yourself backed into a corner.

# Oh, come along with me

# To my little corner of the world. #

Now, one issue which was mentioned in the legal pack is that this area

is an area identified as possibly

being at risk from raised levels of radon.

Now, radon is radioactive gas formed

naturally by the decay in the rocks and soil around us.

Outside air levels are usually quite low, but the gas can accumulate

inside buildings.

And certain areas of the country,

well, they are more prone to the problems than others.

So, my suggestion is get in an expert as soon as possible

to check the levels.

Radon levels are associated with

health issues, but you need to get a test done

before you start getting concerned.

Is there anything to worry about here?

Time to ask a local property expert.

Radon is certainly not an issue for Stony Stratford.

Local test results show a 1 to 3% risk.

If you do have a problem with radon, there are many solutions.

They vary from about £500 up to £2,000.

You can get a company in just to seal up pipes and anywhere around

loft hatches that are accessible to the ground.

Or you go as far as installing fans

and sumps, which will be about £2,000.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Now, the house needs a total refurbishment, but would it be

worth extending?

Definitely worthwhile adding

square footage to increase the accommodation.

The kitchen really requires doubling in size.

There's potential to go into the loft space to gain maybe

a fourth bedroom.

I'm fully aware that a house locally has achieved a very high value

by doing that.

Now, that's positive feedback.

And the agent thinks the value for

this three-bed with a kitchen extension would be 295,000,

which is more than double the guide price.

What about it as a four-bed?

If you extended into the loft space to gain the fourth bedroom,

maybe an en suite to service that bedroom in the loft,

you would increase the value to £340,000.

That's very encouraging.

The agent also thinks you can get £900 per month for the three-bed

and £1,100 for the four-bed.

With those prices,

taking this house to the top level seems like the thing to do.

So the slight risk of radon aside,

this property has so much potential and a few lovely period features.

Yes, it's dated, it smells of damp, it needs loads of work, but

you could do this up and turn it into a really nice family home.

So, who was interested in bidding for this at auction? Let's find out.

Lot 36.

Mid-terrace house, which is near Milton Keynes, in Bucks.

Start me, please, shall we say, at 140?

£140,000. 140, may I say?

Thank you, yellow shirt. 140.

45? 145.

150, sir, with the yellow shirt, please? 150.

55? 55, 60...

This lot soon flew past its £140,000 guide price,

and we rejoin the bidding at £200,000.

£200,000, lady in front.

One? All right, 201. You'll give me 202.

You won't give me 203, will you?

-MOUTHS:

-No.

First time at 202.

Second time at 202.

Third and final time at £202,000, are we done?

I think we are.

You've got it.

Sadly, our cameras didn't catch the successful bidders Hazel and Steve,

who bought this lot for 202,000.

This married couple are former teachers, so I am hoping to learn

something new today.

Steve and Hazel, congratulations.

So, guys, who was it that spotted this in the auction catalogue?

It was me. I already knew that this was our house.

When we saw it, it was a bit run down and it needed a lot of work.

But it's got the character and the features

that we like in these old places and we love to do

those sorts of things up, so it'll be perfect.

I know that you two used to be schoolteachers, so why have

you decided to give up teaching and go into property full-time?

Steve got to retirement age and retired.

And I got really ill.

I got bitten by a tick and I contracted Lyme disease.

And it took me four years to get over it.

And it got to the point where it's affected my memory,

which isn't that good for teaching.

We decided that we can be together all the time and do property

and Steve can look after me.

Do you know, I'm so sorry to hear that,

that you can be so ill from a tick.

They carry lots of diseases and there is a bacterial infection

that causes Lyme disease.

And they gave me antibiotics, orally, but that wasn't good enough.

I actually had to remortgage the house to afford the IV antibiotics,

so it's a good job that we've done a house before otherwise

we wouldn't have been able to remortgage.

So are you quite, you know,

thankful for your property developing to...?

You know, obviously,

it paid for your medicine that you so desperately needed.

I don't think I'd be alive if we hadn't done

the properties up previously.

So, really, you've got a lot to thank for the houses, haven't you?

Yes, and watching Homes Under The Hammer.

And how are you feeling now? And how has it been for you both recovering?

You know, a four-year time span with an illness is a long time.

She's far better now. Aren't you?

Now that she's given up the teaching and we're doing this full-time,

it's far better for her.

Now, it's gorgeous cos you two actually worked in the same school

for many years so you could be close together, didn't you?

-Yes.

-And you've both now retired and you've come into something

that you can still be together. So clearly,

you're very happy and in love and you want to work together a lot.

Sometimes.

It doesn't always work out that way.

-As long as I do what I'm told, It's fine.

-That's it.

That's the only time we have difficulties,

-when he doesn't do what he's told.

-I just need a long list to follow.

And it keeps getting longer and longer, usually.

So you get your long list.

Do you actually have to do the work and do you just write the list

and send out the orders?

I shop for a living, which is perfect.

I quite like doing some of the work, like the carpentry,

some of the plumbing, a bit of demolition, labouring,

but the technical stuff we leave to the professionals.

I mean, this house really does need a lot of work.

Are you prepared for that?

We're going to have a good look at it and get professionals in to

tell us what might need doing and what we can get away with

keeping, but if we need to take it back to bricks, we will do that.

I think the extension out the back, the old scullery, that needs to go

because it's not really salvageable.

We'll put a different extension on that.

Otherwise, we'll do whatever is required to bring it back to life.

We want the old features back.

We want to make it a four-bed family house. It's a big house,

there's plenty of room for four bedrooms.

But it's just a case of the configuration

we haven't quite worked out yet.

Hazel and Steve are going to tackle the damp first and then

think about that fourth bedroom, but I think they'll definitely

need to go back to brick regardless of the layout.

One less issue to worry about is the radon,

as they've done the test and it's come back with the results that it

is perfectly safe for someone to live here.

Speaking of which...

We're going to do it up the way we'd like it to be done,

restore all the original features,

and then live here for as long as we really feel like.

So, what sort of money are you going to be spending on this house?

What is your budget?

Well, if we do the extension out the back and we're thinking

about a loft conversion, so we're thinking probably about £50,000.

-Oh, that could be a little bit tight.

-It could be.

If we do some of the work ourselves, we'll save money that way.

How long do you intend it taking?

Well, we've set ourselves six months.

What are you most looking forward to?

Most looking forward to that time where I can open the front

door and think, "I'm home!"

And there's no jobs.

Oh, that's a long way ahead of you yet!

I'm really, really excited to see that outcome.

-Hazel, congratulations, well done.

-Thank you.

-Steve, thank you.

Thank you.

Well, a change of career due to illness

has been rather forced on Hazel, but Hazel and Steve have done up

property before and they do enjoy the work.

This time round, they won't have to juggle the renovations around

their day jobs, so how will they get on with fixing the damp,

extending the property and bringing this back to life?

You can find out later on in the programme.

Now, are you sitting comfortably?

Well, get a pen and paper because this isn't going to be easy.

We've been visiting the hamlet of Preston on the Hill,

in the beautiful Cheshire countryside,

since - wait for it - 2004.

I spotted what seemed like a bargain lot, even if it was

next to a busy road.

It all pales into insignificance when you see what is up for auction.

For a guide price of £120,000,

this old church could be yours.

'Not changed a bit, have I, really(?)

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

'And neither had the lovely mission building,

'considering it was built in 1887.'

This is what you get for your money.

It's primarily this one big room.

But what a space.

Fantastic old windows.

The roof supports.

Original oak flooring.

Imagine what somebody with a bit of imagination and building

skills could do with a place like this.

Building skills would definitely be important and it certainly

wasn't a job for an amateur.

Yeah, it's always quite sad when a place like this comes up for

auction. It was originally the church hall.

You can almost imagine the members of the WI sitting round,

singing Jerusalem.

However, I suppose it's better that it does go to auction and

somebody buys it and it doesn't just fall into disrepair.

And, hopefully, it will become part of the community once again.

MUSIC: Jerusalem

Three years before I visited it in 2004, the property was deemed

to be dangerous after a large crack appeared in the sidewall.

Services were suspended and planning permission was sought for

conversion into a four-bedroomed house.

This was to try and make it more appealing at the auction,

where the property was guided at £120,000.

So, what an opportunity for somebody with a bit of imagination,

this place is. Perfect auction material.

And it certainly exceeded all expectations when the hammer

finally fell.

At 272,500, I'm selling them. Once, twice.

The third and final time at 272,500.

Yours, sir, well done.

The new owner, Ed, was no stranger to the auction room,

and he certainly was a man on a mission

with his £272,500 bid.

-Ed, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

You're the owner of this wonderful old church.

Yeah, it's brilliant, isn't it?

-What was it that struck you about it?

-Oh, all sorts of things.

You know, the location of course.

The character.

A wonderful opportunity. I've got to develop it, you know.

-Tell me a bit about you, then.

-Well, I'm in the construction

business myself. I have a national roofing company.

And I also have a development company.

And we noticed there's a big shortage

-of prestige houses in the area.

-Let's come on to the building.

-Yes.

What are you going to do with it?

Well, first of all, I'm going to leave, you know,

my options open here.

We already have permission for a four-bedroom detached house.

I've been speaking to the planners and there's options perhaps

available of converting it into apartments,

maybe even three dwellings, possibly even four.

So we've got to explore that avenue.

So, do you have any idea of budgets for this project?

Well, a fair scale, we reckon about £140,000 to spend on it.

The roof is in superb condition.

There's only one structural crack I have to worry about,

which I knew about beforehand.

Super floors that we're going to possibly keep.

So the budget is coming down now as we're getting into it.

-So what about timescales?

-Six to 12 months is a realistic timescale.

So, if we come back in a few, we'll be seeing some changes?

I hope so. Well, in a few months,

you may see some sort of clearing up.

Well, we first returned nine months later and little had changed,

except Ed was pursuing the four-apartment option,

partly because of the dip in the housing market at the time.

He felt he'd get a better chance of getting

a quick return on his investment with the apartments.

But planning was proving problematic.

The mission was a Grade II listed building.

And when we filmed for the second time,

Ed had received some bad news from the planners.

We've had the results back and

they're not very happy with

us going forward on that suggestion.

So we're back to the original plan -

converting the whole thing into one large, detached dwelling.

Ed's only planning option seemed to be to build

a prestige house in the times of a falling property market,

and his planning woes looked like they were going to continue.

Large trees close to the building run the risk of drying out

the soil, which could in turn cause cracking and even subsidence.

However, just chopping them down wasn't going to be straightforward.

One of the issues we've had is that the premises is surrounded by

trees that have got TPOs on - Tree Preservation Orders.

And that has actually shielded it.

It probably has protected it over the years as well.

But to get the true beauty out of the building,

I want to take some of these trees down.

And one in particular, this one here close to the road,

is stopping a lot of daylight going into the building.

I'm going to put an application in to see if it can be removed.

Ed's optimistic six- to 12-month timescale was now clearly

impossible.

Well, we returned again for our third filming session,

this time eight-and-a-half years later,

to find out if Ed had taken on a mission impossible.

By now, it was March 2013.

Surrounding shrubs had been removed

and the trees cut back.

But at the back of the mission, there were telltale signs

revealing that the work was some way from completion.

So before we went inside,

Ed brought us up-to-date with this epic saga.

With a lot of patience and perseverance,

we've actually managed to get four dwellings out of it now,

which we wanted to originally, but it took a long time.

And the way the economy has gone,

it's probably been the right thing to do.

Building a £500,000,

£600,000 house

at the time was just about a little over ambitious.

So we've managed to gut the mission and we've started the construction.

Ed had returned to his initial concept of dividing up the

mission into more than one dwelling,

the original chapel entrance being the front door to the

first completed house.

The large open-plan kitchen/living room

took natural light from the bottom of the mission's side window.

The huge front window made for very light stairs and landing.

The top section of the same window,

illuminating the main bedroom on the first floor.

Being directly above the kitchen,

additional light came from the top of the side window.

Also on the first floor was a stylish family bathroom and

small bedroom.

On the second floor, bedroom three had the added value

of the original character wooden beams.

Lighting up here was from new roof windows.

The overall design made for a modern and contemporary style with

preserved original features.

It was really important to me to maintain the character

of the building.

I fell in love with this the minute I see it, like a lot of people did,

and I really wanted to put my mark on it.

Eventually, when completed, there will be four dwellings,

each with their own street-level access and garden area.

The layout would be individual to each house, with the end

property enjoying cellar rooms and a veranda overlooking the open fields.

But getting the right design to make the most of the building's

features and space wasn't as easy as it first appeared.

We knew the houses were always going to be

a contemporary type living. But literally, despite the size

of the church, there wasn't that much footage in it.

So we've designed it in a way to maximise the actual height of

the church by lowering the floors and going right into the roof space.

A loft space is planned for each of the new dwellings,

taking advantage of every available square inch.

Lowering the floors meant the removal of the original parquet

flooring Ed had been so keen to keep.

Considering the eight-year struggle waiting for the housing

market recovery, it was a small price to pay.

Well, all but recently, it's been a real roller coaster and been very

difficult for us construction workers and developers.

The economy has been horrendous, but being an experienced developer,

we carefully and patiently decided to hold off this particular

development till the time was right.

But Ed had judged that the first quarter of 2013 was the right

time to start again with this development.

# Almost there

# We are almost there. #

Even back in 2013, this had become one of the longest refurbishment

projects we've ever covered here on Homes Under The Hammer.

But like Ed, we persevered.

You can find out if he finally finished his mission on the

mission and if the value of his four dwellings will leave him with

profit or not when we return a further three years later.

Coming up... I really like this South London house,

but I wouldn't say it was love at first sight.

I'm not sure whether I love this room as much as that little

heart does.

And nearly 12 years on, has Ed got what he hoped for?

This particular one I am very proud of.

Earlier in the show, I met Hazel and Steve, a couple who paid £202,000

for this three-bed mid-terrace in Stony Stratford,

near Milton Keynes.

These former teachers had dabbled in property

but decided to do it full-time after Hazel became ill with Lyme

disease, a tick-borne condition.

At this property, they planned to extend out the back and into

the loft while living in the house during the renovation.

We want to make it a four-bed family house. It's a big house,

there's plenty of room for four bedrooms.

-What are you most looking forward to?

-I'm most looking forward to

that time where I can open the front door and think, "I'm home!"

And there's no jobs.

Oh, that's a long way ahead of you yet!

Well, it's been a long road, but eight months on, we're back.

It's time to see what the couple's 50 grand budget

has done for this tired terrace.

And has it given them a home to live in

before they sell on?

# Gave me something that I didn't have before

# Gave me something I didn't have before. #

Well, they've given this place everything.

Knocking through the living room wall has given the house

an open-plan feel,

and they've managed to add stylish decor and enhance

the original features.

Further through the house,

they've given it what it really needed - an extension.

So goodbye to the cramped kitchen...

and hello, light, bright and modern space.

And take a leaf out of Hazel

and Steve's book of property development.

With extra space from the extension, they've added a library.

Well, initially, we were just going to convert what was already there,

but it wasn't really feasible,

so we got permission to demolish the old kitchen and outhouses and

then we basically replaced it with something that was very

similar to the old, but bigger,

much bigger and more useful with a nice open aspect into the garden.

So it's a really nice space and we are really pleased with it.

Upstairs, on the first floor, there are three beautiful rooms.

And you just can't believe it's the same house, can you?

Although, it's not quite the same.

The stylish new bathroom is smaller than the old one,

as they stole some space from the new fourth bedroom in the loft

which comes with an en suite.

With the loft, it was a case of wanting to get a fourth bedroom.

Originally, it was a four-bedroom house.

But in the 1930s, they put a bathroom in one of the bedrooms.

Somebody came and did the staircase

and...the roof.

Steve plasterboarded it and insulated it.

We had it plastered, I painted it.

It was a lot of work we did ourselves.

We got the basics done by the builders and

we did all the finishing ourselves.

We had to take 76 plasterboards up there, two flights of stairs.

We got some help with that, but it was hard work,

once it was up there, fitting it. And so everything took a long time.

But we got the finish we wanted by doing it ourselves, really.

And it does keep prices down as well being able to take advantage

of somebody that can do the carcassing and we do the fixing.

The price is still higher than they'd hoped for this spectacular

finish - 75,000 in total,

now, that's 50% over their 50 grand budget - and took longer due to

some tragic events.

We said initially it'd take us six months.

It's taken us about eight months overall.

We started off doing really well and then we went away on holiday.

And then we got back from there,

and my mum was diagnosed with

a terminal illness and I just

stopped all work at that point.

I moved in with Mum and spent

some good times with her.

And...

..she died.

And it took me another month or so to get back into it.

So I probably lost about four months.

But Steve was here, soldiering on.

-But, yeah, I think we are quite pleased.

-Yeah.

Considering the amount of work we've had to do,

we've done really well.

Really happy.

It's clearly been a difficult time for Hazel since the loss of

her mum, Diane, who herself was a keen DIYer and so very proud

that Hazel and Steve were appearing on Homes Under The Hammer.

I'm sure she would have been equally proud of the fantastic job

they've done here.

How did they find working as a team?

Overall, we worked really well together.

Though, we do have arguments, obviously.

-Well, I have a difference of opinion and I'm told I'm wrong.

-That's it.

We actually love being together all the time anyway, so...

-Yep.

-I'd be surprised... THEY LAUGH

-I'm supposed to say yes.

-SHE LAUGHS

Ah, now that's marital bliss for you, eh?

Time to ask a couple of local estate agents what they think

of the property. Let's start

with the agent who saw it before the renovation.

Having had a look round the property,

the changes are absolutely superb.

Full credit to the vendors, it's amazing what they've achieved

with the extensions, by going into the loft space,

retaining a lot of character.

It really is a wonderful transformation.

I think the property is

absolutely fantastic.

The work that's been done in here is of a really high standard.

It's decorated brilliantly throughout.

It's quite plain and neutral, which appeals to a lot of buyers.

Hazel and Steve's total spend is 277,000,

so can they make a profit on the resale market?

I believe this property could sell for anywhere

between £400,000 and £425,000.

I would say this property would sell

for £450,000.

Perhaps the asking price can be pitched slightly higher,

£475,000, and just see what the market returns.

Amazed! I can't believe it's so much.

-That's fantastic.

-And all I can say is... I told you so!

THEY LAUGH

Taking that figure of 450,000 would mean

a very handsome pre-tax profit of 173,000.

I'm really pleased for them that everything has worked out

so well after all the tough times they have gone through and with

that great finish.

I hope we'll be seeing them at the auction room sometime soon.

Yes, we would buy at auction again. We've done it a couple of times now.

-The adrenaline rush.

-Who's turn is it to bid next time?

-Yours.

-OK.

She always says that, but I never get to do it.

THEY LAUGH

Over now to South London, and Streatham, to be precise,

a name that comes from its origins as a hamlet on the street.

Wait a minute! Doesn't that mean it should be called Hamstreet?

Anyway, today, it is less than a hamlet, more of a London suburb.

Well, this is a residential area, but Streatham Common Station is

only a ten-minute walk away, so it is still fairly accessible.

Now, I'm here to see this three-bed end-of-terrace.

It had a guide price of £350,000 plus.

Now, being end-of-terrace is always popular as you only ever have

neighbours on one side.

So not a bad start so far.

One thing I'm not sure about is that stone facing.

I think I'd change that and up its curb appeal.

Well, into the hallway. Lots of lovely storage space.

And a fridge!

Of course, only on this programme.

But you have got a larger-than-average space here.

Lovely, big, chunky stairs that lead up there, which is great.

Lovely sized lounge as well. Not sure about the colours in there.

Lime green and red, don't know whether they go. But a big room.

And a larger-than-average kitchen,

which is good because I was just about to talk about knocking

a wall down, but in this case, I don't think you need to.

In here, you've got a loo, so that's a real bonus.

And through into a second reception room,

which you could keep that wall there.

You only need to walk through to put a nice dining table here.

I'm not sure whether I love this room as much as that little

heart does, because, look, there's still loads of work to do.

You've got, like, a tongue-and-groove chimney breast

here, an old gas fire.

The flooring needs sorting. It does need to be updated.

But a lot of potential with this property

and quite a nice little garden to look out onto as well.

Look at this.

I might be getting a little ahead of myself,

but would you go as far as calling this a walled garden?

I mean, look, you've got little pink roses sprouting out on the

back wall. This is a great space for London.

Needs a bit of a lawnmower to go over it.

And another big, big bonus -

you've got independent access down this covered little walkway

here, which is fantastic because it means,

once renovating the building, you don't have to bring all the

tools and everything through the front door, you can use that.

It's also attached to a single-skinned,

little brick-built sort of shed here.

So fantastic for storage.

So a real bonus for this property.

You might want to rethink the kitchen layout so you don't have the

fridge in the hall, but other than that, these room sizes are OK.

And in this case, I like having a second reception room.

If you've got teenagers who take over the telly, really,

it can be a blessing.

As for outdoors, well, in London, let me tell you,

it's almost as good as it gets.

So I think this is potentially a gem waiting to be polished and

made to shine.

But upstairs, there are some things I'm finding, well,

slightly disorientating.

In one of the bedrooms here, I'm not quite sure what's going on

because this window here has been put in...upside down?

I don't know why.

And in the corner over here,

there is a plug socket right on the floor there,

been put in...upside down?

It's all a little bit topsy-turvy in this room.

-# Ain't got no cares

-Ain't got no cares

-# I ain't got no rules

-Ain't got no rules

-# I think I like

-I like

-# Living upside down

-# Living upside down. #

Well, I'm glad to say the other two bedrooms,

and particularly the bathroom, seem to be in the right orientation,

but I don't know whether it's all this upside-down action that

makes the blood rush my head,

but I've suddenly seen another way of looking at this property.

Rather than renovate as one home, could you split it into two flats?

Now, I know flats are in high demand around here and other

conversions have been done in this area, so I think it might

just work, subject to planning permission, of course.

Yes, it would cost more money to do,

probably double your budget compared to converting this as one

property, but if you are in it for the profit, well,

that would be greater too.

Hm, that is food for thought.

Yes, something to think about all right.

And there are real pros and cons to dividing this house up,

so it's not really an easy call to make.

# A very fine line.

# Split decision It's a fine line. #

But what does a local property agent think?

Would it be the right decision

to go the two-flats route?

I think splitting the property into two flats could be an option,

but to be honest with you, I think if you're looking for

something to just make some money on,

then I would just refurb the property and sell it on,

cos you'd get a good return on it as it is.

OK, but this house was guided at £350,000 plus,

so what kind of return could this property give if fully refurbished?

I believe the house could sell for 460,000

to 475,000.

I believe you could achieve a rent o £1,500 per calendar month.

And if split into two flats, what kind of return would you get then?

I believe each flat could sell for £325,000 each.

And if each flat was to be rented, I believe they could

achieve rental figures of £1,250 to £1,300 a month, excluding bills.

So, splitting into two flats would definitely be

a more lucrative route.

Yes, I think you'll agree, it needs modernisation,

some new windows - oh, and don't forget - those plug sockets.

But there could be money to be made from this auction lot,

whether that be as one house or maybe even flats.

Who agreed? Well, let's head to auction and find out.

Lot 30 is a good-sized, three-bed mid-terraced house.

Handy location. 330 anywhere?

330.

335?

335. 340.

345? Yes or no? Yeah?

345. 350.

355?

355.

360? 360.

365? Yep? 365.

370? 370.

375?

375.

380? 380.

Back in. 385?

385. 390?

Struggling. At 385 with you.

390 elsewhere?

If not, 385, with you, first time.

Second time.

Third and last time.

Sold 385.

So the hammer fell at £385,000.

The successful bid was made by Thomas,

who was at the auction with one of his sons, Crawford.

This house was bought as a family project for him and his brother,

Will.

I met the brothers back at the property.

Will and Crawford, lovely to meet you both. Congratulations.

-Lovely to meet you.

-This is a great property, isn't it?

Yeah, we are really, really happy with it and we almost bought

the other one at auction that wasn't half as good as this one,

so we felt like actually it was worth holding back

and pushing ourselves for this one.

So on auction day, did you have

-a few that you were thinking about bidding on?

-Yeah,

cos we went to auction a month before and we only had two

properties that we were gunning for,

and then they both went for silly money,

so we walked away with nothing.

So the second auction, we really made an effort to make sure that we

had five or six, like, potentials, and this was our second on the list.

And you weren't there on auction day, were you, Will?

No, I had to hold down the fort, so to speak.

So someone has to work, and that was me.

I got that short straw.

So, tell me what you both do.

We work our family business,

a plumbing and heating company that we both run.

Aha! That's perfect.

This family firm was originally set up by their dad and they see

the move into property development as a natural progression.

They've already got a few properties to their name, which they rent out.

They're hoping this will be a resale project.

And it sounds very much like we have been seeing the same potential here.

Well, the big thing, cos it's end-of-terrace,

we are looking into the option of splitting it...

Obviously, it's a single dwelling house at the moment,

we are looking at seeing if we can split it into two two-bedroom flats.

What plans have you got to do that? How would you get that extra space?

We're planning to develop the loft, obviously,

and we're potentially looking at extending the back as well.

And, obviously, with the side anyway there,

we can actually maybe make a second entrance to the flat there.

So they are the options we are kind of looking at, at the moment.

Plan A is to divide it into two flats. Your plan B will be?

The family home, if worse comes to worse.

But that's not a bad option either, nice-sized property for it.

We can add to it, extend it as well.

What sort of budget have you got for the work here, Crawford?

I think if we are just redeveloping the house on its own,

we'll probably spend somewhere around 20,000.

And if we're splitting it, I'd say somewhere between 30 and 40.

Hm, so still relatively low.

I suppose taking into account the amount of work you're going

to put in yourselves.

So as brothers, how does that work for you both?

-THEY LAUGH

-It works.

-It works.

Not always, but it does work.

Yeah, I mean, we're quite lucky the family business has done so well

and we've thrown ourselves into it.

Cos it's sort of a medium-sized property,

Will does a lot more of the accounts' side

and runs the finance of the business

and I am sort of more client and sort of job management.

That's pretty much our division of labour.

But we do a number of varied, different tasks,

cos that's what's involved in running a business.

Did you always think

that you were going to go into the family business?

I flopped my A-level, so I thought I better become a plumber.

-LUCY LAUGHS

-So...

So you've been a big disappointment to the family.

They were quite clever.

They didn't put us under any pressure, they were like,

"Oh, do whatever you want to do."

And then I just sort of thought I better become

a plumber before I started trying to run the business,

so that was good grounding, to where I am today.

Come on, Will, what about you?

For myself, I think my father always wanted

-me to go more in the accounts' side.

-So were you quite good on that?

-Yeah.

-Is that were your talent lies?

Yeah, that's where my talent lies.

-I've got a brain for numbers.

-Good.

So what a fantastic combination.

So they've got the perfect skill set to take on the trials and

tribulations of the property jungle.

And Crawford, in particular,

knows only too well how to survive in a new environment.

I know you are no stranger to TV, because while you were

flunking your A-levels, you were very busy on another TV show

that was very popular in its time, weren't you?

Yeah, I was really lucky enough I saw an advert to be Shipwrecked

and I went for it, so I spent five months on the Cook Islands,

and it was a fantastic experience.

I was climbing trees for coconuts, cooking fires.

I built a five-bedroom hut out in beautiful surroundings.

Yeah, I fell in love with the whole thing.

So, Crawford, was that a life lesson for you or did you just

have a five-month holiday and it was brilliant?

No, it was cos I became sort of a natural...

I ended up leading the troops and it was like 15 of us at the end.

One of the biggest things I learned is you just can't

please all the people all the time.

And I was a bit younger then, thinking,

"You can always accommodate everyone and try make everyone happy,"

but it is more important, you just get things done and you've just

got to appreciate that you're going to upset a few people.

What was it like watching your big brother on the telly week in,

week out? I mean, what was it like for you?

It was a little bit surreal to begin with. I enjoyed it at the same

-time, it was nice.

-And here you are, making your TV debut.

-I know.

-With Homes Under The Hammer. You're catching up with him.

-That's it.

Listen, guys, I'm really, really pleased for you both.

I think it is a great property.

And it's going to be interesting to find out if you get

the planning permission granted.

If you don't, you're going to have to revert to plan B. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-We'll catch up soon and find out how it all went.

-Brilliant.

-Lovely to meet you both.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Nice to meet you.

Brothers Crawford and Will certainly have useful skills that they can

apply to this project, but will they get planning permission

so they can go ahead with plan A and convert this house into flats?

Join me later on in the programme

and you can find out how the brothers get on.

One property down, two to go.

Have they stuck to their plans or have their plans become unstuck?

Well, I think we'd better find out, don't you?

SLOW GUITAR MUSIC PLAYS

Welcome back to the beauty and tranquillity

of the Cheshire countryside.

And if the music seems a little sad, that's because this will be the last

time we're here to cover the story of Preston on the Hill's mission.

The village hasn't changed much since we first came here in 2004

to meet the mission's new owner, Ed,

who had just bought it at auction for

£272,500.

-Let's come onto the building then.

-Yes.

What are you going to do with it?

We already have permission for a four-bedroom detached house.

I've been speaking to the planners and there is options perhaps

available of converting it into apartments,

maybe even three dwellings, possibly even four.

So we've got to explore that avenue.

Do you have any idea of budgets for this project?

Well, a fair scale, we reckon about £140,000 to spend on it.

So what about timescales?

Six to 12 months.

Well, the best laid plans of church, mice and men, eh?

Because little did he know that he was going to have planning

problems and a recession to contend with.

The last time we'd seen significant progress here was

back in 2013.

Ed had returned to his initial concept of dividing up the

mission into more than one dwelling.

The first of the four three-bedroom three-storey houses with

vaulted ceilings was finished.

Now, over 11 years since we first filmed here,

we're back as the last of the four properties is finally completed,

and this one needed some novel thinking to make the space work.

# Going underground. #

It required a subterranean solution

to achieve two bedrooms and a wet room.

# We're going underground. #

In fact, there is more square footage underground than it

has on the first- and second-floor.

# I'm going underground

# La, la, la, la

# La, la, la, la... #

But complying with building regulations for underground

living, especially with things like fire management, was tricky.

That had its challenges because we had to form a means of escape,

So we constructed a sunken garden with a spiral staircase.

And that obviously fulfilled the regulations.

We also wanted to try and get natural light into the basement,

particularly in one of the bedrooms because it didn't have any

patio windows.

Ed's solution was to fit walkable skylights -

a type of light well with glass tough enough to walk over

set into the patio.

With the lights sorted, the next problem was air.

We also had a difficulty in getting ventilation into these rooms.

So natural ventilation and rapid installation was important.

We managed to overcome that with the help from Building Control.

As well as natural ventilation in the bedrooms,

humidity-controlled fans extract moist air

whenever the wet room is being used.

Time to ring the changes on the other two floors.

MUSIC: Faith by George Michael

Ed has had faith in the project and has remained undaunted for

nearly 12 years now,

so there can really only be one song to accompany it in all its glory.

# Cos I gotta have faith

# I gotta have faith

# Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith

# I gotta have faith, faith, faith. #

On the ground floor, there is a huge open-plan living and

kitchen area, which is part new build and part refurbished space.

Where possible, the original features have been retained

or refurbished, like the new rope to ring the mission's bell.

Ed spent more than he budgeted for on renovation,

around £325,000.

Added to his auction purchase price,

this takes his total cost to approximately £600,000.

He has sold houses one, two and three over the years for

approximately £200,000 each to help fund the project.

So, basically, the value of the rectory would be his profit

on the development, before taxes and expenses.

# I gotta have faith, faith, faith. #

We called in two local estate agents to find out that value and give us

their opinion of the development.

I love it.

A nice big open-plan kitchen/diner,

which is very important today.

The cellar conversion or basement level - very quirky

but has the access externally to upstairs and

a great master suite upstairs with a fantastic sun terrace.

So, quirky but fantastic.

I actually find it is quite a stunning property.

I love the period features

and love the impression

from the outside, that the old red brick has been kept,

that so many of the features are still in situ.

I love the fact that there are balconies and that the light

is used so much for the property and I can see it being very popular.

What attributes would they be emphasising if they were selling it?

I think the main selling points of the property are the

proximity to the transport links.

I think it being in its own area and surrounded by the green fields

is a definite plus.

And also being able to sit outside.

I think everybody loves a bit of that.

The biggest selling point for this property is the individuality,

the fantastic views, its own private garden,

which is different to the other ones on the development.

The basement level - quirky, but it all adds to the impact.

So very individual, very sellable.

"Very sellable," good news.

What would they market it at, then, if they were selling it?

If the owner is looking to sell the property,

I would hopefully expect to achieve £225,000.

I think, if you're looking at purchase, it'd probably be around

£230,000 to £240,000,

and I think that should be easily attained.

Well, that's very encouraging. That is bang on the money.

And we are delighted with the outcome.

240,000 sounds to be a lot of profit, but don't forget, over

the time period of 12 years, that equates to around £20,000 per year.

But for Ed, it's not all about the money.

I have a social responsibility to keep men at work and,

literally, do developments that I am proud of.

And this is a particular one that I am very proud of.

Ed is also proud the development has been nominated for

Best Development in the Halton District.

But I'm sure he'll forgive us if we don't come back again for

a fifth time if he wins.

We return now to Streatham, in South London,

to a three-bed end-of-terrace house that was basically pretty sound,

but certain aspects of it left me in a bit of a spin.

I'm not quite sure what is going on because this window here

has been put in...upside down? I don't know why.

And in the corner over here,

there is a plug socket right on the floor there,

been put in...upside down?

# Upside down, you're turning me

# You're giving love instinctively

# Round and round you're turning me. #

It was bought by Thomas on behalf of his sons, Crawford and Will,

for 385,000.

And they also had their own angle on it.

Well, the big thing, cos it's end-of-terrace,

we are looking into the option of splitting it...

Obviously, it's a single dwelling house at the moment,

we're looking at seeing if we can split it into two two-bedroom flats.

Crawford and Will work in their family plumbing and

heating firm, so not only did they have their own experience,

but knew people in the building trade to call on.

They'd had hoped to convert the house into the two two-bed flats for

between 30,000 to 40,000,

or, failing that, to refurbish it as a three-bed house for 20,000.

The plan was to complete all the work in three to four months

and get it back on the resale market.

Now, over seven months later,

we're back to see if they've doubled their investment.

Overall, outside, I'm glad to see that that stone cladding has gone.

New windows and doors show promising signs, albeit unfinished ones.

And inside...

Well, it is freshly plastered and nearly ready for decoration.

And the kitchen area?

Wow, that has changed a bit with an open-plan layout

and rear extension.

This is going to be a wonderful space when it's finished,

but it doesn't look like a layout for a flat to me.

So, what's been going on?

-# Ay, ay, ay

-No, you're still the one

-# Ay, ay, ay

-No, you're still the one. #

We originally did look to split it into two flats,

but then it wasn't big enough for Lambeth Borough,

it didn't meet their requirements,

so we were unable to split the property into two flats.

# Well, there's only one option that is left for me

# Plan B! #

So it was reverting to plan B,

not a bad option after all.

So now what we've had to do is we've got a four-bedroom house with

an extension and a loft,

and the loft also has an en suite.

So it's four bedrooms with a lovely loft with an en suite.

Well, it might only be one property, but they've really gone for it,

with not only a full re-plaster, re-plumb and rewire

of the three bedrooms.

And there is a rather impressive bathroom, as you might expect

from people running a plumbing firm.

But they've also added that fourth en-suite bedroom in the loft,

which really makes this a great family house.

In addition to the problem of not having enough space to

split into two flats,

there was an issue with the party wall which actually halted

the project for six weeks, hence the overrun in the timescale.

They're hoping in another two to three weeks they'll be done.

But with brothers running the family firm,

how much of were they involved?

I've been coming here once...about once a week.

And we've had a really good team working here and

a good project manager who has kept the project working,

ticking along beautifully.

And the only real claim to fame I've done anything good around

here is I helped hoist the reinforced steel girders at

the top of the house and the loft.

I actually helped put them in place with about five, six others,

and that was good fun. I quite enjoy that kind of stuff.

# I want muscles! #

While Crawford did his muscleman act, Will stayed mainly in

the background, keeping an eye on the numbers.

So how is that budget looking?

On the subject of budget...

We spent about 80,000 on the property,

which was obviously slightly more than originally anticipated,

but I think it's been money well spent.

Slightly more? That's four times over their original budget.

But they did decide to go for it with a loft extension and

a rear extension,

and they've upped their spec, but an 80 grand spend on top

of their £385,000 purchase price

well, that takes their total

now to 465,000.

So was it worth the extra spend?

What do two local estate agents think?

The finish here is really, really lovely.

You can tell it's going to be a great finish.

I think they've got a nice open-plan kitchen,

which I would do in this property, in this area.

It's what people are looking for.

It's good they went into the loft to get an extra bedroom, bathroom.

It's a really good refurbishment.

They've gone right back to the brick and done a proper job.

The kitchen layout is expanded because the kitchens in these

houses are traditionally small. So he's done that very well.

The attention to detail in the kitchen and bathroom is very good.

I think the fact that it's brand-new is unusual for the area,

being mainly 1930s, second-hand houses.

So to have something brand-new,

refurbished and very close to a station

Great selling point, very unusual.

In this area, four beds are definitely in demand.

We've seen three- and four-beds rise in value from the last couple of

years, go up to maybe about 600,000, so I think it definitely could work.

So the interest in four-bed properties might have risen,

but will that mean Crawford and Will's £465,000 investment is sound?

This property could achieve £625,000 if put on the market.

I think for sales the property will achieve a figure of £625,000.

I think I'd be happy with 600.

I'd be delighted with that.

We might even get £625,000, Crawford,

and that gives you a pre-tax profit of 160,000.

With a possible rental yield of around 5%,

you can see this is a great investment.

But how would Crawford sum up this slightly protracted project?

Well, I feel, as Churchill said, "The key to success is go from

"failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

And that's basically been my mantra for getting this project done.

Hardly a failure, Crawford.

And with a healthy profit on offer,

it really shouldn't be too hard to maintain that enthusiasm.

Well, there are auctions taking place all over the country

at all times of the year.

Yep, and we're at our fair share to capture that action.

Yeah, so please join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Yeah, goodbye.

-Goodbye.

-We'll see you then.