Episode 38 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. There are all manner of property renovations out there

to suit all levels of experience.

Yes, everything from plots of land which provide a blank canvas

to maybe a quick-turnaround property

where you'll just change a few light bulbs.

Yes. We've had them all on this show,

but the one thing they did have in common,

they were all bought under the hammer.

A packed auction house has an adrenaline-fuelled atmosphere.

You can actually sense the excitement in the room.

Yeah, you can. There's a variety of property on offer,

people are trying to outbid each other.

I tell you what, it's not for the faint-hearted.

No, you have to hold your nerve.

So, who got what they were bidding for on today's show?

In Upton, Nottinghamshire,

there's not much left of this old blacksmith's forge.

I'd like to show you the roof, but there isn't one.

Not feeling very safe up here, so I'm escaping.

Well, Dion, I'm looking for some me time to enjoy a very scenic bath in

Selhurst, London.

Excuse me, can I have some privacy while I get out of the bath? Thanks.

And I'd just like to FIND a bath in this Staffordshire semi.

Is it perhaps upstairs?

There isn't one. Not normally an optional extra with houses, is it?

All these properties were bought at auction.

We'll find out who got them and how much they paid when these homes went

under the hammer.

Sold.

This is Newark in Nottinghamshire, and I'm in the village of Upton.

It's nicely placed, as it's in a rural setting, but in a 15-minute drive

you can access good rail links and all the amenities you'll need.

This property oozes country character.

It's the old forge and comes with outbuildings just over there,

where once, I'm pretty sure,

the ring of the smith's hammer would have been heard throughout the whole

of the village. As you can see,

this building looks like it needs a bit of help.

It has a guide price of £130,000-plus.

I'm going to see what you get for your money.

A stiff door.

OK, we're straight into the lounge, living area here.

What does hit you in the face is that huge chimney breast,

which separates two rooms.

That would have been the second reception room, but that is a bit strange.

The floor's all uneven. Low ceilings in here, as well.

And it's got a sense of damp and cold as you walk around.

We're going to go up a step into the back room, but the ceiling doesn't seem

to go up with you. It seems to stay there.

Now, it doesn't feel conducive to modern living.

You might have to raise that ceiling,

and that could cost you a few quid.

Looking round, it looks like this hasn't been touched for some time,

but there are modern touches like radiators down here.

But apart from that, it's a bit higgledy-piggledy.

On second thoughts, "higgledy-piggledy" isn't quite random enough.

It's more like a rabbit warren,

especially with the trap door in the ceiling...

..with rooms near the rear of the cottage,

including the kitchen and the good

old Homes Under The Hammer favourite - can you guess?

Yes, the downstairs bathroom.

Back through the lounge area, at the opposite side of the chimney,

is another small room with access upstairs.

But it's not for the faint-hearted...

or tall people, like me.

This is unbelievable up here!

I'd like to show you the roof, but there isn't one.

These are just branches.

These are reeds. A very medieval feel to this roof.

And you've got the electrics in amongst the ceiling, as well.

All very unsafe. I'm surprised it's still standing.

I'm not feeling very safe up here, so I'm escaping.

Mind you, it's marginally safer than the neighbouring bedroom,

which had a handy short cut to downstairs,

should you be caught short in the night, that is.

Perhaps a pole for sliding down might be an option?

If it's not to your taste,

then you have to go back through the first bedroom and risk banging your

head on the eaves. Perhaps give that wattle-and-daub construction

closer scrutiny.

At the top of the stairs,

there is a third bedroom, and like the other rooms up here,

this room has a low window to match the low ceiling height.

I'm out here in the courtyard area,

and these bricks, they're weathered, and they will date back to when there would

have been a blacksmith living here and the building has evolved.

There would have been a door there. Somebody's tried to extend it with

these concrete blocks, as well.

It's all a bit ramshackle, but it does have its charms.

# Brick by brick by brick by brick by brick by brick by brick... #

And don't forget, as well as the cottage,

there is an old forge building across the road,

which is also included in the lot.

We invited a property expert from the auction house who sold it

to find out what he thought of this place.

It needs the kiss of life, basically,

but there is an incredible amount of potential here...

and scope.

But with low ceilings everywhere, in a conservation area

it must be pricey to rectify.

There is a lot of money to be spent.

We're talking minimum £40,000 to £50,000.

However, I feel this property could be on the market within the region of

£250,000 to £275,000.

So, there's certainly lots of mileage.

There is certainly potential with that guide price of £130,000.

With a further 50 grand spent on refurbishment you could be left with

a potential profit of £70,000.

That's not including the forge building across the road.

The forge itself has a lot of history behind it,

and it...

certainly can be converted into maybe an art studio or an office, or it may be, potentially, a garage.

But that's all down to the appropriate planning consent.

Whoever takes on this project will have their work cut out.

I think they'll have to take it back to the bare brick and start again.

There are some lovely views, though, and I'm pretty sure, in the distance,

that's Southwell racecourse.

Who fancied a gamble when it went under the hammer?

And our last lot today, lot 36, start me where you like with this,

ladies and gentlemen. Who's got 125 to start me?

125. He has. Thank you.

£125,000.

At £125,000 is the opening bid.

126, somewhere.

126. 126.

Surprisingly, the bidding takes time to get past the 130-grand guide

price. We rejoin the bidding at £132,500.

132,500. 500. 132,500.

133? At 133.

130,000. 500.

133,500. 134,500.

New bidder. 134,500. 135?

135. 135,500?

500, quickly?

At £135,000 for the first time.

For the second time.

Third and last opportunity.

Sold, 135,000. Thank you.

The successful bid of 135 grand came from Andrew,

who has bought the property as a joint venture

with builder son-in-law Ben, who lives locally.

I met them back at the cottage to find out their plans.

-Andrew, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, Dion.

And you, sir. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Just give us a bit of background,

how you've come together to start your property-developing world.

Well, Ben is my son-in-law,

runs his own building and roofing company, and he happened to be driving by

this particular property when somebody else was viewing it.

And he nipped in just to have a quick look around - you know how you do -

just out of interest, to see what things looked like,

and he thought, "Well,

"maybe I know somebody who ought to have a little go at this."

-So, just by chance, Ben, was it?

-Yeah, yeah. Just driving past,

saw somebody doing a viewing, and Andy's been wanting to do a little

venture, so I thought, yeah, well,

I'll give him a nod, send him to the auction, see how he goes.

Andy's in the jewellery business,

so he just wanted to, well, have a go at property developing!

So, we set up a little company, and this is the first one.

Whilst it is a first venture,

I'm glad Ben has plenty of relevant experience.

-So, what is he planning?

-Well, firstly, it'll all be stripped back.

So, plaster off, new floors, chimney breast out.

The back elevation, buildings, they'll all come down.

Extension off the back and then basically...

..go from there.

Sounds easy. Ben is also planning

to lower the floor to increase the head height down

here, but the roofs might be a bigger challenge in this conservation area.

Even so, Andrew has got a wish list.

There ought to be an en suite off the main bedroom, and the bathroom,

which is at the back of the property at the moment on the ground floor,

will have to go upstairs, as well.

So, a plumber's going to earn a fair amount out of the changing

that goes on there.

And it'll certainly change the character of it,

but we want to retain the cottagey look to it, as well,

because that's half the charm of an old place like this.

The work, Ben, how long are you hoping it's going to take you

to get this turned round?

We're hoping six to seven months to be completed.

Obviously, it needs planning permission, so...

..there's eight weeks lost.

And it's not just the cottage to be refurbished.

There is the forge across the way. What about that building?

Hopefully, keep the shell.

Obviously, there's a lot of brickwork to change.

New roof, new floor.

-But it may be a case of coming down and rebuild.

-Start again.

-Yeah.

There's quite a large chimney section in there,

which was the old forge area, and so that'll have to come down to give more space.

Probably a small kitchen area.

Obviously, there'll have to be toilet and bathroom facilities and a bedroom

and then a small living area inside there.

It'll be compact, but if it's done to a nice standard,

which we hope to attain, then it should be something that would, you know...

would let reasonably easily.

At the moment, the plan is to sell the house and rent the forge across the way.

Andrew's sister-in-law works in the local tourism industry and often

gets requests for advice regarding accommodation,

so that's another family member to help things along.

And the family connections extend even further.

# Running in the family... #

My brother-in-law, who's very much into family history,

came back to us and said

did we know that his great-grandfather used to be

the actual smithy across the way there in the census in 1844.

-In the outbuilding?

-In the outbuilding.

-Wow!

-Yeah, yeah.

So I think it'll be rather nice if we get one or two of the old tools

there in a glass-fronted case to keep a little bit

of the character once it's been done up.

That would be cool, wouldn't it?

It would be cool, yeah.

A cottage refurbished and a short-term let

building of historic significance, which leads me to the 64,000 question.

What's your budget?

THEY LAUGH

How long's a piece of string?

Well, the short answer is, really,

we don't want to spend more than, well,

-Ben will say 70.

-70. It's got to be.

I think it'll be round that kind of area. Yeah.

-That's not too bad, is it?

-No.

60 would be nice, but I've got a gut feeling we might get up to 70,

but no more. It will be done for 70.

So, Andrew and Ben, I wish you all the best.

Hope it goes exactly how you want it to go.

-Good luck.

-Thank you very much.

We'll need that good luck, I'm sure!

-Good luck, Ben.

-Cheers.

Keeping it in the family,

Andrew and Ben are "forging" ahead with this business project.

And I'm glad to hear that Ben has a history as a roofer, because I think that

particular skill set is going to be needed here.

I'm hoping he's got some gardening skills, as well.

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

I'm close to the South London boom town of Croydon - Selhurst,

where you can get more brick for your buck.

It's also home to Crystal Palace Football Club.

And talking of that football club, well,

the stadium is just up the road from here,

so this might seem like a quiet residential street now,

but on match days, well, it certainly won't be.

But then again, if you support Crystal Palace,

well, this two-bed end-of-terrace I'm here to see

might be right up your street.

Now, it had a guide price of £260,000-plus.

Let's hope it's not too "foul" on the inside.

Sorry about that.

'I prefer my interiors to be "Premier League".'

Ooh, well, not much privacy with this front door.

You can see straight through that glass.

Won't want to come trotting down the stairs with your dressing

gown flapping around, because you'll be able to see everything!

Right, into the hallway. What have we got here?

Straight into the first reception room.

A great size. You know what? It just seems a little bit tatty.

It needs decorating, it need some love.

It's very brown and beige at the moment,

but you have got double glazing to the front, which is good.

Through into the second reception room.

Again, it's a little bit messy.

It just needs somebody to come in and give it some TLC, because,

structurally, it seems all right.

I can smell a little bit of damp,

so I'd get somebody to check that out.

And then straight through into the kitchen.

Now, it's right at the back of the property, and it's small.

But you could work with this. You could just rip all the units out.

You've got a little view out into a courtyard garden there.

So, you can certainly spend some money, you can upgrade this place.

But it is what it is, it's a typical terrace, and I think,

with some love and some money spent on it,

it could be quite a nice family home.

And as I mentioned,

money has already been spent on it with double glazing -

good job, given the nearby trains and central heating,

both costly jobs for a refurbishment.

Now, something I have noticed with this property - it's a little bit unusual -

are the stairs. Now, when I say they're unusual, they're really,

really narrow, and I've got a bit of a safety issue here.

Either running up or running down, I think,

could be quite dangerous, because, let me just show you, viewer,

I've got a size four-and-a-half foot, OK?

Here we go. Here's my foot on the tread.

And it only comes up to there.

Now, my lovely cameraman here, Tom, has got a size...

..14 foot.

Could you just demonstrate?

So, how hard would it be for Tom to get up or down the stairs?

I mean, take a look.

Can you extend stairs?

I think something drastic needs to be done,

because as they stand at the moment, they're a little bit dangerous.

So, I think I'm going to go up sideways to get up the stairs

to make it a little easier.

So, here we are, and, well, walk straight into the bathroom.

Now, this, this is quite a luxury, to have a bathroom of this size.

And look at that

lovely little fireplace.

I bet that would be really nice

if somebody took the time to look after that.

You know, I could lay in the bath all evening

and just stare at that fireplace.

In fact, I might try that out.

Let's just see what it looks like from this point of view.

Ahhh!

Yeah, still looks really good.

Excuse me, can I have some privacy while I get out of the bath? Thanks.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-Not that I usually bathe

wearing my shoes!

A fireplace suggests that used to be bedroom number three,

meaning the bathroom must have been downstairs,

though Heaven knows where,

as there's not a lot of room down there.

Anyway, I think a first-floor bathroom scores highly.

And the second bedroom also has some original features

as well as, ooh, quite a bit of damp,

but I'd like to add things like ceiling roses and coving.

We called in a local estate agent.

What are his thoughts of the railway line being so close to the property?

The railway line doesn't seem to have too much of an effect,

because I do know the trains stop running at, I think,

12.30 or one o'clock at night-time, anyway.

You do have obviously the Gatwick Express, which runs all night,

but that's a very fast train. It literally just zooms past.

So, it will be unnoticeable round here.

Good news. So, once refurbished, what will the values be?

Once renovated, this property would sell for around the region

of £350,000,

and the rental value would be around £1,200 per calendar month.

Yes, it looks rather grubby and tired at the moment,

but give it some TLC and I think it could be a really lovely home for

someone, especially if you're into football.

Who thought they'd "strike" it lucky by "netting" this property in the

auction room? Let's find out.

Lot 158. Right, 260, then, I'll try and give it a wee bit of discount.

260 I've got.

Thank you. 262.

262.

264. 266.

268. More competition.

270 at the back.

272.

274. 275.

276. No, it's with you, sir, in the blue.

It's against you standing up at the back. Anybody else? 276.

Thank you. Back in.

277. 278.

279.

280.

Anybody else for lot 158?

If not, 279 for the first,

279 for the second,

279 for the third and final time. Are we all done?

Sold, 279. Well bought.

The successful bid came from Chris.

And if he looks familiar, it's because he and his wife, Pauline,

have been on the show twice before...

..the last time in June 2015,

when they bought this three-bed end terrace in Croydon.

Whilst Chris took care of any structural changes,

Pauline looked after the decoration.

We paint greys, because it's a good background colour.

And we have splashes of colour on, like, the rug and the cushions.

It kind of puts a bit of life and personality into the room.

Well, they certainly put life back into that property.

It was valued to make a profit of 89 grand,

minus the usual taxes and expenses.

They definitely put personality and profit into that property,

so I can't wait to find out what's next

and what they're going to do with their 279-grand purchase.

Chris and Pauline, we meet again.

-Yeah!

-I can't believe you two are at it again, another property.

Are you on your sixth auction property, am I right in saying that?

Yeah. Yeah.

-But three on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Mm-hm.

So, what made you want to buy this one? Let's kick off with you, Chris.

Usual answer, really. We didn't particularly want to buy this one.

-We had a list of, I don't know, eight, I think, on the day.

-Yeah.

That always happens to you. You never get your top choice, do you?

We missed the first seven. They all went through in the morning.

Then I ummed and ahhed about this one, because it was late in the day.

"Shall I hang around?"

Everything's going for crazy over-the-guide prices.

I thought I'd best wait around for it,

and then it came through at a reasonable price,

-so we ended up with this one.

-So, Pauline, tell me about Selhurst.

This is an area that's just outside of Croydon.

-What do you know about it?

-Not a lot, really.

It's just because we ended up here.

As Chris said, he's found a property that we could afford.

I'd already gone home, so I had no idea what he'd bought.

But, yeah, it looks all right.

Quite often, you just leave him with all the money in his pocket!

I have no control, except when he turns up without the chequebook,

and then I'm sent home to get it.

But you did have the chequebook this time.

This time I remembered the chequebook and everything!

Now, guys, I've seen two of your properties

that both have the Pauline touch, which I love.

What are you going to be doing to this one

that's going to really set it apart, that's going to give it your stamp?

Ooh, I've been told to rein in that stamp.

Because I remember last time, you were spending quite a bit of money.

Oh, yeah, I'm a bit gung ho with that.

She kind of ran away with herself a little bit, Chris. Is that right?

-She does like her posh stores, yes.

-And it's online shopping!

-Cup of tea, biscuit, click, click...

-But what Pauline does do

does actually give it that glossy, finished look,

I'm right in saying that.

-It does!

-And it helps to sell the property.

-It does.

-It gives the house a wow,

and it sells, certainly sells quickly,

not necessarily for more, but it makes it sell quickly.

So, how are you going to rein her in this time?

Apparently, I've been told to hold fire on the wallpapering and stuff,

because I think the budget's going to be a bit tighter,

and just probably use a lot of the format that we've used before,

because it seems to work and people like it.

But what sort of budget are you looking at, realistically,

for this property?

Windows and central heating's all been done for us,

we just need to do carpets, kitchen, bathroom, redecorate.

You've got to change a few panes of glass. There's a few broken.

Ah, that's not a big deal.

A little bit of work on the roof.

So, I'm hoping around about 20 or so should do it.

So, you say a little bit of work on the roof.

I mean, you have to walk along this road and you notice this is the roof

that looks untouched, a couple of slates missing.

But actually, that's what it is, a couple of slates missing,

just a couple of days for a roof guy on the roof and we should be done,

-hopefully.

-So nothing too serious.

No, there's no signs of damp or anything upstairs coming through the

ceiling, so it seems to be watertight, so it should be OK.

And how long is it going to take you, realistically, Chris?

We're not going to start for a few weeks, because we're waiting for

the builder to finish other jobs,

and I've got another job for the builder to do, as well, before he comes here, so...

we're probably looking...

-Eight weeks.

-..two or three months, really.

It's probably eight weeks to do the job, but we've got to wait to...

Two to three months. And you're usually good at sticking

to your timescales, aren't you?

-Yeah, I guess we have been.

-Not too bad, actually, yeah.

Guys, I always love meeting up with you, and I'm so excited to see

renovation number three for Homes Under The Hammer,

-so good luck. Well done.

-Likewise.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, I think it's great to see that all is still going so well for

Pauline and Chris as they continue with their property-developing career.

But will Chris be able to rein in Pauline's spending?

Although I still hope she makes her mark here.

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

'Coming up, this Staffordshire property has a conservatory.

'Ah. It was like that when I found it!'

And Chris and Pauline are doing construction work

of the positive but pricey kind in Selhurst, London.

We had to replace the roof.

Sadly.

Earlier on, I was in the village of Upton in Nottinghamshire,

where I had a chance to step back in time,

thanks to this old forge and outbuildings,

guided at 130 grand.

It had a rabbit-warren layout, uneven floors and, in some cases,

no floors at all.

The ceilings also left you in no doubt about the manner

of their construction.

I think the last visitor before me was looking for some horseshoes and

some chainmail.

# Take me to the distant past I want to go back... #

There had been another set of visitors passing through

here. Ben had been driving past and told his father-in-law, Andrew,

about the forge.

They joined together to buy the property for £135,000.

It turns out their family previously had irons in the fire

when it came to the blacksmith's trade.

My brother-in-law, who's very much into family history,

his great-grandfather used to be the actual smithy across the way there

in the census in 1844.

-In the outbuilding?

-In the outbuilding.

-Wow!

-Yeah, yeah. So, I think it'll be rather nice if we get one or two of the old tools there

in a glass-fronted case

to keep a little bit of the character once it's been done up.

The pair were looking to forge new family links to the property,

with Ben's roofing company left to undertake the work over seven months

and on a 70-grand budget.

After that, they hope to sell the main house and use the outhouse as a

holiday let.

# I want to go back

# Past...

# Past... #

Leaving the past behind them, what's happened in a year?

Have Andrew and Ben created a roaring success?

Wow, an incredible look outside.

They've managed to fuse the old and the new.

With this being a conservation area,

I can see they've opted to rebuild using the original bricks.

But inside, it's tasteful and contemporary all the way.

# Say, we're heading for the future

# We're heading for the future, and the future's now

# Show you how... #

Well, actually, when it comes to downstairs,

I'll let Andrew show you how they did it.

Well, in this part of the house, basically everything has changed.

We originally had a breeze-block section on the back of the house,

which, quite frankly, was deplorable,

and it was taken down to ground level.

We've built it up. On the outside we've got reclaimed bricks.

And we've gone for a very modern, nice, light,

airy look with two windows in the ceiling there.

My wife chose the kitchen.

Really, anybody coming to look at a place like this,

they wouldn't conceive the change that's taken place and the amount of

work that's gone into it.

And I'm very happy with the outcome,

and I do feel that anybody looking at this

would be very happy to have it as their kitchen.

And Ben has restored the living area to a thing of beauty,

with nice and even wood floors.

He's also been busy upstairs.

Well, what's changed up here is that we've...

..we've put the staircase over here.

If you can remember, the staircase was in the front bedroom.

This is the only part of the cottage,

the remaining...that was left.

This is all new. It's a new extension.

Ideally, we wanted three bedrooms,

but the council would only let us have two.

Nice bathroom, put a dormer in. It's turned out nice.

Like I said, it would have been nice to have it a little bit bigger,

but, yeah, we're pleased with the end result.

The project took longer than expected due to planning delays

and Ben and his wife having another baby.

Congratulations to you both.

So, what's happening with the outbuilding?

We've had a little bit of trouble with the access on the side,

so we're still pondering on what to do.

Planning permission with regard to parking is holding this restoration up

but will hopefully be sorted out in the near future.

How did that 70-grand budget stack up?

-Well...!

-Do you really want to know the final figure?

Er, yes, I do, Andrew. That response doesn't fill me with hope, though.

Well, at the moment it stands at

251,000.

And there's a couple of small bills that will come in,

which might take it up to 255.

Pardon? Run that by me again.

That's including buying the property.

That's including the 135 for the property.

-Yes.

-That's not just the work.

Yes! So, if you take that away from it. So, it's 120, then, isn't it?

You did have me worried for a minute there, lads,

but 50 grand over budget is still a lot.

Even with a top-notch finish like this.

It's time to ask two local estate agents

if they're as impressed as I am.

My first impressions of the property

are that the restoration and the work carried out here

has been done to a very high standard.

Sympathetically retaining lots of character features from the outside.

But blended with the home comforts that people would want inside.

I particularly like the vaulted ceiling in the kitchen.

The aspect looking out onto the garden,

nice and light.

Yeah, my favourite room.

Andrew and Ben have spent a total of 255 grand buying the house,

the forge and doing the house up.

So, does the maths make sense to do up the forge

or to sell it all on?

Time to find out what kind of return

they could get on their investment so far.

In my opinion, the cottage on its own would be £265,000,

and with the old forge, £280,000 combined.

The asking price of the property should be £275,000,

with a view to achieving between 265,000 and 270,000.

We've had it valued by a local estate agent, by two...

..and they've both come in around about 300,

just for the cottage.

And then if the two were sold together, it would be 330 to 350.

If they sold the cottage for their valuation of 300 grand,

they would have a pre-tax profit of £45,000

and would still have the option of renovating the forge.

But between this renovation and having a new baby in the family,

Ben's had a pretty busy year,

and, of course, it's the first venture he's done

with his father-in-law.

But how has it gone?

-It wasn't too bad, it was OK.

-ANDREW LAUGHS

He's survived it. He's lost a little bit more hair on the way.

I'm in Staffordshire, just north of Newcastle-under-Lyme,

where there are some villages with real conversation-piece names,

like Talke.

# Talk to me... #

Now, Talke was actually the home of Reginald Mitchell,

the man who created the iconic Spitfire.

Chocks away!

Well, there is a lot of precipitation around,

as you may have noticed,

so I'm zooming to a neighbouring village with another quaint name...

Butt Lane.

Well, it might be a nice little village,

but it's certainly not a quiet one for sure.

And the property I'm here to see

doesn't possibly have the best location in the world.

Right on a set of traffic lights.

Let's take a look.

The guide price on auction day was 35 grand.

Time to get out of the rain and away from the traffic noise.

Well, there's plenty of traffic,

the irony is - there's nowhere to park.

Well, even on a nice day, the outlook isn't exactly going to...

fill you with the joys of spring, is it?

But, hey, it's convenient

and probably good for...bus routes!

But anyway, what have we got?

-Uh...

-HE LAUGHS

First thing you need to put in - a good stand for your umbrella.

Front room, well, you know, we like it, it's not a bad size.

I don't like the fact, A - no double...

There is double glazing.

Thank God this has double glazing, that means it's really bad out there

because you can still hear the noise of the traffic!

I'd want triple glazing, then,

and possibly some kind of a porch area there.

Through the little dark bit, the stairs up to the bedrooms there.

Rear sitting room. It is a fairly traditional layout.

Old fireplaces.

I'm a bit concerned about the unevenness in the floor, too.

-HE TAPS ON FLOOR

-They feel solid,

that means there's unlikely to be a damp-proof course.

You then come to the rear of the property,

where you'd expect to find - in these kind of houses -

a bathroom and a kitchen and a loo, and all that kind of stuff.

Well, we've certainly got the kitchen...

But good news... there's a toilet there,

which probably means there's a bathroom and toilet upstairs,

which would be a real find.

Ah... What's not such a good find is THAT.

Serious case of damp, that's for sure.

But you know what? Just keep thinking about the price.

The guide price of 35 grand does offer some comfort,

but there's little else of it to go around in this house,

with its wonky floors, mould and sogginess.

# As long as the price is right

# As long as the price is right... #

In fact, it appears to be wetter on the inside than the outside,

and today, that's saying something.

Let's hope it gets better upstairs, and after all,

the bathroom's going to be up here, right?

Good-sized bedroom at the front.

Although, again, I would really want to put some serious double or even

triple glazing on that window,

otherwise you will be kept awake at night with the traffic noise.

Um, not so, the bedroom at the back.

That's obviously going to be a lot quieter.

Um...

Bathroom, then.

Hm... Nope.

Which means...

..there isn't one.

Oh, dear.

Not normally an optional extra with houses, is it?

# Huh... #

Bath-time is cancelled and so might be any chance you had

of getting a mortgage,

unless you can find a lender who would offer you a conditional loan

if you guaranteed you'll install a bathroom...tout suite.

# Loola Loo, don't leave me

# I will do anything for you

# Loola Loo, you make me feel so fine... #

So, no bathroom, but there is a conservatory

and guess what - it's wet.

There's not a trickle of concern with this house,

it's more like a flood.

-Oops.

-HE CLEARS THROAT NERVOUSLY

That wasn't me, honest, really. (No, shhh! Don't tell anybody.)

Oh, it's turning into a promotional video

for the Great British umbrella, this is.

But anyway, out the back of the property we have quite a surprise.

Look at this! A really nice-sized garden.

But, out here, you also get to see that this whole extension is in a...

Aah! Attacked by a bush!

..is in a right old state.

So... Bad, bad, bad.

Good, good, good. It kind of sums up the property, actually.

Whilst I remain conflicted about the good and bad here,

we'll let a local estate agent give us his thoughts.

Shame he doesn't have a brolly to use INSIDE.

First impressions of the property,

it represents a brilliant opportunity,

although there is quite a bit of work

for the next buyer to carry out.

Internally, the property requires

quite extensive works to be carried out.

That would include a new gas, central heating, electrical system,

along with a damp-proof course.

The big challenges with this property

will be alteration of the extension to the rear of the property,

along with relaying of the floors on the ground floor,

as they appear to have been moved.

So, it's a major list of works,

but could this property provide a good return

on the sales and rental market?

If the property was to be refurbished

to a reasonable standard,

I would expect it to earn up to £70,000.

Once the property has been refurbished,

I would expect to achieve £400-£425 per calendar month.

Well, this two-bed semi is damp and noisy, and there's no bathroom.

It's definitely a challenge.

Who was up for it when it went under the hammer?

So, what shall we say for this?

30,000 to start me here?

30, can I say?

28,000, can we get it going at 28?

28 bid, thank you. At £28,000.

30 can I say now?

£30,000 bid.

32?

33? £33,000.

At 33. You, as well?

£34,000.

35? £35,000.

Quick, yeah. £36,000.

37? £37,000. 38?

No? If not, £37,000, standing left.

£37,000...

You've bought it, sir, well done.

Getting the property for £37,000 was Malcolm,

and this house is his first auction purchase.

Oh, dear... I hope he's a builder!

Malcolm, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Right, good house, then?

-For the price, yeah.

-BOTH LAUGH

Um... Good if you like cars?

-Sorry?

-Cars.

-Cars?

-Whizzing past...

Oh, it's a bit noisy, yeah, but it means it's on the main route.

Well, this is true. Look at the positives! Exactly!

It's good for communications.

Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

Uh, it was just at the right price.

Um, we'd already put a bid in on it before the sale, but it was refused.

We bid 35 beforehand.

Right, OK, so you had to pay a couple of grand extra.

-Yeah.

-Are you reasonably happy with it for that?

Yeah, I can't see it losing on that, really.

-You know, what can you get for that?

-Quite.

Tell me about you, what do you do?

-Well, I did work on the oil refineries.

-Oh!

We just left that sort of work at the beginning of this year,

so I'm sort of doing a bit of driving and doing houses.

We've just finished one and this is the next one.

Well, Malcolm certainly has the positive attitude

that's needed for this house

and when he refers to "we", he means his two brothers

who work in the building trade and are willing to lend a hand.

Tell me what you're going to do to sort it out, then?

The main work is the extension at the back,

which will need knocking down and rebuilding.

Until the architect tells us what we can do and what the planning

will allow us to do, we're not certain,

but we intend to put a single-storey extension.

We'll do a lot of the work prior to the building,

getting stuff ready for the building,

plaster off ready for the damp course.

These floors are going to have to be levelled out,

so we've got to look at that.

Put a good kitchen in and a bathroom downstairs,

cos there's not enough room upstairs.

No, and clearly there isn't the bathroom.

There isn't a bathroom, no, at the moment, there's just a toilet,

if you call it a toilet!

That would for, I guess, people who are buying through a mortgage,

would make it very difficult.

I presume that's why there wasn't a lot of bidding on it, because there was no bathroom,

so a lot of people wouldn't be able to get a mortgage.

Malcolm's set a budget of between £15,000 and £20,000,

but that might vary,

depending on his architect's plans for the extension at the back.

Once it's complete, Malcolm plans to rent the house out,

so how long does he think it will take him, and his brothers,

to get this place home and dry?

It's not going to be next week, it will probably be about a year.

Oh, right! Why so long?

Cos we're working, as well.

We've got other projects doing and...it's just one of those...

With doing it ourselves,

a lot of the work's going to be done in our spare time.

It may be shorter, but I'm not expecting it in less than a year.

So, if it's done quicker, then great.

If it isn't, it just depends on what time we've got available to do it.

And when it's done,

how much do you think you'll be able to rent it out for a month?

I would think about 450 a month.

450. So, you're losing £450 a month every time it isn't rented out.

Yeah, but if I had to fetch people in to do the work,

I'd be paying £1,000 a week to pay them, so...

Malcolm is facing that classic conundrum of time versus money.

Whether it's his time and a bit less money,

or tradesmen's time and more money, he will have to weigh it all up.

Malcolm will have a clearer idea of what's ahead of him

once he has his architect's plans.

And then, after this, any plans for another one?

We'll look at another one, yeah, we'll look at another one.

Got to keep busy doing something!

Got to build a pension fund somewhere, haven't I?

Well, yeah, that's very true.

Well, listen, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

I look forward to seeing how you turn it around.

BOTH LAUGH

Well, Malcolm certainly does have a laid-back approach

to sorting this place out and he's got a point.

If he gets people in, it will cost him money,

however, you've got to factor that up against that

£450-a-month loss of income for every month this isn't occupied.

How long will it actually take him...?

You can find out later in the show.

So, we've seen what's happened to one of the properties,

what about the other two?

Yes, have they gone to plan or has there been some nasty surprises?

Well, time has passed, so let's go back and find out.

It's final whistle time for a property I saw earlier

in the Selhurst area of London,

and this terrace had certainly created a corridor of uncertainty.

Ooh, well, not much privacy with this front door -

you can see straight through that glass.

Certainly won't want to come trotting down the stairs with your

dressing gown flapping around because you'll be able to see everything!

What was revealed was a pretty standard layout.

Two reception rooms, with the kitchen in a back extension,

and the staircase seemed, well, very narrow and steep.

At the top, the original bedroom had been turned into the bathroom

that had retained its original features.

I mean, look at that!

Lovely little fireplace.

I bet that would be really nice

if somebody took the time to look after that.

A couple, more than equipped to give this house a little bit of zhuzh,

were property developers Chris and Pauline,

who paid 279,000 for this at auction.

However, this time, Pauline has to rein in her usual style

of going for bling.

-She does like her posh stores, yeah.

-And it's online shopping.

Just sat there, cup of tea, biscuit...

So, how are you going to rein her in this time?

Apparently, I've been told to hold fire on the wallpapering and stuff

because I think the budget's going to be a bit tighter.

Well, it's time to find out if, four months later, Pauline has managed

to keep the cash in her pocket this time.

# It's not about the money, money, money

# We don't need your money, money, money

# We just wanna make the world dance

# Forget about the price tag... #

Wow, wow! This looks great,

and I guess moving a stud wall is one way to save on wallpaper.

The new open-plan living area is very modern,

but Pauline and Chris have kept some lovely original pieces.

In fact, the original fireplace looks awfully familiar.

What's happened to my relaxing bath next to the fire?

Well, the house is great, but this is my favourite, because...

really, really wanted to make the most of the space.

There used to be a fireplace here, but we've moved it to downstairs,

and we've put this really great trough sink in.

And the tiles are a lovely seagrass colour,

which is a deviation from my standard grey,

but I think it works well.

And we've got a cupboard here

that you could put the washing machine in

and that kind of maximises the space that we've got in this room.

Like the rest of the house,

the upstairs has been re-skimmed and freshly painted,

with no signs of Pauline's expensive wallpaper anywhere.

And back downstairs, the kitchen was in real need of an upgrade.

# ..Ain't about the... Uh, cha-ching, cha-ching

# Ain't about the... Yeah, b-bling b-bling

# Wanna make the world dance

# Forget about the price tag... #

Well, I think it's Chris's turn to explain what's happened in here.

We've basically changed everything.

We've put new cupboards, new boiler, new sink, new cooker, new hob,

new floor.

What we're particularly pleased with is we've moved the door from

the under stairs cupboard from there,

so that we've created a whole space to put the fridge-freezer...

And by doing that, we've gained a downstairs toilet,

which is nice for the house.

It certainly is, but as well as things have gone inside,

it's not been quite as simple outside, has it?

The big unexpected was...

I anticipated on renovating the roof rather than replacing the roof...

but it quickly became apparent -

as soon as we got in the loft - that we had to replace the roof,

so that was a bit of a...

The bit of the nasty in the thing,

but other than that, everything was sort of to plan and as expected.

The new roof can't have been the only thing to go up then.

How has that affected the 20 grand budget?

On the refit, we probably spent about 24,

but unfortunately, we spent eight on the roof,

so probably came in at about 32,000.

So, we did bust the budget a little bit.

But it's a good roof and... it's a lovely roof, in fact.

-BOTH LAUGH

-Best on the street.

-Best ever!

You know, it had to be done

because no-one's going to buy a house and then take...

If you even got to the survey bit

and just took one look at that roof...

It's shot, I mean, it had to be replaced.

So, unavoidable.

We didn't go crazy with the budget

simply because it was a house that we didn't think

we could make a massive, massive profit on,

so we just kind of stuck to budget...

I mean... I had a little bit of input with, um,

making it pretty and choosing tiles and bathrooms and sinks and whatnot,

but I think, basically,

a lot of it was joint decisions with him, really.

Sadly.

Oh, poor Chris.

At least he managed to get it completed

only months later than planned.

So, what's next for the house?

We've got about 30-plus viewings booked, so it's proving a lot more

popular than we anticipated,

so we've maybe pitched the price a tiny bit low on the advert,

but, yeah, it just needs to be sold

and that should all be done and dusted this week.

Well, we managed to squeeze in

a couple more viewings

for two local estate agents.

I wonder if they'll be impressed with the changes here.

I love the kitchen and the bathroom,

they both have been finished to a luxury condition.

I wouldn't mind living in here myself.

I think it's a really professional refurbishment here,

you can see they've done it before,

they know what people are looking for

and it's quite slick, actually.

I'm very impressed. Nice job.

The fact that the vendors have dressed this property

is a really good idea.

Potential buyers would like to see how they could arrange

their own furniture in the property,

so dressing it gives them an idea of space and layout.

But is it dressed to kill on the property market?

The couple have invested £311,000.

What do the agents think?

Values in this area have increased considerably and the small units -

especially one and two-bedroom properties - are at a premium,

so I do expect this will get a lot of interest very quickly.

For sales, I think they should be asking in the region of £375,000.

This property should be marketed at £390,000 for sale.

Well, we put it on the market at offers over 360,

with the anticipation to get around about 380,

but given that we've got 30 viewings booked for this Saturday,

I think we'll get... Well, closer to the 390, if not more.

Chris and Pauline could make around 80 grand

and that seems like the LEAST they could make, which is fantastic,

considering that they were initially worried

that there wasn't a lot of money to be made on this one.

A good chunk of that

is the market moving rather than what we've done.

We've probably added 30,000 or so value to the house

and the rest is the market moving, so...

But it's still good. I'm... I'm pleased with it.

Yeah. All good.

Easy-peasy. Our builders might not agree, but...

Yeah, they might beg to differ.

We're sitting at home watching Homes Under The Hammer

and they're down here actually doing it.

Earlier, I was in the village of Butt Lane, Staffordshire.

I was looking at a house guided at £35,000

that was suffering from damp,

wonky floors and just about everything else.

Not helped by me, perhaps.

And despite having a downstairs loo,

I had to hunt high and low for the bathroom.

I looked downstairs, I looked upstairs, I looked outside...

# But I still haven't found

# What I'm looking for... #

Nope. Which means...

..there isn't one.

But this house was exactly what Malcolm was looking for.

Another house for the former oil worker to rent out.

He roped his brothers in to help with his new £37,000 purchase

and they had big plans.

The main work is the extension at the back,

which will need knocking down and rebuilding.

Until the architect tells us what we can do and what the planning

will allow us to do, we're not certain,

but we intend to put a single-storey extension,

put a good kitchen and a bathroom downstairs

cos there's not enough room upstairs.

No, and clearly there isn't the bathroom.

There isn't a bathroom, no, at the moment.

There's just a toilet, if you call it a toilet.

Well, the last time we were here, it wasn't just the house that was damp,

it was a truly awful day.

But three years on - well over Malcolm's one year timescale -

there's a glimmer of light and not just in the weather.

Off-street parking is very welcome on this busy road

and new windows and lagging should help with the damp problem.

But, after all this time, will it be a brighter day for this property?

# I wanna see the sunshine after the rain

# I wanna see bluebirds flying over the mountains again... #

Well, not only do we have a brand-new 36-foot extension,

populated with a spacious and gorgeous kitchen,

we have a bathroom and one of a sunny disposition.

# ..I wanna see the sunshine after the rain... #

We also find living areas with floors that are as smooth

as the decor is modern.

Upstairs, those bedrooms look a lot more homely

and benefit from central heating.

Out back, the conservatory is thankfully gone

and the garden is a fantastic space to catch some rays.

# ..I wanna, wanna... #

Thanks to Malcolm, the forecast is looking bright for this house,

but the only dark cloud on the silver lining

is why did it take so long?

# ..Oh, where is the silver lining shining at the rainbow's end? #

It's actually taken three years

from when we bought the property to finishing it.

The first few months we had a lot of problems with getting

planning permission, which stopped it for a few months.

The scale of the job was probably a little bit more than expected.

We had minor problems waiting for building inspectors,

then waiting to get brickies or such, so...

Just little bits kept adding on,

but there was never a high priority to get it finished

in a short period, so it's not a problem.

One of the most trying issues for Malcolm was those wonky floors.

The floor was the main problem

and it was of quarry tile and black ash,

so we tanked the floor all the way through,

took it out ten inches deep, rescreeded it,

five inches of concrete, five inches of insulation.

We also damp-coursed the whole house.

With the upstairs windows being wooden,

the water was coming through the frames

and down behind the old render,

so we removed the old render

and that's been cured by the extra insulation.

It's hard to reconcile this lovely dry house

with that damp one we saw,

so did Malcolm's brothers help as planned?

Oh, we tried to do a lot of the work ourselves...

Luckily, I've got brothers who are ex-building trade, so they've been

dragged in to information and help on many occasions...

I employed a full-time brickie for the brickwork, which I can't do.

We've done all the joinery ourselves.

So, it's been mainly meself and family

and professionals where they were needed -

the brickwork, which, obviously, we couldn't do.

And plastering, which I couldn't do, though I've tried.

HE LAUGHS

But have the delays cost him money?

The original budget was £20,000.

It's gone over that.

We haven't got the exact figures, it would be somewhere around 25,000,

26,000 now.

That was brought about mainly

because we decided to put water-powered underfloor heating in

and the external insulation on the front of the house

to bring it up to efficiency.

They were the two big extra spends,

so, really, it stayed within the budget,

allowing for what was extra to be put on.

So, any regrets, Malcolm?

Buying the place in the first place.

Oh, come on, there must be something you're pleased with?

Yeah, I think the extension is just spot-on for the size

and what it adds to the property.

It turns it into a decent family house now.

It is a great family house and it's a very impressive renovation,

even if it did take a while.

But now comes the time for two local estate agents to give us

their thoughts and the all-important valuations.

It's the first time I've seen this property.

Excellent first impressions when you come into the property itself.

I know the gentleman that's purchased the property

has done a really nice job of extending it.

The kitchen extension is absolutely fantastic,

with the underfloor heating and the skylights above.

Key selling points for the property... I think location's one

cos it's near all the shops, amenities and schools.

The main thing with the property and its structure,

the fact that it's well insulated,

the beautiful extension, which has created a large sort of

open-plan lounge-kitchen-diner

and the attention to detail

that the builder has taken on the property.

Malcolm has spent £63,000 buying and renovating the property and the

agents think he could fetch a top figure of 105,000

on the sales market,

giving Malcolm a fantastic £42,000 pre-tax profit.

But he's keen to rent it out, so what can he expect?

In the rental market,

I would expect the property to achieve in the region

of £550 per calendar month.

If I was to put this on the current rental market,

I think the owners could achieve £550 per calendar month.

Well, I've already been offered six, so, yes, well, in the right region.

Always exceeding expectations is Malcolm and £600 per calendar month

gives him an 11.5% yield, a great return on his investment.

It certainly took a while,

but Malcolm can be pleased with the end result.

I think it's turned out very well,

it's turned out better, if anything, than we were hoping for.

The extension has really worked well in size and the proportions

it has left in the garden,

so, yeah, I think it has worked out really well.

Well, property developing is full of thrills, spills, and, yes,

sometimes bellyaches.

And it really does require resilience and determination.

Yes, join us next time, here on Homes Under The Hammer,

where we'll find out who's got what it takes.

-Goodbye.

-Bye-bye.

-Goodbye.