Episode 69 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome. Now, when it comes to buying property,

a lot of people don't even think

about the auctions as a place to look.

Yes, do your research,

and the auction house can offer lots of options.

So why don't you head down to your local auction house

and see if you can find something to suit you?

Bidding at auction can be such a surreal experience.

There you can be putting your hand up, bidding,

it can be over in a flash, but then you've bought a house!

You have. When the hammer goes down, you are committed, so bid wisely.

Yes, did the buyers on today's show do just that?

Let's find out.

I'm in a tight spot at this two-bed terrace in North York.

And this is it.

Well, as you can see, it's not exactly massive, is it?

It looks like Lucy's lost the plot at this land in Kent.

One thing I don't much like is that.

And I'm making some interesting discoveries in Carlisle.

And here we've got an airing cupboard with a shower door on.

No.

All these properties have been sold at auction.

And we'll find out who bought them and what they paid

when they went under the hammer.

Well done.

York is one of England's 12 Heritage cities,

but it's not just about history.

Since the Millennium, its population has grown by nearly 10%,

and I'm heading for the lovely city suburb of Clifton.

So, a very desirable location,

so it's really exciting to hear of a property that sounds like

it could be, potentially, very good value.

Two bedroomed mid-terrace.

£70,000 was the guide price.

Let's have a look.

OK, stairs up to the bedroom there.

And then into your front sitting room.

Well, you know, nice, you've got an open fire.

Obviously boarded up at the moment, but it's a focal point.

It's not huge, but then what do you expect?

It is just a mid-terrace,

and a fairly small mid-terrace at that.

But it's kind of quaint.

The moment you walk in, yeah, you get that feeling.

What was probably a two-up, two-down at some point,

and in its day would have definitely been heated by just coals -

a coal fire there. A nice range which is still in existence there,

which is good to see. Probably replaced by a kitchen, oh, yes.

And this is it.

Well, as you can see, it's not exactly massive, is it?

And I don't really know what you could do

to make better use of the space.

You're going to be very, very limited.

I guess it is what it is.

And just with some really, really clever design, perhaps...

perhaps you - and a dishcloth -

you could make it, you know, a usable space.

Yes, it is small,

but with some ingenious planning, it could be perfectly formed.

# All the small things

# True care, truth brings. #

Well, I guess time will tell, but let's see how the rest shapes up.

So, upstairs, two bedrooms.

One really good bit of news is the bathroom is up here.

You might not have expected that. That is definitely a bonus.

I have got to show you this, though.

You know, talk about stud partition walls, or partition walls,

this is how they used to do it.

Literally just bits of tongue and groove,

board and then cover it with a bit of paper.

Marvellous. Actually,

strip it back and it can actually make a really nice feature.

Although, in terms of soundproofing,

it's not that brilliant. There are some lovely features here, though.

This is the bigger of the two bedrooms.

Look at that fireplace.

Really make the most of that, and maybe if it works,

it's a lovely thing to have in the bedroom. Yeah.

It is what it is. I like it.

# Groove is in the heart

# Groove is in the heart. #

Some things are not so groovy.

For a start, those storage heaters need to go.

Then there is a second, much smaller, bedroom.

Very purple.

Very avocado.

Very '70s.

It goes without saying that everything needs a refresh.

So, at the back of the property,

and you can see the little extension here,

which the kitchen has been built into.

And then a really nice surprise.

We've got a garden, a pretty decent size.

Obviously needs a bit of work to sort it out.

Bramble heaven, this is.

But you've got a little door, gateway there.

Is that access to a road?

That would be good, cos you could then build some kind of a garage.

If it's just a pedestrian, it's still a really nice thing to have.

I mean, and it just sort of rounds off that whole feeling that,

you know, from what at first glance

was a relatively small, little terrace actually

has a lot more to offer.

And possibly all that for a £70,000 guide price.

This York terrace seems like a real bargain,

but what do the experts think?

We invited a local estate agent to get her opinion on this property.

The property requires quite a lot of work doing to it.

It is a traditional terrace property

that were built far before the

council houses arrived here.

But they're still highly sought-after

as good and well-constructed homes.

It needs updating, but it sounds like there is a demand.

So what are the selling points of this kind of property?

The advantages are they are very good for first-time buyers.

They tend to look out for these type of properties a lot,

cos they still retain many of the original features, fireplaces, etc.

The garden at the back is a good size garden,

so it's ripe for extension to go out the back there, or even to have

a terrace property with your own garden space at the back.

That's quite rare in itself.

It sounds like this could be a popular lot at auction,

especially with that low guide price of 70,000,

but what could it achieve once renovated?

Once renovated, I would expect this property to achieve

in the region of £160,000.

And what about the rental market?

If the property was to be rented out, I would expect it to achieve

a rental in the region of £600 to £650 per calendar month.

Well, it's a great location and a property that you could

definitely add value to.

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

30. Thank you, sir.

32 and a half, anyone?

The house sold for 117,000,

but unfortunately we didn't manage to catch the bidding.

However, it turns out the successful bidders, Wim and fiancee Lisa,

weren't there either.

I caught up with Wim to find out more.

-Wim, good to meet you.

-Hello.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

Renting is so expensive these days.

My fiancee and I both need a place in the city centre,

and this just fell into our laps.

It popped up at the right time.

At the right price. And I think it's the last cheap house in England.

Oh, really? The auction, you weren't actually at the auction, were you?

No, a friend of ours went down to London for us.

You must have been a bit nervous then, sort of, as it was happening?

That's right. We had absolute confidence in him.

-Really?

-With our money. I think, perhaps,

because the auction was so far away, down in London,

a lot of the landlords around here who would have developed it didn't

quite have enough profit in it to go down and nab it,

-so it's just fell through the net, really.

-Right. But to your benefit.

-Yes, absolutely.

-That's all good news.

So you are from York, then?

Yes. We've been renting in York city centre for about eight, nine years.

-So what do you do?

-I am a freelance artist at the moment.

-OK.

-Lisa is a displays manager in a tourist attraction.

-OK.

-So they are both very creative jobs.

Brilliant. What kind of art do you do?

At the moment I'm doing re-creations of classical ceilings.

-Wow.

-And anything else that comes my way.

I like to...

I like new things. Because every job that comes along,

I say, "Yes!" and then quickly go away and learn how to do it.

So, can we expect to find elaborate Sistine Chapel-esque type ceilings

-when we come back?

-If I think it will put the value

of the property up, yes!

Not sure. So, the stuff that's in here, then, is this all yours?

Yes. We collect, kind of, almost antiques.

-You've moved in?

-We hastily moved in yesterday.

-Yesterday?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-The old place was empty and cold.

-Right.

-We thought we'd jump in here.

In an ideal world, of course, I guess you would have not moved in

until you'd actually done the work, because it's a lot easier to do.

It would've been nice to sit in a hotel for a week

while we did the work or something, but the work's all my duty.

Right. What was it about this particular house,

other than the price, that you liked?

Some of the unique features, some of the period features.

And the size of the garden, I suppose, as well.

-Yeah.

-The bramble thicket was bigger than the house itself.

We've slashed through it.

And at auction, had you been looking in, sort of, other routes?

Estate agents and stuff?

Yeah, we hadn't been looking at the auctions specifically.

It's just this one was on auction,

so we had to go for it because of the price.

-A very low guide price.

-Were you happy with what you paid for it?

Yes.

I think it'll increase in value rapidly

and it is just on the edge of

-what we could afford.

-So, what are you planning to do to sort it out?

Well, obviously decorate, a new carpet.

A new bathroom. A new kitchen.

Everything, actually. She wants everything.

Are you the man who's got to deliver on that?

That's right. I've been given a bit of a reprieve from work while I get

-the house done.

-Now,

you would not expect a straightforward magnolia renovation

from a guy who channels his inner Michelangelo, would you?

So what is the vision?

We're going to try and restore this room into something Victorian.

-OK.

-Well, partly because of, well,

the features and some of the furniture we have would lend itself

very well to having a very nice Victorian dining room.

-Oh, nice.

-The front room,

I'm going to make as modern as we can,

cos we've got some very modern furniture too,

and we have some very modern habits, you know.

Media and this kind of thing, you know.

Watching movies on a projector screen.

We like having USB sockets within an arm's reach.

-Right.

-So a very modern room, then.

And out the back, of course, we're going to be decking,

having a vegetable garden,

a bit of lawn, and I need to build a workshop for the both of us.

-OK.

-So, an enormous shed at the bottom of the garden

for messy stuff - painting and prop-making, that kind of thing.

That's all good. So, no internal modifications in terms of structure

-or anything like that?

-No.

We like the shape of the house, and it's standard for around here.

The bathroom upstairs is a bonus.

-Yeah.

-People don't like tramping all the way through the house in their

-slippers.

-And is the plan, then, obviously for you to live in it?

Yes. Us and our friends.

-Hmm?

-Well, there's always people popping in for tea.

All day long.

So it's nice to be a, kind of, hub for that.

-Oh, great.

-And of course they can help paint the place.

Yeah. Right, OK, so kind of an extended painting party?

-Yes.

-What's the budget for the work?

Altogether, over six months, about £4,000.

-OK.

-Which is why we're doing a lot of the work ourselves.

-Right. But are you relatively handy?

-I've been trained well.

The actual practical application of that is yet to be seen.

Fitting kitchens and things like that?

Yeah, I can do all the labouring work.

It's all the complicated bits, of course, well, safety certificates,

things like that that we'll have someone in.

So you'll get people in as and when?

-Yeah, a lot of our friends are tradesmen.

-Oh, right.

So it's all very friendly.

Great stuff. And if this inspires,

do you think you might do it again, or is this it?

I think you're right. It would lead onto something else.

We joke that once we've had our Victorian terrace,

then we're going to get a Georgian townhouse,

and move on from there. To a Tudor mansion perhaps.

And your partner, is she going to get involved in, sort of,

-the work as well?

-Yeah, she's very handy.

She goes to work with a tool belt on and steel toe caps.

-Oh, really?

-Well, she does that at work.

At home, she can't plug the stereo in.

And in terms of timescale, six months you mentioned?

Yeah, yeah. About six months, we'd like to get a revalue

-and see what we've done.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

Good luck with it. I can't wait to see how you get on,

-and maybe doing the ceiling.

-Thank you very much.

My pleasure.

Well, Wim certainly seems delighted with his purchase,

and quite rightly too. I... I just can't wait to see if...

..the ceiling is indeed elaborately decorated when we return.

How will he get on with everything else?

You can find out later in the show.

Lucy's in Kent, and the lot she came to see is in Rainham.

A great place for commuters with its fast train link to London and its

close proximity to Gillingham and Chatham.

The lot I'm here to see is in fact a plot of land right in the middle of

this well-established housing estate.

And it's got planning permission for three three-bedroomed houses,

which is fantastic.

And all for a guide price of 140 to 150,000.

Now, if there is one thing I love,

it's land with planning in an area already popular with the locals.

-One thing I don't much like is that.

-CARS IN THE DISTANCE

No, not the sky.

That constant hum of the M2 motorway.

# Get your motor running Head out on the highway! #

Well, there had to be some kind of catch.

And the motorway noise coupled with the other busy road right next door,

well, that's a catch and a half.

It'll bother some people more than others, but it's ever present.

So, enough with the noise for now.

Plenty of people live with it.

And back to the land.

What have we got?

Well, it's 0.09 hectares, if you want to know.

You're surrounded by all these trees, which is nice.

Look, it's flat. There is easy access and it's a decent size.

Now, the plans that have been passed are for a sort of mini-terrace.

All three houses the same size, all the same layout, with a kitchen,

diner, living room and loo on the ground floor,

and three bedrooms and a bathroom on the first.

Now, they won't be massive,

but they'll be plenty big enough for a growing family.

But what do I like most?

The fact that somebody has done all the hard work for you,

and you can just get building.

Buy the land, hire the builders and boom -

you could have houses to rent or sell in a very short space of time.

But it does look like an extremely large plot for just three houses.

Is there anything else you could do here to make more of the site?

This area has a real mix of houses,

maisonettes and, perhaps surprisingly, flats.

And you could probably get maybe six two-beds in a block on this

site. Now, that sounds appealing.

You'd substantially hike up your profit when you came to sell,

but it's selling that could be the issue.

Now, I know you'd rent them in a flash,

but mortgages for first-time buyers are so hard to come by,

and even harder on leasehold new-builds.

Of course, there's the issue

of getting the permission in the first place.

In fact, a couple of years ago,

plans were submitted for five two-bedroom flats,

and the application, well,

it sort of trailed off into nowhere.

I think, in this market, I would go with what sold with the site -

think safe, think easy and in this case, think houses.

# And make it easy on yourself

# Make it easy on yourself. #

So going with the flow seems like the best option.

However, regardless of the plan,

it was the traffic flow behind the copse

that was the really big negative.

This is a real problem.

If you had the house nearest the motorway,

on a lovely sunny day like today,

you'd be reluctant to open the windows,

and your evening barbecue with your family,

well, it would be so loud!

This will put people off and it will lower the value

of anything that's built here.

With the traffic whizzing by on both sides of this plot,

it's not going to be for everyone.

So we invited a local estate agent to give us

his assessment of the situation.

My first impression of the plot of land is that it's a very

good size. However,

my concern is it's sandwiched between two quite big roads and,

therefore, the noise level is going to be very high.

At this part of Rainham is a mixture.

There are properties, apartments

and there are houses.

They're not very big houses,

so they would probably be an ideal first-time buyer area, really.

So maybe flats would be a better option after all.

The traffic noise might not be such an issue if the only outside space

you're interested in is for parking.

I think the idea of building more,

maybe going for apartments on the site, is appealing,

especially when you consider that you're very close to some

blocks of apartments.

But I just don't think it would work

in this current economic environment.

The agent thinks that a two-bed flat

would sell for up to 110,000 and rent for £600 per month.

So if you had five of them, as suggested by the previous plans,

that would be a total of £550,000, minus building costs.

So how about the houses

as the current planning permission suggests?

Once built, I think the value of each property

would be in the region of £175,000 to maybe £195,000.

As much as a building plot can be, I think this is a reasonably safe bet.

It's not an easy market and the road and noise, well,

they will always be an issue, but nice family homes should sell well.

Let's see who went for it at the auction.

It's a good-looking quarter acre site with planning permission for

development with the three houses.

140 to start me. Start at 130. I don't want to go less than that.

130,000. 130 I've got, standing at the back.

£130,000. 135. 135 sitting.

Although the bids were slow to start,

there turned out to be some very hot competition in the room.

We rejoin at 190,000.

190. Get there first.

190. 190. 195.

195. And 200.

200,000.

At 195, I've got, standing on my right.

200?

It's a long think. 197,050.

Make it 200. Straight away.

202? It might have been his limit.

At £200,000 and standing over on the right-hand side I've got.

It's obviously in the room. To sell it for first time at 200...

You've got a bit of time, if you want it.

Second time at £200,000.

Everybody else is out.

Are you sure you're done? Third and final time at £200,000.

Well done, sir.

Getting the plot for 200,000 was Ricky -

wearing the orange jumper and aided by his brother-in-law and business

partner Paul. So why were these two prepared to pay so much over that

original £140,000 to £150,000 guide price for this noisy lot?

Lucy met up with them to find out.

Paul and Ricky, congratulations!

You got the plot of land

and you paid a fair bit over the guide price on auction day.

Now, Ricky, what was your plan?

Our plan was we we'd join on a fee that would go to at the auction...

But we had...

Although it was planned for three terraced houses,

we thought the potential of the land, there was more in it.

So you paid £200,000,

did you walk away feeling like you might have paid a little too much,

-Paul?

-For the basis of the planning that was in place,

but for our future plans, no.

If we got the planning through, then it works out quite a good buy.

-Yeah. It's a gamble.

-A little bit. A little bit of a gamble.

A little bit of a gamble, yeah.

So you obviously did your research.

You looked at this, you saw this plot comes with planning

for three houses.

-Yes.

-You obviously don't want to do that.

-No.

-What do you want to do here?

We've put in plans for eight two-bed flats.

We've got a preplanning consultation going on.

So hopefully we'll get the eight flats past.

So why do you think eight flats will work, Paul?

Well, it's more beneficial for the land.

I think the land, as you can see, it's a nice size of land.

It will take eight flats comfortably.

In my opinion, a few more.

But obviously parking restrictions and amenity space...

I just think eight flats will work better, financially as well.

So what experience have you two got of building and developing?

Tell me a bit about yourself.

I'm a carpenter by trade.

I've a dry lining company, which is plasterboard and plastering.

I've done a lot of flats acoustically,

a lot of acoustics in them.

So from that field, I can put that in.

Ricky's a plumber by trade.

He's got his own building company, and we have done a new build before,

which we've currently finished.

It's up for sale, so a little bit of experience between us.

# People try to put us down

# Talkin' 'bout my generation. #

Age is meant to bring wisdom,

so why are these two prepared to have all the hassle

in changing the plans?

We want to sort of maximise our profit, really, end of the day.

We know we can do the three terraced houses,

we know we can do that, but we think there's more in it, you know?

And...

It would give us more work

and obviously we'd get more money out of it.

I suppose that is the reason.

Well, the end return is better.

Yeah. The value of the land works better with eight flats.

My only concern with that is

that then you're going to have eight units to sell on.

First-time buyers at the moment are really struggling getting mortgages

with lease-hold properties.

I would be worried that you would just have a bit of delay in selling

-those units.

-Well, we don't really have to sell them.

The idea thinking forward is, if we couldn't sell them...

We sell one or two to cover building costs, then we'd rent the rest.

It's not a financial thing we have to get out of them.

So you're looking at building a portfolio?

Possibly, yeah. If they sell, they sell.

We're not in it for the short term.

This is probably into our retirement,

hopefully, or pay for our retirement, you know?

We've got family on board helping us,

so we're keep family members employed as well.

It ain't a quick thing.

We know that, we're not going into it with our eyes shut.

We know we're going to be a year doing it, basically.

So if you do build the eight flats here,

what sort of profit are you looking at?

About 350. We believe it's 200 for the land, about a 450 build,

leave it at about 350.

And if you have to fall back on the plans that you have?

These three houses, we believe, would retail about 172-180 each,

so 510-540, with a 200 build cost on that.

So around about 110-140 profit there.

OK, so you're literally looking at doubling your profit

-if you can build the flats.

-If, yeah.

This is something you really want to do,

you want to tick this off, don't you?

Yeah, I do. Yeah. I've done...

I've done masses of extensions, which I really enjoy.

I like going to work, believe it or not.

People think I'm probably a bit of a freak but I enjoy it, really.

I like the camaraderie,

the mucking about and putting

buckets of water on tops of doors, you know?

-You've put what?!

-I put buckets

of water on tops of doors and things like that.

So when people walk in, the water falls on them?

-Yeah.

-So you're a bit slapstick?

Yeah, yeah. I do all silly little things, you know?

Fill the cups up with unknown substances and make them drink it.

-Paul...

-I'm not like that, no.

Watch out! Guys, it's been fantastic meeting you today.

I hope you enjoy your development.

I'm sure you're going to have a good old laugh along the way.

-We will.

-Good luck, and it's going to be really interesting

-to see the outcome of this site.

-Thanks very much.

-Paul, lovely to meet you.

-All right.

-Thank you so much.

Take care. Thanks very much.

So I would love to think that Ricky and Paul will get the planning they

want here, but they're playing the long game with this one, and I hope

they're prepared to be very patient.

Join us later in the show to find out what has been built and if Ricky

still enjoys going to work.

Coming up...

Things are deceptively spacious in this terrace in Carlisle.

I just had to show you how long this house is.

And we'll find out if success is in Ricky and Paul's nature.

What with things like lizards and reptiles and birds...

Back now to the historic walled city of York and the area of Clifton,

where I looked around this charming two-bed terrace.

Inside needed updating, but it was chock-full of period features,

not to mention some very traditional building techniques.

This is how they used to do it -

literally just bits of tongue and groove,

board, and then cover it with a bit of paper.

Marvellous. Actually,

strip it back and it can actually make a really nice feature.

This character-full property also featured a garden

bursting with potential.

It was snapped up by artistic couple Wim and Lisa for 117,000,

and I definitely got the impression

that we weren't going to see any magnolia here.

What kind of art do you do?

At the moment, I'm doing re-creations of classical ceilings.

So can we expect to find elaborate Sistine Chapel-esque type ceilings

when we come back?

If I think it will put the value of the property up, yes!

The couple had hoped that, with four grand and six months,

they could create a home and a studio.

Well, we came back 19 months later

to see if Wim is our Renaissance man.

Come on, you knew it would be different, didn't you?!

That front reception room has had a psychedelic makeover and is now

functioning as a lounge and a music room.

# Cos I like you

# Yeah, I like you

# And I'm feelin' so Bohemian like you

# Yeah, I like you

# Yeah, I like you

# And I feel Whoa, whoo! #

As promised, the rear room is a cosy Victorian-style dining room, and I'm

delighted to announce that the range has not been taken out and,

even better, it's being used!

I love it!

And we're moving through time and space into the futuristic kitchen.

# Spaceman

# I always wanted you to go into space, man

# Spaceman

# I always wanted you to go into space, man. #

What we've done is a full central heating system,

radiators in all the rooms,

thorough rewiring of all the electrics throughout,

double glazing all throughout the house and all new doors,

this gorgeous kitchen.

We've put a lawn in where before there was just a wilderness.

Lisa, my fiancee, turfed a little lawn for us

and dug a vegetable patch,

which is providing us with potatoes and strawberries.

And I've built a shed.

The room with the range in it, we've styled a bit like

the era it was built - the Victorian era.

The range still works, we still use it.

In our first winter, last year,

we were actually burning the floorboards in it to keep warm

while I was building the central heating system.

Now, that's one creative way of keeping warm -

though I'm not sure I'd recommend it!

But upstairs, Wim and Lisa have used their artistic licence

to great effect.

Above the stairs, when we moved in, there was an enormous space,

so I put in a ceiling just above the stairs so that there's access up to

the attic through a cupboard in the bedroom, behind the bed,

like a kind of Narnia up to the attic.

It's eventually going to be some kind of a calm, quiet place

beyond the bedroom,

but at the moment it is a painting workshop.

Well, in the meantime, they can wash the paint off in their brand-new

bathroom, complete with roll-top bath.

The former back bedroom is now a bright and airy studio

for Wim to paint in.

Wim and Lisa have done most of the work themselves,

with the more complicated tasks being overseen by friends

who are qualified tradespeople.

So why has it taken so much longer than they thought?

Mainly because I didn't really give up working.

It was very hard to back away from keeping taking work on.

Well, it's important to keep that money coming in,

but how much went out?

Have they spent their £4,000 or more?

We've spent about £12,000 or so.

Because with the remortgage of the house from a private

to a bank mortgage, it was valued

a little higher than we bought it for,

so we were able to release more funds than we expected

and get a little more stuck into some of the rooms.

I love this couple's take on this house,

but I have to confess a little disappointment

that I don't even see the genesis of a painted ceiling.

I was hoping to be able to paint some of the ceilings

because that's what I kind of do as a day job,

but having learnt to build them and plaster them,

it's going to be a while before I paint one.

So there are no masterpieces as of yet.

But will the professionals think

this house is a work of art?

We invited two local estate agents to give us their opinion on Wim and

Lisa's £129,000 investment.

First impressions are that it's just a nice little two-bedroom terrace.

The benefit of having a garden.

But all the remedial work, etc, has been done.

So new boiler, new electrics, new fitted kitchen, bathroom.

So all the basics are there.

Well, my first impressions of being in the property, it's fantastic.

I mean, there's a really good use

of original features in here and a mix of modern appliances

and fittings as well.

-So it's very nice.

-So it sounds like this house could be hot property.

But what do they think it's worth?

I think this property would achieve between £170,000 and £175,000.

I think this property could probably achieve about £175,000 in the sales

-market.

-I'm quite surprised.

We've moved in line with the other houses on the street

but also at the top.

That's a lot more than what we paid for it.

That's a nice surprise.

So he's happy with that, but what's next for Wim and Lisa?

Well, Lisa's just got her dream job

and,

after several successful promotions,

I've got opportunity to work just on my doorstep with people who know me

and they now know where I live,

so we're getting on with things in a lovely house.

Off to the northwest of England now, to the city of Carlisle.

Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in this impressive castle in 1568.

She was permitted to walk,

ride and watch her retinue play football on the green.

Small concessions for a queen who was undoubtedly accustomed

to greater comforts.

I'm feeling quite comfortable today because Carlisle Rugby Club

is three miles away, Carlisle United Football Club,

a ground I have played at many, many times before,

is only a five-minute walk away from today's property.

And here it is, it's a two-bed,

terraced house with a guide price of in between £50,000 to £60,000.

If you listen as well, there's works going on all over this area.

The reason being, this is one of the houses that was hit by the recent

floods here in Carlisle.

Let's find out how bad.

Right, OK,

it's kind of what I expected to see, but a lot of people will come into

this house and think... HE GASPS

And panic. There's no need to panic.

Firstly, I've seen a lot worse than this.

You have got floorboards down, so you have got something to walk on.

Get the professionals in, they'll get this sorted straightaway.

That aside, you've got a really nice front room here.

High ceilings, and look at the size of that window.

And it is relatively new as well.

So a really good start in this front, sort of, living lounge area.

What else is there on offer?

Into the second reception room,

and flood damage is evident throughout the whole of downstairs.

OK, lack of stairs as well, but I'll get back to that.

A good size second reception room, nice high ceilings.

Getting into the kitchen area,

and you can see that the damage is here as well.

We're now down to the bare breeze block in the kitchen.

This would have been an extension, and even further,

right to the end of the downstairs property,

you have got this small extension.

What it was used for,

I'm not quite sure, but it could be a wet room,

it could be a downstairs bathroom.

But I just have to show you how long this house is.

It's a real, good sized terraced house,

and you get a lot more for your money down here

than I was expecting.

It's such a shame to see first-hand the devastation here.

This was until recently a much-loved home, and the emotional and physical

damage the Cumbrian floods have caused shouldn't be forgotten.

There are, of course,

practical issues when it comes

to dealing with flood damaged properties,

such as potential problems getting insurance and obtaining a drying out

certificate before you can do any work at all.

It can also be an idea to raise the sockets above the possible water

levels to protect the electrics against it happening again.

Right, upstairs.

HE SIGHS

OK, this is not going to be pretty.

So look away now and I'll meet you upstairs.

Goodbye.

# Just out of reach

# Time has changed you

# I can see

# Try to remember how we used to be. #

Yes, the flooding has even destroyed those steps,

but I could do with the exercise.

Right.

That was a chore, but I made it.

Now, upstairs hasn't been affected by the floods.

It's in much better condition.

This is the front bedroom looking out onto the front of the house.

A double bedroom, not a problem at all.

It looks a bit dated and could do with a bit of a freshen up.

Down the hallway, we've got the family bathroom just there

and the second bedroom looking at the back of the property.

Both, good-sized bedrooms.

The family bathroom, for me,

I'd want to change and put something nice and white and bright in there,

just to liven that up, and here we've got an airing cupboard

with a shower door on.

No... We've actually got...

HE LAUGHS

A shower where the airing cupboard should be.

They've tiled it from top to bottom as well.

That is bizarre!

Each to their own.

It's strange, but it's not a deal-breaker.

More importantly, will that flood damage put buyers off?

Time to hear from a professional.

We invited an expert from the auction house

that sold the property to tell us

about how the floods have affected the housing market in Carlisle.

The floods have affected the housing market quite a bit because we're in

unknown territory.

It remains to be seen how the market will recover in the future because

Carlisle has been flooded in this area twice now

in the last ten years.

Until the flooding issue has been resolved more widely in the city,

the market here is going to be uncertain.

But once renovated,

what does the agent think the property could achieve?

On the rental market,

I would expect this property to achieve

between £475 to £500 per calendar month.

The flood hasn't affected the rental value of the property,

but the pre-flood sale value of this house was around 110,000 to 115,000.

So what could it be worth once renovated?

After the flood, done up,

I would expect this property to achieve around £90,000 to £95,000.

Yes, it's an odd shaped house

with a very odd shower upstairs,

but I've got to be honest, when I walked through this door,

I wasn't expecting that much space.

First things first, get that flood damage sorted

and then start to create a home for someone.

Let's see who the last person was standing

when it went under the hammer.

Two-bedroom terraced house.

Start me where? 55?

50 then.

Need a bid.

45? At £45,000.

45 bid.

After a very hesitant start,

the bidding does slowly climb with the hammer almost falling several

times. We rejoin the bidding at 49.5 grand.

At £49,500 then, for the first time...

Back in at 50. Half.

Shake of the head. Back with you at the back wall with 50.

Here to sell. Don't lose it.

At £50,000 then.

Take a half, if not, I'm selling.

All done. All out.

Well done, sir. Can I have your paddle number, please? Cheers.

Can't believe it, can you?

And that cheerful looking bidder,

who paid bang on the guide price of 50 grand, was Mick, on the right,

who was at the auction with his friend and co-worker Chris.

Mick owns a property maintenance business but has been buying

and selling properties in the last couple of years.

-Chris, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, Dion.

Mick, nice to meet you too, pal.

-Nice to meet you, Dion.

-Congratulations, chaps.

-Thank you very much.

-Congratulations.

Were you looking for one of these properties?

We were looking for a flooded one.

We were actually after another one, we weren't after this one.

We never really looked at this one before we bought it.

But Chris assured me the picture was nice.

Did he?! It was down to you, then, was it?

I said, "You can't go wrong, can you?"

Since I've had a look, I'm not sure he was right about the picture,

-but there you are.

-So, Chris, did you spot this?

Yes... The house we originally looked out, you know,

it was sold at a higher price than we thought, and I looked in the

catalogue and the auction was going so...

You know, this caught our eye, so...

-Two bedroom terrace.

-Your eye!

Says to me, "Just get it," and we got it.

He's passing the buck now. It's all your fault, you know,

if this doesn't go right.

Now you've seen it, Mick, did he do a good job for you?

He's done a very good job.

It'll be even better when he's finished it.

So what do you have to do then when you come into a property like this?

First of all, make sure you've got all your drying certificates,

so it's all dry, ready to work on,

and then we'll look at the walls -

cement render all the walls, waterproof retardant on them,

skim them all back in, new doors, floors if necessary.

New kitchen downstairs, new utility downstairs,

the radiators will probably want changed,

the sparks will all want done.

We may have this wall out here. I've not quite decided.

-OK.

-To open it up a little bit more down here.

Maybe a staircase there.

Yes, I was going to come to the lack of...the lack of...

There's lack of plaster, obviously, that's your water damage.

You know, you've lost four stairs as well.

Yeah, that'll have to get made and put back in.

Where are you going to start?

Hopefully, we're going to start within the next three weeks,

and we're hoping it will take about two months to sort it.

OK, when you've got it to where you want it to be,

are you renting it, or are you going to sell it?

No, it will be rented.

I've got a potential...

Someone who wants it already.

Have you really?

They have a budget of 12 grand, but as Mick and Chris are both joiners,

they'll be doing most of the work themselves.

Where's the majority of that 12 grand going to be spent?

-On what?

-Kitchen, plastering.

-And that's...?

-The decorating, you know, is quite simple, isn't it?

New carpets right the way through.

Obviously, upstairs will get decorated.

A new bathroom going in upstairs as well.

Upstairs... Now, I've had a little look upstairs and possibly seen the

strangest shower I've ever seen.

I...

It's a very good shower.

-Yes!

-But it's not if you're small.

I don't quite know how that's come about in there.

What will you do with that area?

-It won't be a shower. That's coming out.

-Take it out

-and make it into a cupboard again, will you?

-Yes, that'll be back

-into an airing cupboard.

-Who's going to do the work?

HE CHUCKLES That will be done to you, then.

You found it, you deal with it!

No, we'll both sort of put it together.

We'll both put it together ourselves.

All the work we do ourselves, apart from the electrics.

-Get the pros in for that.

-Yeah, we have a fella in for that.

He signs it all off and that's it.

-Everything else you two do?

-Aye.

-It's a one-stop shop, then.

-Basically.

It's a one-stop shop.

-Chris, good luck.

-Lovely.

Good spot, by the way, good spot.

-Mick, good luck.

-Thank you very much.

If ever there was a two-man dream team, Mick and Chris are it.

There's a lot of work that needs to be done in there

and the two of them will be doing the majority of it

with a 12 grand budget,

which I think is more than enough,

but they've put themselves under a little bit of pressure

with that three-month timescale

cos they potentially have a tenant waiting.

Let's see how they get on.

You can find out later in the programme.

Earlier we saw how one property got on, but what about the other two?

Did our buyers end up sticking to their plans?

Let's go back and find out.

Back to Rainham in Kent,

where Lucy saw a plot of land sandwiched between a

busy road and the M2 motorway.

But that wouldn't put the brakes on the interest for this lot because it

also came with planning permission,

which means you could be in the fast lane to the building stage.

Now, the plans that have been passed are for a sort of mini-terrace,

all three houses the same size,

all the same layout with a kitchen, diner,

living room and loo on the ground floor

and three bedrooms and a bathroom on the first. Now,

they won't be massive, but they'll be plenty big enough for a growing

family. And what do I like most?

The fact that somebody has done all the hard work for you

and you can just get building.

Good thing then that the brother-in-laws who paid £200,000

for this at auction have plenty of experience in the building trade.

Ricky, in the lilac jumper,

runs a building company and Paul is a carpenter by trade.

So you'd think ready-made plans for new builds would be ideal,

but they had other ideas.

So you paid £200,000.

Did you walk away feeling like

-you might have paid a little bit too much, Paul?

-For the basis

of the planning that was in place, but for our future plans, no.

What do you want to do here?

We've put in plans for eight two bed flats.

If we got the planning through, then it works out quite a good buy.

-Yeah, it was a gamble.

-A little bit of a gamble.

A little bit of a gamble, yes.

Ricky and Paul were rolling the dice by going for eight flats

rather than the planned houses that came with the plot.

So time to see if their number came up over four and a half years later.

# Roll the dice for me

# Roll the dice for me. #

Sadly for them, it hasn't,

and after two years of various rejected planning applications,

they were finally given the all clear to build a terrace of

four three-bedroom houses.

Although not quite complete, there is certainly a big change here.

What do we have inside?

Well, in all the houses, the downstairs is similar

with the living rooms, the front downstairs toilet

off the hall and a kitchen dining off the back,

which has French doors which lead out to the garden.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms and a family bathroom.

In the bigger two middle houses, you get a bonus.

Paul's on holiday, so it's up to Ricky to fill us in.

Here we have the master bedroom.

It's plaster finished.

We've got the electrics first fix,

shortly to be second fix completed.

Here we have the en-suite with a shower tray, shower,

toilet and basin.

Yeah, I think it will make a nice young family's ideal major bedroom.

It may take a bit of imagination just now,

but I'm sure that this family team

will do a bang-up job of finishing these houses.

It's a family business, we've all chipped in, in one way.

We've got Chris, who's a site agent.

He looks after the general day-to-day run of the operation.

My son, he comes down to help us out with the manual work.

We've got Grandad Ron, he comes down.

He's more of a sort of overseer.

He sorts of keeps them shipshape.

Paul's down once a week, moreso than I am.

You know, we knew at the beginning it was going to be like this,

so if it takes another six months, then I'm not that worried, really,

personally.

What was a worry was the lengthy back and forth with the council's

planning department.

The biggest issue for us was, once we got the planning approval,

it was the conditions.

There were so many conditions that we had to do and also we had to get

professional people in to do this.

What with things like lizards and reptiles and birds, etc, you know?

As we put the conditions in,

and it was costing us time to put them in each time,

it was like a month process before you got back, you know,

so it was a little bit of a hard troop for us, really.

You're probably aware that bats and toads are protected by law,

but so are some plants, wild birds and reptiles like the adder,

common lizards and the slowworm.

At the end of the day,

it's really important to protect the environment,

but it might feel a bit frustrating for a developer.

Sometimes you think, if you knew all this,

you might not have started in the first place,

but you've got to put your toe in the water

to get a slice of the pie, so...

Now it's time to see just how much that slice could be worth.

We've asked along two local estate agents

to see what they think of the houses.

I first saw the property about four, four and a half years ago,

and I believe at the time they were hoping for flats.

What they've achieved, I've seen,

is a fair compromise,

and perhaps they might have got

one extra property,

but the properties they've got are very nice.

In terms of the layout,

the two bigger properties have both got en suites,

so that will make them more appealing.

It's the kind of feature that people demand in a property,

so I was pleased to see that they've included that in them.

I think the layouts are fine.

Possibly the bedrooms upstairs could be slightly bigger.

Basically, we've got the two inner terraces and the two end terraces.

And they all work.

The houses are yet to be finished off, but to what standard

should Ricky aim for in this market?

Given where it is, they don't have to be high-end,

top-spec property, but it would still need to be a nice finish.

I always think any property does have to be finished well anyway,

but we wouldn't have to see perhaps granite worktops,

that kind of feature in this property.

I think the more they spend on the property, the greater the return.

I personally would put granite tops in the kitchens and just go for a

slightly higher specification.

So some differing opinions there.

The sales values vary as well.

Ricky and Paul will have spent £650,000 in total

when this development is complete.

I would value the slightly larger properties at £250,000 to £290,000.

The smaller ones, I would value at £240,000 to £280,000.

I think the ends are worth slightly more.

Having said that, the middle have got the en-suite showers,

so I think one plays off the other.

I think all the units you would sell for approximately £300,000,

depending on the finish.

I'm a little bit surprised.

It's much more than I thought personally.

I was thinking along the line of 250-255 for the end two,

the smaller ones, and 260-265 for the middle two,

which are bigger, larger.

Well, if it goes to that, I'll be over the moon.

Thank you very much!

With the total ranging between 1 and 1.2 million

for all four houses,

it's easy to see why.

Once they're sold, what's next for Ricky?

Next for me is retirement!

Well, he's clearly looking forward to that by the sound of it.

-I'll live on the proceeds!

-Best of luck, Ricky.

Back now to the historic city of Carlisle,

where I looked around this two-bed terrace guided

at £50,000 to £60,000.

Unfortunately, like many properties in Carlisle,

it was badly damaged by the 2015 floods.

Downstairs, the plaster had mostly been stripped back

and the kitchen had completely gone.

But the consolation was that upstairs was untouched by water.

Well, floodwater anyway.

Here, we've got an airing cupboard with a shower door on.

No... We've actually got...

HE LAUGHS

A shower where the airing cupboard should be.

And they've tiled it from top to bottom as well.

That is bizarre.

It was a bit odd, but this house had lots to offer.

And come auction day, it didn't put off Mick

who, accompanied by his colleague Chris,

got this property for bang on the guide price of £50,000.

And they already had plans in mind for upstairs.

Upstairs... I'VE had a look upstairs

and possibly seen the strangest shower.

-Bizarre, isn't it?

-I don't quite know how that's come about.

What are you going to do in that area, then?

-It won't be a shower.

-Take it out and make it back into a cupboard,

-then?

-Yeah, that will be back into an airing cupboard.

It's all in a day's work for Mick and Chris,

who are professional joiners, and after the work is complete,

plan to rent it out.

They had a budget of 12 grand and a total timescale of three months.

We return three months later to see how the professionals do it.

What a difference!

The destruction caused by the flood is a distant memory

and the house has been restored to its former glory, and then some.

Mick and Chris have pulled down the dividing wall between the two

reception rooms to open up the downstairs area,

and it lets loads of light in.

And in the kitchen...

Well, there's a kitchen.

They've opted for a striking monochrome look

with LED low lighting to add a touch of luxury.

But it's not just about looking good.

The guys have taken some preventative measures

in case of any future flooding,

such as adding waterproof render to the walls and opting for

easily replaceable wooden floors and tiles throughout.

So let's see how they've got on upstairs.

And, yes, there's stairs.

One of the bedrooms upstairs - it was quite a narrow door,

so we've changed that and made it a little bit wider because that was no

good. Unfortunately,

we had to get rid of the shower

and put that back into an airing cupboard.

We just basically put a bit of lino in the bottom of it,

done away with the pipes,

so that everything was disconnected and tidied it up a bit from what it

was, cos the way it was, was...

-HE SIGHS

-Ridiculous, you know?

-You said you liked it!

-No.

It's no great loss,

particularly as they've refurbished that old family bathroom

in a stylish black and white,

complete with wet wall and colourful light feature.

They've really pulled this one out of the bag.

But was it all straightforward?

I broke my collarbone, this one, in three pieces

due to jacking my van up at home.

It skidded off the jack and it repelled the jack

off the back of the vehicle

and the handle on the jack hit me in the collarbone,

so I was unconscious and had a broken collarbone in three bits.

The hospital said it's about a month, you'll have to be off

a month, six weeks. It was about a week, wasn't it?

-It was only a week.

-I took one week off and got back into it, like.

I can manage. The left-hand seemed to do more.

At that point, we'd had the plastering done, hadn't we?

Yes, the plastering was done, thank God. The hard bit was done.

But just basically moving the radiator when we

first got set off,

-I overstretched and...

-HE SNAPS

..out went my back. That wasn't much fun, but there you go.

We struggled through and got it done in the end.

Remind me not go to work with you two!

I've already suffered more than enough injuries

on the football pitch,

thank you. Despite their ailments,

the duo came right on budget at 12 grand

and completed in their predicted timescale of three months,

while fitting it in around their regular work.

So, how did the guys do it?

-With a lot of difficulty, weren't it?

-We just kept going.

Kept driving. You do one task

and you see a little bit of light at the tunnel, you do another task

and the light's getting bigger and bigger.

We wanted to push it, like.

-You really wanted to get it done.

-Yeah,

there were quite a few late nights involved and every weekend,

-more or less, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, we got through it in the end.

Well, time to see if their hard work has paid off.

We invited along two local estate agents to get their opinions on this

property, starting with the agent who saw it first.

I think the boys have done a good job in renovating the property.

They've used good quality materials in the kitchen and they've decorated

it to a nice high standard.

First impressions of the property are good.

The finish is to a good standard.

The opening up of the reception rooms into one large room

really enhances the property

as it makes what could potentially be a rather small property

feel much more spacious.

All the evidence of flood damage has gone.

But it's had a lasting effect on the property market

and the agents agreed it's difficult to value properties in this area

as there hasn't been many on the market since the flooding.

Bearing that in mind, the agents valued the property

at between 90,000 to 100,000 grand.

That top value could mean a potential profit of 38 grand.

But as Mick plans to rent it out,

what kind of income could he be getting?

If this property were to go on the rental market currently,

we'd be looking at a rent somewhere in the region of £495 per month.

On the rental market,

I would expect this property to achieve around about

£475 to £495 per calendar month.

That's a potential yield of just over 9.5%.

What do Mick and Chris think about those valuations?

Yeah, it's good.

-Good.

-Pleased with that.

I've got people ready to move in.

They'll be moving in within the next fortnight, I should think.

The first people that viewed it, wanted it, didn't they?

Yeah. They wanted it before it was finished, really.

It's all come together nicely.

But have they enjoyed working together?

-Brilliant.

-Aye, we have a good laugh, don't we?

Yes, we do have a good crack on the jobs.

You've got to have a bit of fun, otherwise it's a long day.

Yeah, we do have a good working relationship, don't we?

Yeah, yeah, very good, aye.

-Happy.

-But I'm better.

-A little bit.

Well, sadly that's all the time we've got for auction action today.

Yes, but don't worry, we've got loads more stories where they came from.

We look forward to seeing you next time

-for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-ALL: Goodbye.