Episode 61 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show.

Now, one of the golden rules on Homes Under The Hammer is

never judge a book by its cover -

always go and view that property before bidding for it.

Yes, like a book, old properties are different,

and unless you've been to view it,

how can you possibly know whether it needs a lick of paint or a total

-refurbishment?

-Yeah, have a look inside - if you like what you see,

ask yourself, if you're ready to start a new chapter,

why not start it down at your local property auction?

In an auction room full of buyers trying to outbid each other,

the atmosphere can get pretty intense.

But the best thing to do is try and keep a level head,

and use that adrenaline for your advantage.

Yeah, let's see where the buzz of the auction led the buyers on today's show.

This two-bed terrace in Caerphilly has me appreciating

the little things in life.

The world's smallest radiator, so maybe The Borrowers lived here?!

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum,

at this former mill in Stoke-on-Trent.

The question is, what do you do with something this big?

What are your options?

My options for this mid-terrace in Merseyside seem pretty clear - well,

to me, at least. Making it open-plan is the only way to go.

I feel like I've said that a thousand times before!

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.

And you've got it, sir.

This is Abertysswg, a small Welsh village in Caerphilly,

just south of the Brecon Beacons, and 25 miles from Cardiff.

There are some local shops in this former mining village,

while the cinema and bigger shops are a reasonable drive away.

So, you can enjoy the scenery of the Welsh valleys as well as decent

amenities. Surrounded by these open, rolling hills,

you have to walk up quite a steep hill just to get to your house.

But that's pretty typical in a Welsh village like that, and you know what,

it's worth it for the views.

The property I'm here to see, here it is,

it's a two-bedroom mid-terrace with a guide price of £35,000-plus.

Pebble dash exterior, old-school.

More modern, the double-glazed windows.

So far, so good, let's look inside.

Inside... OK, what strikes me is, the place is pretty bright and...

No smell of damp.

This is a great-proportioned room.

It's square. Here's a feature, perhaps once upon a time,

it looks like a fireplace has been plastered over.

You've got your wallpaper coming off, but pretty cosmetic.

Yeah, I like it. You've got your floors are...

They're linoleum - pretty cold, but put some nice warm carpet on here,

you could make a real difference.

I'm a big fan of open-plan living,

so you're coming through into your kitchen from your living room, you could knock this down.

But it's not a partition wall, it'd be tricky.

And actually, you don't need to,

you've got a fantastically proportioned kitchen in here.

You can get everything in here. The kitchen is a bit tired.

I'd think about taking it out, getting something sleek in -

you could make a real difference doing that.

There's a bit of damp there,

that may be coming from a bathroom upstairs.

I'll check that out. You want to check where the source is from that,

for sure. But...I really like it.

So far, everything here is peachy - and not just the decor.

This was a Housing Association house,

so it will more than likely have been well maintained.

And the leak is just a result of the place lying empty.

This has a lot going for it,

but maybe I should check out upstairs before I get too excited.

Upstairs, and, well, yes, the bathroom IS up here, so that leak,

probably this is the source,

but you would definitely want to have that confirmed.

The bathroom is pretty tired, again serviceable,

but it would make all the difference if you got a swanky one in there.

Your first bedroom, good size,

interesting paint job - green, blue, black -

but the good thing about that is,

you don't have all the wallpaper to pull off.

The floorboards are bare, it really is a bit of a blank canvas.

Through to your second bedroom - love it.

It's a great-proportioned room.

Again, you've got your double glazing and central heating,

which is a real plus.

And I don't know what this is...

Let's see. You've got a cupboard with a pretty modern boiler,

so that's good news. And the world's smallest radiator!

So, maybe The Borrowers lived here in times gone past!

Yeah, I love it.

There's not much to say that you need to do.

And you've got your textured wallpaper,

which could be a nightmare to come off.

But really, if your biggest problem is textured wallpaper, well,

this could be a really good investment for someone.

# Don't worry about a thing

# Cos every little thing gonna be all right... #

OK, saying everything's going to be all right might be tempting fate,

but I can't see anything to worry me in here, so what about outside?

Outside, and, well, this area here really lends itself to an extension.

I can see the neighbouring properties have done exactly that.

That said, the proportions of the room inside are so good,

and it would really eat into your budget,

you might want to think carefully about whether you want to spend money on that.

But maybe a nice patio would be nice.

And up the stairs, hello!

This is a lovely garden.

It's completely overgrown, but you can see past that.

You just need to clear everything out.

Quite handily, you've got a rear access, you can do just that.

But look at that.

Those Welsh rolling hills - absolutely stunning.

Absolutely gorgeous.

# Because you're gorgeous I'd do anything for you

# Because you're gorgeous

# I know you'll get me through. #

The views might be gorgeous,

but could the house be worth a pretty penny?

Let's see what a local estate agent thought of the terrace,

guided at £35,000-plus.

It obviously needs work. It goes without saying.

That being said, it's quite spacious for a two-bedroomed terrace.

Sometimes you find the second bedroom is unusable, at best.

But to be fair, I think with a bit of love and care,

this could be a nice little home, yeah.

The bare bones are all here, so, some TLC on the decor,

and you could be good to go.

But is there demand for properties like this in the area?

So, there's definitely demand in and around the area from a lot of local

people. You don't tend to find as many people from out of the area,

purely down to, it is a bit of a distance to the local towns,

and Cardiff and Swansea the other way.

But it's definitely a rentable area, let's put it that way.

Mmm - perhaps this is one for long-term investment?

So, what kind of rental values could you expect to achieve?

So, based on current market conditions,

I would value the property for rent

at £425 per calendar month.

And what could the house be worth on the sales market?

Based on current market conditions, I'd value the property at £70,000.

Well, this property certainly has bags of potential.

The rooms are a great size, the views are stunning,

and it appears that only cosmetic work needs to be done.

And therefore, it could be a quick turnaround and a terrific investment.

Let's find out who agreed, when it went under the hammer.

Final lot of this evening,

two-bedroomed, mid-terraced house having spar-end elevations,

there's pit slate roof covering,

UPVC double glazing and gas central heating.

OK, so, we're looking for an opening bid of 35,000.

Do I see 35?

You've seen all the others have been going, so do I see 35,000?

35 is bid, thank you.

35. 36, I'm looking for.

Do I see 36,000?

36, 36, 37, I'm looking for.

37, 38?

38 is bid, looking for 39?

39, thank you, 40.

Half. Half, OK - 39½.

40, I'm looking for.

40. 40 is bid.

Half. 41?

41?

41.

Half? Half.

42? No.

With you, sir, at 41½.

With you at 41½, I'm going to sell at 41½.

Sold, sir, to you, at 41½.

The successful bid of £41,500 came from Colin, in the white shirt,

who bought the property with business partners John and Shane.

Hawk-eyed viewers may remember Colin and John,

who previously appeared on the show,

when I met them at another property in Bridgend.

This time, I'm meeting Colin and John's son Shane,

who is the third partner in the business,

to hear all about their plans for their newest acquisition.

-Colin, congratulations.

-Martel, nice to meet you.

-And Shane...

-Hi, Martel.

-Congratulations.

Erm, so, this property, it seems like a great one to me, not a huge amount needing done to it.

-Was that what attracted you?

-Yeah.

We looked at the properties, we viewed as many as we could,

we select them, we select mid-terraced houses,

the least to do to them,

and we like a quick turnaround.

So, the least we've got to put efforts into it,

the quicker we can get a rental income back.

Why do you select mid-terraces?

Well, me and my father are the builders side of it, so,

we know what we can do, and what's going to cost us more with the house.

With a mid-terrace house, for the tenant, it's cheaper to heat,

they're generally warmer, you get less problems with damp,

and we haven't got gable ends.

So, you know, we've got a niche, and this...

The mid-terrace is our sort of niche, like.

Now, these are guys who know what they want,

and it seems to be working, as this is their fifth property together.

Shane and dad John do the building work,

and Colin is the numbers man and the genius behind their business model.

Well, we have a desire to obtain

a rental yield of 10% on the properties.

So, we know what sort of prices we're looking at, then,

and then we tailor the budget then,

to ensure that we deliver that 10% yield.

What are you thinking that you're going to do?

Well, it's going to be a redecorate.

We spruce it up, we like it clean, we like it tidy,

we do put our pride into these houses.

And we do want our tenants to enjoy

their tenancy while they're with us, like.

It sounds like you have a really nice balance between wanting that

10% yield, but also wanting happy tenants.

Oh, it's all about the tenants. It's like anything, isn't it?

Your customer is always right.

We've got to keep them happy, like I say, we have got standards,

as everyone else has, and we like to achieve them,

and we like to keep them there, if not even looking further in front,

to accommodate the people living here, like.

Yeah, lovely. What are you thinking for your budget?

We've got probably about five grand to play with, to bring us in,

that will probably give us a 12% yield.

But I think we'll do it for a bit under that.

I would say, you know, I'm the money man,

I think we'll do it between us for 3,000-4,000.

And Colin, I'm getting the sense you're the human calculator, so,

what does that mean, what do you need to achieve for rent?

We're looking at £450 per calendar month.

As I'm sure Colin's aware, when it comes to property, time is money.

So, they have a timescale of five weeks to get the work done,

squeezing it in around their full-time jobs.

Colin is an accountant, Shane is a plant operator, and his dad John,

a builder. So, this property-developing dream team

have no excuses.

So, you're not going to be the buyers who say,

"We didn't see the property." You always do your homework, don't you?

We do. You've got to, you've got to do the backwork.

I mean, we're all about this 10% yield, as we've mentioned.

And you could buy the wrong one - if you blind buy,

it could take that down straightaway, you've lost it.

So, we're quite keen to keep the pace going, so,

we don't want to make mistakes, silly mistakes,

when it could be prevented by doing a little bit of legwork.

Can't wait to see what you do with the place.

-Colin - congratulations again.

-Thank you, Martel.

-Thanks, Shane.

-Thank you, Martel.

Well, Colin and Shane seem pretty confident in their purchase,

and it's little wonder, given their experience.

But I love the fact they also have a heart,

and care what their tenants think, too.

You can find out how they get on later in the show,

and did they get that all-important 10% yield?

DION: Back in 2016, I was POTTERING around in Stoke-on-Trent,

and there was a huge offering at the auction.

So, we're just a ten-minute walk away from the centre of Stoke,

and Staffordshire University.

The lot I'm here to see is this...

..humongous building,

and it's described in the auction catalogue as an "old mill".

Now, that's not the most interesting point I'm going to tell you.

Listen to this. The guide price - £50,000!

Unfortunately, despite its size,

which included the single-storey building at the end,

the old mill was in pretty bad shape inside.

-# What's the matter with the mill?

-It done broke down

-# The matter with the mill?

-It done broke down

# I can't get no grinding

# Tell me what's the matter with the mill. #

Still, plenty of space to play with.

Coming into here, you've got a big old hallway going straight

down there, but you've got a room off to the left,

and more sectioned-off rooms here.

These...

all false walls, you want to knock all this down, start again.

Yeah, it's not in great condition.

It was an old mill, yes, but it's obviously been offices.

But gosh, you've got to think to yourself,

what could you do with all this space?

What I would do, is I would strip it back to reveal your footprint -

that's what I'd do. Let's explore just a little bit further.

Further exploration revealed a large basement, which was also an office.

On the floor I came in on,

I finally found an intact staircase to take me to the top.

Now, I do love it when an old industrial building like this

is going to be given a new lease of life.

I hope this one is going to be no exception.

It is massive. Now, I'm up some more stairs,

there's another corridor down there that goes even further,

there's rooms off there.

Two more big-size rooms there.

One of them's got a shower in it, actually.

The question is, what do you do with something this big?

What are your options? Firstly,

you could make it into individual apartments or flats -

that would be one way you could go.

The only downside to that is,

there doesn't seem to be any off-road parking,

any parking at all.

On the other hand, don't forget that the University of Staffordshire is

less than a mile away.

Students in here I think is the way to go.

You could go down the apartment route,

you could go down the individual student accommodation route,

or you could go down maybe the dormitory route.

So, there's a shared kitchen, shared lounge.

There's lots of options here.

I think with the university being so close,

I would choose to get students in here.

I thought it was the most sensible option here,

but you could go down the normal apartment route,

or even back to offices.

# Anything is possible

-# Anything is possible

-Just put your mind to it. #

And the other place where anything is possible is at the auction room.

But could this gigantic building really sell

for anything near that guide price of 50 grand?

Was that possible?

A very substantial building, this,

4,652 square feet, start me at 40.

Giveaway money, can't even buy the bricks.

40 I'm bid. 41.

41 from you.

Are you bidding?

42, 43,

44, 45, 46, 47...

48. 48. 49.

50. 51.

Are you sure? £50,000, then, is on my right.

51 anywhere else?

51, 52, 53, 54,

55, 56,

57, 58, 59...

£58,000 is over here.

59 anywhere else? 58, five, 59...

59 five?

59 now with you on my right for the first.

59 for the second.

It's selling, ladies and gentlemen. Giveaway money, this.

For the third and final time.

Yours, sir, at £59,000.

Well done. Bidder 114.

Well, who'd have thought 59 grand would clinch this huge building?

It was bought by Ricky, a successful musician and property developer.

In this project he was joined by his business partner Yann.

But they bought the property back in 2014,

so I had to begin by asking,

what had been happening for the last two years?

Yann, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Ricky, nice to meet you too, sir.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations.

So, back in 2014, what's taken you so long to bring it to development?

Planning, really. We just wasn't in any major rush.

We really went through the design process,

then taking our time making sure we were happy with it.

And then we just put it in with the planners and we had quite a bit to do elsewhere.

So we weren't in any major rush.

-So we just did the planning.

-OK.

So, now we're in a position where we want to crack on.

So, how do you two know each other?

Well, I'm a developer.

I ran several hotels in Eastern Europe.

I do many things.

And I've known Ricky's father for 30 years.

I've known Ricky since he was a little boy.

-In nappies?

-Yes.

-Have you got any photographs?

Yes! No, no, no. But I remember him well.

-OK.

-He was into everything.

-OK.

-Even as a little boy, he wouldn't stand still.

# I'm waiting for it That green light, I want it. #

Two years on and with the green light for the flats,

what were they planning to do with them?

Going forward, we can either sell them to the open market,

or it's only 0.9 miles away from Staffordshire University.

So, yeah, so we've been in touch with them and they're interested.

It's in their catchment zone.

But, yeah, it's just something that just going forward,

once the development is in its progressed stages we will

approach them and see what angle we want to take.

So, what's your budget?

I'm envisaging a development cost in the region of about £450,000.

With that in mind, how long is it going to take you to turn this around?

Well, I'm envisaging in the region of about 12 months.

It seemed like a healthy budget and timescale.

But Yann had a trick up his sleeve

to help young aspiring tradespeople get started.

I invented a virtual reality tool,

which has 18 worldwide patents,

which actually simulates through a tool all the jobs you do in this

building. So the student, when he gets a technical certificate,

will simulate all the jobs like bathroom, kitchens and so on.

Electricians will do all the wiring.

When they get it right they will come here,

do their NVQ and get a job.

Each flat, the student will do an exam on it so he'll be supervised

on every action, everything,

because he will build his portfolio for his exam.

So you will see that all the flats will be absolutely tiptop quality.

The trainees would also be working alongside professionals,

so they would get real-world experience too.

But when we came back a year later, they'd already gone over their

timescale and run into many complex issues.

# But here in the real world

# It's not that easy at all

# Cos when hearts get broken It's real tears that fall. #

They have gone down the route of student flats,

creating 11 apartments with the advice of the local university on spec.

It wasn't unrealistic to imagine students living here sometime soon

but there was still a lot of work ahead.

Ricky and Yann had already been through a long building process.

Stage one would have been to carry out an intrusive asbestos survey,

remove it by a licensed contractor,

so that would enable then phase two, which would have been the actual

complete strip-out of the entire floors and walls

so our engineers and architects

could carry out full structural surveys.

And then effectively that enabled us to go out to tender with contractors

and get the most competitive price and the right contractor as well.

And that took a bit of time.

And then it's just literally just taken us to this point where we are

in phase three, which is creating the flats as you see them so far.

While the flats were virtually finished,

some of the students were doing some finishes virtually

via Yann's training programme.

# Virtually happy. #

As you can see, this gentleman has never done it in his life.

He's already connecting a hand wash basin, he's soldering,

he's doing all these jobs,

and by the time he's finished, we might offer him a job.

# Back to life Back to reality

# Back to life Back to reality. #

Back in the real world,

it was important to see how that 450 grand budget stacked up.

We've spent so far approximately half, or just over half.

There's obviously the final finishes to go in and so on and so forth.

But, yeah, we're on target.

# Back to life Back to the present time

# Back from a fantasy, yes

# Back to reality. #

This project was not just creating accommodation for students,

it had also trained 35 students under expert supervision,

who hopefully would now be joining a new generation of skilled tradespeople.

It was a huge undertaking and when we left Yann and Ricky

they thought they were about ten weeks away from completion.

Join us later to see if they were right

and what this old mill looks like now.

MARTIN: Still to come, this two-bed mid-terrace

in Merseyside is one for the not-so green-fingered amongst us.

It's definitely a low-maintenance garden, that's for sure.

DION: And, we'll find out if Ricky

was a high-maintenance business partner.

When he started working for me, he complained.

MARTEL: It's time to head back to Abertysswg,

where I saw this pebble-dashed mid-terrace

guided at £35,000 plus.

It was in need of redecoration, but not necessarily reconfiguration.

I'm a big fan of open-plan living,

so you come in through into your kitchen from the living room.

You could knock this down, but it's not a partition wall.

It would be tricky, and actually you don't need to.

You've got a fantastic proportioned kitchen in here.

Ah, there's a bit of damp there that may be coming from a bathroom upstairs.

And once the source of the leak was fixed,

there wouldn't be a lot to drain your funds here.

The suite and tiles were potentially salvageable,

and, like the rest of the house,

the bedrooms just needed some fresh decor and flooring,

which is just what Colin and Shane had planned to do.

Colin is an accountant and Shane works in construction,

as does his dad John.

All three teamed up to do property renovations and have a few rental

properties in their portfolio.

With this latest one, they were going to stick to their tried and tested formula.

We like it clean, we like it tidy,

we do put our pride into these houses,

and we do want our tenants to enjoy

their tenancy while they're with us, like.

It sounds like you have a really nice balance between wanting that 10% yield

-but also wanting happy tenants.

-Oh, it's all about the tenants.

Your customer is always right.

The trio had a budget of five grand

to renovate the house and a timescale of five weeks,

so we've returned 12 weeks later to see how the house is looking.

# Exciting

# She's so exciting to me

# She's fresh

# Exciting

# She's so inviting to me, yeah. #

With new carpets, a kitchen, and a complete redecoration,

the fresh makeover is complete.

There are no longer any signs of damp coming in from the bathroom.

Speaking of which...

..it's had a fresh coat of paint.

But that's all it really needed,

especially as Colin and Shane are looking to keep the spend low

and the yield high in this rental property.

With the neutral colour scheme, the bedrooms feel even bigger.

Out the back, that overgrown jungle has gone,

having been replaced with a freshly cut lawn.

Although almost two months behind schedule,

Colin, Shane and Shane's dad John must have put in a fair amount of hours to get this house looking...

# Fresh as a summer breeze. #

It's been a joint effort between the three of us.

I mean, my father undoubtedly is the mastermind of it all and he leads the way,

so we kind of do as he says.

But me and Colin have done extensive labouring.

We have had help. We've had one of my father's boys in

to help us with the heavy humping and lumping,

-and we've all kind of just mucked in together, haven't we?

-Indeed.

And equally put our efforts in.

Johnny's the master builder here and Shane was very good on the garden,

so we had our own little fortes.

My main job was just mashing the tea and keeping them all in food,

keeping everybody happy here

and having a bit of banter with the guys!

John, which is Shane's father, usually ends up shouting at us

because we have a bit too much of a laugh

-on the job sometimes.

-He's the party pooper out of the three of us really, isn't he?

He spoils our fun. He's too serious.

# So serious. #

Mr Serious John got seriously hands-on in the kitchen.

We initially thought that we weren't going to do the kitchen

but I went out the back one day working on the garden.

When I came in the kitchen had been razed to the floor.

Johnny put a sledge to it cos he thought it was a bit rotten.

I was a bit perturbed about that

because it was going to cost us an extensive amount of money.

But it was too late then, and he makes the decisions,

so we had a few words about it, but it was too late.

We just had to crack on.

But I think it was the right decision now, isn't it?

In hindsight, it was the right decision, but as the finance person,

I'm always trying to cut corners and keep the costs low.

But did taking a sledgehammer to the old kitchen also make

a serious dent in their five-grand budget?

We ended up spending 5,970,

so it gives us a total spend of just over £50,000.

Based on what I think the rental will command for this area,

we're still looking at a yield of about 10.76%.

Well, we did say Colin was a human calculator, so he's added the fees

to the cost of the purchase and the work,

coming in at just under £51,000.

So, time to find out if two local estate agents' valuations

will make his numbers stack up.

First, what do they think of the mid-terrace and the work?

The main selling points are the rooms are nice and spacious,

nice bathroom upstairs, nice family kitchen,

enough to put a table and chairs in, and a lovely back garden.

It's been done really nicely.

You know, neutral colours, modernised and very well done.

The demand in the area for properties like this at the moment is good,

especially rentals at the moment.

There's not that many around.

Does a lack of rental properties on the market mean this house could

achieve moneyman Colin's ideal 10% yield,

which would be £425 per month?

I think this property in the condition would rent for £375-395

per calendar month.

In the rental market, I think this property could bring

£430 per calendar month.

Well, that's not too bad.

I mean, we, initially, sort of, seen 450, so, anyway,

I mean if we get over 400, I think we're happy anyway.

The house is part of a rental portfolio,

so it won't be sold in the short-term.

But the agents think it could go on the open market for between £75,000

and £85,000.

So, with a potential 34 grand increase in value,

this has been a success.

I think this experience has been very fulfilling.

I've been involved in construction with my dad as a boy growing up,

although I feel this is a bit different,

it's a bit more serious because I put my own investment into it

and this is the first time I've collaborated with Colin

and my father as a group.

I think we make a really good team and we should have a bright future

ahead of us.

Bootle is a town on Merseyside just a few miles north of Liverpool.

It's got good amenities on its doorstep

and good transport links into the city itself,

so it's very handy for commuters.

There are plans to regenerate the area

and plenty of new-build properties popping up.

So, hopefully, that means there will be some property bargains

to be had.

Let's see if today's auction lot fits the bill.

Well, when you're thinking about buying in an area,

it's good to look around and if you see things like this

brand-new housing development, that's got to be good news.

Especially when the property that I'm here to see had a guide price

of £30,000-35,000.

Yeah, it's a two-bed mid-terrace.

What's it going to be like inside?

OK, so what have we got?

Stairs up to your bedrooms there and then through into your front

sitting room. Not a bad size space.

I suppose you've got an open fire there.

Yeah, nothing

too bad to report.

Now, I know I sound a bit like a broken record here but, honestly,

things like this, get rid of this wall, open up this space.

Making it open-plan is the only way to go.

I feel like I've said that a thousand times before.

Meanwhile, over here, the kitchen.

This is open-plan. We like that.

Of course, you need to comply with building regulations

before you knock down any walls or make any structural changes,

and you need to apply for building regulations approval.

# I'm wide open... #

And while I might like open-plan, some people don't,

preferring a separate room they can keep tidy,

or can hear the telly without the kitchen clatter

of machines or crockery.

So, you pay your money and you take your choice.

Open-plan just happens to be mine.

As a final thought,

it's worth thinking about how it affects your escape

in the case of fire, especially around staircases.

So, upstairs it's all a bit narrow.

I don't know what you could do about that.

I think you're going to possibly have to live with it.

But a good size bathroom, and it is at least upstairs,

which is good news.

And then two bedrooms.

You've got this room here.

It's relatively small.

But not in too bad condition.

Sadly that can't quite be said about the front one.

It's a good size, yes, but on this front wall,

a bit of cracking going on.

But I'm more concerned with this, which is actually

definitely an area with damp.

It's probably something simple.

It's all along the front there,

which would lead me to believe it's something to do with the gutters,

or maybe that bottom part of the roof just needs sorting out.

But it's the sort of thing you do need to address before it starts to

damage the fabric of the building.

I'm not going to let a little bit of water ingress

dampen my spirits for this property.

It's got what seems to be a relatively new boiler,

which looks like it was moved from this back bedroom

into the cupboard in the front bedroom.

It's wise to check the positioning of the boiler and its flue,

in this case on the roof, that it complies with building regulations.

The house is also fully double glazed,

so there really is not much else to do here.

So, at the back of the property, this little courtyard area.

It's definitely a low-maintenance garden, that's for sure.

Just tend those weeds.

But I'm noticing that neighbouring properties

have built some monstrous extension.

It does create a rather unpleasant kind of wall there,

which is not that nice to look at.

But the precedent is set now, perhaps,

to do a similar extension with this property.

You'd have to look at what effect that had on the rent you might get,

or just the quality of improvement of life by doing it.

The cost might mean it's not worth it.

But it's definitely an option.

To see if going for an extension would be

financially viable in this area,

we've asked along a local property expert.

# When I need inspiration, when I need advice

# I turn to you... #

As far as extending this house would be concerned,

and spending the extra money and investing further into it,

I would say that that's not really a sensible idea here.

You could spend a lot of money extending the property,

and that definitely wouldn't reflect,

critically, in the money that it would bring you back in

by way of sales or by lettings.

So I wouldn't spend more than you need to spend here.

Get it done, get it let, get your money back in.

So, from a rental perspective,

you wouldn't find any difficulty in finding a tenant

who would pay £425 per calendar month.

A yearly income of £5,100

on a property guided at £30,000 to £35,000

seems like a good investment to me.

What if the plan was to sell on?

The market's a little bit quirky.

And I think it would only appeal to a buy-to-let-er.

But I think, made to look nice, plopped back on the open market,

perhaps somewhere approaching 60,000 would be the sort of figure that

you'd end up with.

Well, really nothing wrong with this property.

And for that guide price, I don't think you can go too far wrong.

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

It's a two-bed mid-terrace house.

You've got the double glazing and central heating, as you can see.

Where would you like to start the bidding on this one,

ladies and gentlemen? The guide's 30 to 35.

Let's see the lower end of that, shall we?

30?

Thank you very much. 30 I have, and I saw you, as well.

31. 32? 33?

What do you want to do? Make it a half for me?

I've lost you now. 32½?

32½.

33?

And another half?

No more? OK. 33.

Anybody else at 33½?

OK, right, then. Row one is where we're at.

£33,000 for the first time.

£33,000 for the second time.

You're going to lose it. Anybody else here for this?

I'll take a quarter if you're dead quick.

The same applies to anyone else.

If not, for the third and final time, all done?

And you got it, sir.

Well done. Sold.

The successful bid of 33,000 was made by John.

But the actual purchaser of this property was his wife, Andrea,

who came along with her daughter, Harriet.

I met up with them to find out about their plans for this property.

Andrea, Harriet, great to see you both.

-Hello.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

Well, I live down south,

and my husband and I just bought our first house last year.

-Oh, great.

-And we kind of liked doing that, and we thought,

why not get one as an investment opportunity?

And my mum was kind enough to be able to help.

I'm from Liverpool, Mum lives around the corner.

-Oh, brilliant.

-So we could buy a property here, then we could help

-look after it.

-Yeah, for sure. It just seems amazing, doesn't it?

I mean, you know, 2017, here we are at £33,000 for a really nice house.

We visited 25 properties before the auction.

-Wow.

-And this one was top of our list.

Because it's a good little house.

There's not really anything that needs doing to it.

And it's in a nice location.

And I think people misunderstand Bootle.

My husband was born and bred in Bootle.

-So was my dad!

-And...

It was... I think that's why it wasn't bid against.

Right. So what's your involvement in all of this?

-I haven't quite pieced it together.

-I'm the funds.

-Right.

-Funder.

I had an inheritance.

She also looked at the houses and went to the auction and bought it.

And I'll be managing the properties as well.

Oh, you will? OK.

So is the idea then that you bought it to do up and rent out?

-Is that the plan?

-Yeah.

-But it's a bit of a property nest egg for you?

-Yeah.

-And delivering some good returns in the meantime?

-Hopefully.

-That's very generous of you.

Thank you.

It was very, very nice of you.

So what do you both do when you're not doing this?

-What's your...?

-Well, I'm retired.

You're retired? OK. Yes.

-What did you used to do?

-I was a GP.

-You were a GP?

-For 25 years.

-Fantastic.

-What about you, Harriet?

-I do two different things.

I do business management during the week.

Then, at the weekend, I'm a skydiving instructor.

A skydiving instructor?!

-Yeah.

-Wow!

Teaching people to kind of skydive out of planes and things?

Yeah, so I'm a solo instructor.

So if they want to learn to do it by themselves.

So I wouldn't do a tandem

where they're attached to me, or anything like that.

It's just if they want to do it themselves.

Wow. How did you get into that?

Just really random. Somebody asked me to do one when I was 17,

and I thought, "OK."

Did one and I haven't really stopped since.

How many skydives have you done?

About 1,100 now.

1,100? 1,100 skydives?

-Yeah.

-What's the highest you've jumped from?

About 22,000 feet, I think it was.

-Wow!

-Yeah.

-So that has quite a lot of freefall?

Yeah, quite a lot of freefall.

But the normal height is around about 14,000.

So what kind of ages of people do you teach?

Oh, loads.

I get loads of cadets at the moment.

So I have 16 and 17-year-old, like, Army cadets...

-Oh, right.

-..or Navy cadets, things like that.

But it ranges all the way through to people in their 50s.

And what's the appeal to make you do it 1,100 times?

I don't know. It's just...

There's nothing like it. There really isn't.

# I just want to fly

# Put your arms around me, baby

# Put your arms around me, baby, yeah... #

High-flying Harriet doesn't have her head in the clouds when it comes to

the work required in the house.

But mum Andrea might still bring her back down to earth

on one important point.

Well, we're having a bit of a conflict about a wall.

Mum thinks one needs knocking down.

Which one? That one?

-Yeah, that one between...

-The obvious wall to get rid of?

Yeah. Well, you say that.

I do say that, yeah!

I don't know. I'm not sure whether it's worth it.

-Yeah.

-OK.

We'll have a think about that, then.

But, aside from that, you know,

mainly just decorating and probably a nice new kitchen.

-Kitchen.

-Yeah.

-Bathroom.

-Yeah.

Are there no changes upstairs particularly?

At least the bathroom and the loo is upstairs,

-which is good.

-That's right, it is, yeah.

So what's the budget for the work?

Depending on what we're doing, about 3,000 to 4,000.

OK. And who will do the work?

-My husband.

-OK.

-And what's the timescale?

-About eight weeks, I think, isn't it?

Two to three months, something like that.

Fantastic. Well, listen, congratulations.

Good luck with it. Thank you. I look forward to seeing how you get on.

-OK, thanks very much.

-Thank you.

Well, with help from mum Andrea,

Harriet's ended up with a really great property here.

And will that wall between the lounge and dining room remain

when we come back?

You can find out later in the show.

Well, we've seen one of our properties wrapped up quite neatly.

-But what about the other two?

-Yeah, was it smooth sailing,

or did they have to tackle some dodgy waters?

Life jackets at the ready, let's go back and find out.

We return to Stoke-on-Trent and this mill, first seen by me in 2016.

It was an old mill, yes, but it's obviously been offices.

But, gosh, you've got to think to yourself,

"What could you do with all this space?"

What I would do is I would strip it back to reveal your footprint.

# One last time I need to be the one who takes you home... #

Taking the mill home for 59 grand in 2014

was business partners Yann and Ricky.

So why the delay in starting?

We just weren't in any major rush.

We really went for the design process and taking our time,

making sure we were happy with it.

-And then we just put it in with the planning.

-OK.

So now we're in a position where we want to crack on.

Their timescale? One year.

And a development budget of 450 grand.

Yann also had some technology to help students with their National

Vocational Qualifications.

I invented a virtual reality tool

which has 18 worldwide patents,

which actually simulates all the jobs you do in this building.

When we went back in 2017, the plan was to create 11 student flats,

targeted at the local university.

They had completed phase one,

the removal of the asbestos by a licensed contractor.

Phase two, stripping out - as I said I would do -

getting a structural survey and quotes from contractors.

And then they'd just reached phase three, finishing off.

They'd spent just over half their 450 grand budget,

giving students access to Yann's virtual reality technology,

and were expecting completion in ten weeks.

We're back 14 weeks and one day later

for a sneak peak before the opening ceremony

with the mayor tomorrow.

The 11 apartments fall into four basic types.

The smallest with the least facilities

are the three studio apartments.

In old money, they're bedsits.

Next, there are three one-bed apartments

with separate living/kitchen areas.

On the top floor of the mill

are four spectacular mezzanine apartments.

Again, one bedroom, but with double height space.

There are two types of these.

One has a smaller bed platform but, for simplicity,

we'll group the mezzanines together.

Finally, back on the ground floor is the only two-bedded apartment.

I must say, the smart facilities here are a far cry

from what the digs were like when I was growing up in Leicester.

Student accommodation is now a lucrative, evolving market.

And here this evolution is partly down to the students themselves.

It's been built for the students of the University of Stoke-on-Trent,

which designed the rooms.

Every room has Wi-Fi.

It's to their specifications,

so we were led by the people who will live in it.

Because, remember, we could put what we think is right,

but it might not be right for the student.

So, if you like, it was built by the students for the students.

Having made their mistakes in the virtual world before moving into the

real world, the NVQ students

were supervised at all times by an expert.

But there were some drawbacks.

Remember, if we gave it to straightforward electricians and plumbers,

we would have finished it six months ago.

Because, remember, whilst they're doing all the work for the examination,

..they didn't charge us for doing it.

It has to be stressed that there is no gas going into the building,

and the NVQ area was limited primarily to plumbing.

In the final phase,

35 students were offered jobs as a result of their coursework.

They were invited to the grand opening,

but 32 declined as they were too busy working.

Looking back over the entire project,

Ricky feels the stripping out was the most important start point.

There was some dampness in parts of the building,

which we then had to hack off the brickwork and repair.

But we rectified it by, you know, doing relevant guttering,

and that was very important in the first stage.

Because you find out all the relevant problems

and then you go forward.

I think any scheme that can turn an eyesore

into luxury, energy-efficient,

attractive accommodation is great news for urban renewal.

The mill now has an insulated render to make it much cheaper to heat,

and save space on the inside.

But now it's finished, how is that budget?

We managed to stick within our budget.

We managed to do the entire build for the construction process

for £405,000.

Now, it's not often I say 45 grand under budget on a 59 grand purchase.

We invited two local estate agents along to pass judgment on this

£464,000 development.

The things really that stand out for me is just the use of space.

They must've had a fantastic architect in,

who's really put thought into how many rooms they can get in.

And I particularly like the mezzanine bedrooms.

It just works really well for me.

I think the standard of finish is very good.

Obviously, it's a very recent refurb.

A lot of the time with student accommodation,

it's older terraced properties

that won't be in the sort of standard that we see here.

Please have a pen and paper ready to hand,

as we're about to enter the very complex world

of valuing a development like this.

With the two-bedroom apartment, there is potential

to let to two students and maybe charge around £90 a week per room.

If we were to let the two-bedroomed apartment

on the student market,

I would be looking in the region of £650 per calendar month.

We could now get into the detailed account of values

of the various types and sizes of one-bedroom apartments,

but we don't want the programme to overrun.

So, suffice to say, the top value came out at £73,980 per annum,

including bills. But Ricky and Yann have done a deal with the university

for a first year's guaranteed rental of 61 grand,

making them just over a 13% yield.

So, what's been learned in the process?

I think Ricky has learned... When he started working for me,

he complained that the first two months,

he did not have nothing much to do.

He stopped complaining about three years ago!

Because we've got about 15 sites now, all over the country.

And, you know, life is all about learning from each other,

working as a team.

You know, you have to work with the council, with the university,

with the apprentices.

I think the future is going to be all about people having

a common target and working towards it.

And that's what we had.

Earlier in the show, I was in the town of Bootle on Merseyside,

where I saw a two-bed mid-terrace guided at £30,000 to £35,000.

Its location, on the edge of a brand-new housing estate,

was music to my ears.

But the standard layout downstairs fell a bit flat.

However, I had a suggestion that hit all the right notes.

Now, I know I sound a bit like a broken record here, but honestly,

things like this, get rid of this wall, open up this space.

It's just... Making it open-plan is the only way to go.

I feel like I've said that a thousand times before.

Meanwhile, over here, the kitchen.

This is open-plan. We like that.

# I like the way you move... #

Something else I liked was the existence of an upstairs bathroom.

The second bedroom was a bit small,

and while the master bedroom was a good size,

I was more concerned about the evident damp problem.

It's probably something simple. It's all along the front there,

which would lead me to believe it's something to do with the gutters,

or maybe that bottom part of the roof just needs sorting out.

But it's the sort of thing you do need to address before it starts

to damage the fabric of the building.

But that didn't dampen the spirits of mum Andrea,

who bought the property for £33,000 as an investment opportunity

for daughter Harriet, who would be overseeing the project from her home

over 260 miles away in Bournemouth.

But with Mum on site and Harriet managing the budget of

three to four grand remotely, there were some tricky decisions to make.

Well, we're having a bit of a conflict about a wall.

-Mum thinks one needs knocking down.

-Which one? That one?

-Yeah, that one.

-The obvious wall to get rid of?

-Yeah.

-Well, you say that...

-I do say that, yeah.

-I don't know, I'm not sure whether it's worth it.

-Yeah?

Whatever the outcome, the project was to take two to three months,

with stepdad John doing the work

and business manager and skydiving instructor Harriet overseeing.

So when we returned just under seven months later,

did they hit the ground running, or come crashing down to earth?

# Don't look down

# Up this high, we'll never hit the ground... #

Downstairs looks smashing,

and a new fitted kitchen gives it a new lease of life.

By extending the units into the dining space,

there's some invaluable additional work space and, by the looks of it,

Harriet won out over Wallgate.

Yeah, Mum said she wanted to take the wall down,

and when we saw Martin, he agreed. But I...

From the start, I didn't want to do that at all.

I thought it was unnecessary.

And then we realised it's actually a load-bearing wall anyway.

So the cost of it would have just completely outweighed, you know,

any kind of benefit that we would have got from it.

So, it stayed.

Replacing load-bearing walls means getting a structural engineer

to design a suitable beam,

and it is a costly business, so the wall stayed put.

And, anyway, it works.

Though the decision to extend the kitchen revealed a leak

coming from the bathroom upstairs.

That's what led us to pulling the bathroom out,

because all the pipework's behind the bath

and you can't get at it until

you actually take the entire bath out of the room,

and the toilet out of the room.

And then we thought we'd fixed it,

put everything back in and then, we realised we hadn't fixed it.

So all the bathroom had to come out for a second time,

but then we did fix it.

With the leak fixed, the bathroom was freshened up,

and they had a roofer in to fix the gutters and misplaced tiles,

which sorted the damp problem in the master bedroom.

Harriet has been project managing from her home in Bournemouth,

with mum Andrea on site and stepdad John doing most of the work

himself, with the exception of plastering, gas and electrics.

So has this long-distance relationship worked well?

I found it difficult, because I've not been able to be here.

So I've been relying on Mum to kind of describe things to me.

So when they came across some of the issues,

it was like Mum was describing things to me and I was trying

to come up with a solution, but without actually seeing the problem.

So, I found that bit difficult.

But, overall, I found it absolutely fine.

-I found it...

-Do you disagree?

I found it took longer than I expected,

having not done one of these before.

Unfortunately, the timescale overran,

as Andrea had some medical issues, but was also able to enjoy a holiday

during the seven months since we were last here.

And they spent five grand in total,

£1,000 over the high-end of the £3,000 to £4,000 budget.

I think it's because on certain aspects, we kind of

got to the point of buying it and then thought,

"Well, we need to maybe go for, like, a higher quality

"or more durable version of it," because we didn't think

it was going to last, so we put in some higher-quality products

than I think originally went into the costing.

But I think that's going to pay off in the long run,

that we won't have to, well, change them for a longer period of time.

So, was that the right decision?

Time to see what two local estate agents made

of Andrea and Harriet's £38,000 investment.

Let's start with the agent who saw it last time.

It's great to come back to a house and see all the necessary changes

that have been done to achieve the objective.

I could easily fall into the trap of thinking

that this has been done by a seasoned landlord.

So, altogether, they should be applauded.

The decor's fine, it's consistent throughout, quite modern.

The layout is exactly what you would expect,

if I'm being honest with you.

However, the condition will sort of set this aside,

whether they sell it or let it.

The agents are happy, but, out of curiosity,

what do they make of Harriet's decision

to keep the living room wall?

As it goes, letting in this environment

with a house of this type,

I don't think it was necessary to take that wall down.

So I think they did the right thing.

People actually want open-plan living at the moment,

but it is only down to preference.

If someone prefers that, they can do it.

So, no, I don't think that will have a negative or even a positive

impact on the sale of the property, or the let.

Well, there you have it, folks - case closed on this one.

And with the house complete,

Harriet already has a tenant lined up.

So, is she asking for the right rate?

If the property was to go on the open market for rent,

I would expected to fetch between £425 to £450 per calendar month.

In my opinion, the rental value, as it stands now, nicely finished,

I would have no difficulty in recommending

£425 to £450 per calendar month.

The higher figure could see Harriet achieving a whopping yield

of over 14%.

And the agents also valued the house at between £55,000 and £60,000

on the sales market, giving a potential profit of £20,000,

minus taxes and fees.

So, is Harriet happy with the numbers?

That's almost doubled itself in price, which is great.

But our tenants that we've actually got coming in have already confirmed

the 450 mark for it, so that's right on the money for what the value is.

-Yeah.

-So, I'm happy with that.

Skydiving Harriet's first project has been a success.

Does that mean the sky's the limit

for this family property developing team?

I play a minor role, which is being support.

Not physically doing anything.

So I don't mind staying in that role.

Mum did a lot of legwork with the auction.

She was the one who prepped behind-the-scenes, you know,

had a look at all the different ones and went to view them.

So, if she was happy to do that again, I think it would work.

Well, property developing's a bit like a game of chess -

it requires patience, resilience and a strategy.

Yes, and with the right move at just the right time,

you may get very good results.

Yes, and you can see if those skills are put to the test here

-on Homes Under The Hammer. See ya.

-Bye.

-Goodbye.