Episode 68 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello, welcome to the show.

Now, possibly like you, we find the whole world of property interesting,

exciting, even addictive.

Yes, but in order to succeed,

you've got to make sure that you buy at the right price

and in the right location.

Yeah, but one way you can do that

is to head down to your local auction house

and buy your next home under the hammer.

You really do need to do your homework

if you are buying a property at auction,

because if you do that, you might just grab yourself a bargain.

So will any of today's properties turn out to be great deals?

Here's what people bought.

Lucy visits this semi in Upper Beeding,

which was missing something.

Take a look up there.

And in Walsall, I see a property that was, quite frankly,

missing the point when it came to layout.

Why is this wall here?

And in Kent, I visit a plot that might be missing everything

but the framework. However...

You've got the Garden of England just over the road.

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.

Sold.

Lucy's driven just over an hour from South London

to the little village of Upper Beeding, in West Sussex.

It doesn't have a huge amount of local amenities,

but it's conveniently located for both the South Downs and the coast.

It's a spot popular with young families and first-time buyers

as it's comparatively more affordable

than some of the neighbouring villages.

This is a popular street

as it is literally just around the corner from the shops

and I'm told when something comes on the market around here,

well, boom, it gets snapped up pretty quickly.

Now, the good news is, I'm here to see one of these houses,

a three-bed semi, and it had a guide price of £170,000.

Now, the last property to sell on this street went for £315,000.

So that guide price, well, it seems suspiciously low.

A-ha! That does not fill me with confidence.

Don't worry, we've taken safety advice,

and it's not a hard-hat area,

just one to be careful in.

OK, now I know why the reduced price.

Right. Devastation everywhere,

smells really bad of damp or something.

There's a bin in the living room, never a good sign.

I mean, look, you've got plaster board missing from the ceiling

and I'm not quite sure about this sort of leather-clad wall.

You might need to get rid of that.

So the lounge is not a bad size

if you can see beyond all the stuff in here,

and, whoa, it certainly gets a lot worse in the kitchen.

Look at this.

You've just got exposed wires everywhere

and it really, really smells of damp.

Not a good start at all.

So, up to the first floor and the first thing I notice, look,

is the lack of spindles here in the banister,

but that is the least of your worries - take a look up there.

I think it's obvious this house has suffered from fire damage.

The first thing the buyer of this property needs to do

is have a professional take a look up there,

and I would recommend getting at least three quotes

from businesses registered with

the National Federation of Roofing Contractors before you even start.

This could be a costly, big job,

and, looking at the damage up there,

I wouldn't be surprised if the whole roof needs to be replaced.

It's not as simple as just patching a couple of holes

with tiles on the roof

as its structure might have also been undermined by the fire.

And it's not just damage from the flames,

there's also smoke and water damage.

What you do need to do is get it watertight

and then get in those dehumidifiers and heaters.

So out the back, more of the same - there is stuff littered everywhere.

But you don't want to venture too far because, look,

there is a fish pond right here.

You could imagine koi carp, having a nice view from the kitchen.

But if it were me, I would have to fill that in,

in fear of safety for my children.

So that's a bit of a negative for me, but a real positive is -

that is a gorgeous view.

Well, it certainly looks better than the view at the front,

which is about to be observed by an estate agent,

who we called in for her views,

starting with what work she would do here.

Well, the first person I would bring in here would be a surveyor,

a structural surveyor.

The roof has obviously been very badly damaged,

various floors have got very, very weak floorboards.

Structural inspection surveys and engineer's reports don't come cheap,

so what's the agent's best guess at the cost of the work?

Oh, perhaps around about £50,000 to £60,000.

If all that's done to a good standard,

with a new kitchen and bathroom,

what could it sell for?

You're probably looking at around about £250,000.

And on the rental market?

We would estimate the property would rent out

for £1,150 per calendar month.

This property is shocking to look around,

but if you can see past the fire damage

and all the black and the damp inside,

well, I think you do get a decent amount of house for the money,

and maybe, well, it just looks worse than it actually is.

So who was prepared to take a risk on their renovation costs

going through the roof? Let's head to auction and find out.

What do we say on this one? 160, if you will.

160, thank you, sir.

£160,000.

Can I say £165 at the front?

165. 170. Take 167.

167. 170.

168. 168.

169. 169.

170. 170. 171.

The bids quickly climb in £1,000 steps

and we rejoin the bidding at £179,000.

179. 179.

180. 180. 181.

Have a think about it, it's at the front at £180,000.

181, anywhere else, against you now.

180,000 for the first.

180,000 for the second.

Third and final time at £180,000.

Sold.

The pleased-as-punch successful bidder was Angus,

at the auction with his son, Ben.

At just £10,000 above the guide price,

the final bid of £180,000 secured him the property.

Angus already knew about the fire in the house, as he lives next door.

Lucy caught up with them at the property to find out more.

Angus and Ben, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Well done. Now, I know you boys didn't have far to come.

So why did you want to buy this,

with the fire and everything that's happened here?

Basically, just the opportunity arose next door, really.

If I didn't go for it now, that's it, lost forever.

It's nice to know it'll be done how you want.

Now, you were at home when the fire actually started,

did it not put you off,

knowing there was so much fire damage in this house,

and, you know, where do you begin?

We had a good look from outside, we didn't have the keys,

but the roof pitch is very fairly straight-forward, 4x2 structures,

as far as we can see.

So we didn't see it as a big problem, did we?

-No, no.

-Angus is a farmer helping on his dad's farm

and, yes, they do breed Aberdeen Angus there.

He's also a fuel distributor and is financing all the work.

Ben's a self-employed carpenter,

and their friend Graham is a plumber and electrician, who'll be on board.

It's a big area, 100 tiles.

Tackling the roof, though, will mean

entering the complex structural world of trusses,

beams, purlins, rafters, ridges and bands,

oh, and ceiling joists.

So is Ben worried about the size of the task?

We've done enough building in the past that, you know,

throw on some plasterboard, it looks pretty good again, you know.

-So it wasn't too daunting.

-You see, I'm a bit worried when you say that

because I think this house is a lot more

than just throwing on a bit of plasterboard - it's beyond that.

I studied carpentry for two years at college,

so that will really help me with the roof,

you know, redoing the floorboards and things like that.

Then you've got Graham which is, you know, just a font of knowledge.

Just chop away all the old timbers and put new tiles where appropriate

and reinsulate the roof.

If it was an olde worlde house with huge gutters,

it would be a different story,

but, really, it's quite a simple structure.

So I don't envisage a problem.

-MARTIN:

-They seem confident,

but it's advisable to get a structural engineer

to assess the integrity of the roof and the repairs.

If more than 50% of the roof needs to be replaced,

then building regs apply on energy and fire safety.

As ever, we recommend talking to Planning

before embarking on any major jobs.

So will Angus be adding to his current two jobs?

Summer draws in, if you like, it gets quieter,

so I'll have a bit more time to spend.

I mean, hopefully, we will be able to crack on in a couple of months.

As Graham said, get the roof on,

and you've got yourself dry then, and do stuff underneath it.

So how much have they forecast for all this work?

With Graham's input, we reckon £20,000 should do it.

£20,000 for the whole house or just for the roof?

For materials and labour, yeah.

So you think for £20,000, you can have the finished job here?

The structure, yeah.

The structure for £20,000.

You know, we're doing it ourselves, you know,

so we're not employing expensive builders, plasterers, plumbers.

You know, Graham's really good at things like that.

So that will all keep the cost down and, you know,

we do think outside the box.

We use a lot of things we've got up the farm and bits...

So we think there's about £500 worth of 4x2 timbers,

which isn't a lot, really, just the timbers.

Some of the tiles will be reusable.

Obviously, you're not going to use anything that's damaged,

get new or good second-hand.

Do you think you're at an advantage because you live next door

and you know the house, you know the estate really well?

I must admit, we looked at my house next door and the loft,

they're really quite straight-forward.

Yeah, I hope I'm not being too over-optimistic.

Or naive perhaps?

Or naive.

Hopefully not, no.

Maybe, maybe a little.

Might be.

We will see indeed, and, hopefully, Angus will decide

whether to fit the shell out and rent it or sell it on.

How long do you think it's going to take you to complete?

A couple of months. I mean,

the big thing is getting all the stuff out and that.

Did you just really say a couple of months?

That's only eight weeks.

-Yes.

-So eight weeks, and that's to get the roof on

and do the rest of the work.

I mean, the house is in a really bad state of disrepair.

-Yeah.

-Do you really think it'll only be two months?

I mean, that will be you guys AND some, on the project

every single day.

Personally, I reckon kind of eight months.

It all depends what time we throw at it, doesn't it?

Yeah, this's it. Yeah, I'm thinking other things that we do as well.

Guys, I'm really excited to see the outcome.

If you're free any weekends, we could do with the help.

I could pop down, get my paintbrushes out.

Sorry, I'm busy for the next year!

Guys, it's been so lovely meeting you, good luck with this.

-Thank you.

-And I really hope your budget does, you know, hold out.

-Thank you.

-You have quite a bit of work to do here.

-Just a bit, yeah.

-Good luck.

-Lovely to meet you, Angus.

-You too.

-And you, Ben, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

This is no run-of-the-mill semi,

it needs an awful lot of work,

and I can't help but think, well,

they're being just a little bit relaxed about the extent of it.

Dad says two months, Ben says eight.

Join me later in the programme, and you can find out how it goes.

Off to the Black Country

in the West Midlands now, and the town of Walsall.

The local dialect is very distinctive

with many unique phrases.

Let's see if today's property is "summat busting" -

that's something good to the rest of us.

Well, about a mile-and-a-half from the town centre,

in this nice residential road

just off a main road, is the property I'm here to see.

£44,000 was the guide price for this three-bedroomed semidetached.

Now, £44,000 doesn't sound like a lot of money,

but straightaway I'm noticing a few worrying things - that crack.

Still, as ever, let's see what the inside has in store.

Well, the door could do with a lick of paint. Ha-ha!

I somehow think that's not going to be the worst I'm going to find.

But let's just try and look at the layout.

Original features. Look at that door, absolutely beautiful.

I'd love to see that stripped back with the original stained glass,

which is lovely.

Oh, you don't have to walk very far.

The floor feels like it's giving way there as well,

which could tie in with what I've seen outside.

But let's just focus on the layout for a second.

Front living room there, very old and dated fireplace.

In fact, the whole place smells and feels really dated,

but nice-sized rooms.

LOVE the half-timbered look.

Yeah, fantastic(!)

Stairs up to the bedrooms there

and then through into, well,

a sort of area of the house where you could definitely do with

basically knocking down some walls.

This little area here, I guess it's a sort of, I don't know what it is,

it's not really usable because there isn't enough space

either side of the door to get any cabinets or anything,

so that's rubbish.

Through to the kitchen. Now, why on earth - you know what I'm like -

I like taking walls out, but this surely is a complete no-brainer.

Why is this wall here?

It needs to go, completely opening up this area,

as do the polystyrene tiles.

But I've still got these alarm bells going about the structure.

I really want a structural engineer to check that out

before I do anything.

Opening up this kitchen would make a huge difference,

but I do worry this house itself is opening up.

# Until you came

# It felt like my world

# Was falling apart at the seams... #

Out back, there's a garden that looks like it's been well-loved,

a bonus, after all the problems inside.

Well, upstairs, and there's one word that sums up the layout

and that's bitty. It's just bitty, bitty, bitty.

You've got this tiny room at the end here, you've then got the loo here,

which is separate from the bathroom, which is here.

It just, I know I'm a massive fan of keeping them separate.

In this instance, no chance.

Knock these walls down.

Just, eurgh! This bit here really doesn't work.

That, though, is another indication

of these potentially serious problems.

I am actually quite worried about that one because, yes,

there's a crack on the front, mm-hm,

but look, it's here, way into the house.

I must be, I don't know,

15, 20 feet into the house here, another big crack here.

It's not looking good, is it?

The bedrooms are a decent size,

but the sinking feeling of subsidence never goes away.

The floor slopes at an angle some mountaineers would find a challenge.

Well, here in the front room, another slight structural worry.

This wall here, obviously terribly, terribly damp at the bottom.

I don't know quite what's going on.

My guess is, well, it's going to be two things.

Well, three things actually - coming down, coming in or coming up.

Basically, they are the only ways that damp gets in.

So probably outside, a gutter may have failed,

otherwise, it could be the main damp-proofing,

as I said, water rising up.

Either way, it needs to be sorted.

Quite a list of work needed at this house, guided at £44,000.

What does a local property expert

make of the potential subsidence problem?

This area is a traditional mining area.

There's an incidence of mine shafts in many places

and properties of this age

do tend to show signs of structural movement, longstanding,

but nevertheless, looking around,

there are areas of sloping to floors

and non-alignment of window and door frames.

Still worth checking it out, then.

After modernisation, what could it sell for?

From a sale point of view, on completion,

I would say perhaps £100,000,

£105,000.

And rentals?

On completion of the modernisation,

I think it would be somewhere in the region of £550 per calendar month.

Well, you could have some fun with the internal layout,

certainly in that kitchen area, taking out some walls - yes!

But before that, there's obviously some big issues to sort out,

the first one being that potential subsidence and the damp.

Get those sorted out before you do anything.

Who bought it? Let's find out when it went under the hammer.

So, a number of telephone bids on this lot,

but I will offer it to you on the guide at £44,000, may I say.

At £44,000, I have.

45.

£60,000, spoken bid.

61. 62. No. 62,

thank you, sir. 63 now.

63. I'm not going to halves, sir, yet.

63. 64, sir.

65.

No. At £64,000 then here.

It's the gentleman's bid at the back of the room.

At £64,000.

Now, I'll take a half if you like, sir.

64,500. 65.

We will stay in halves. 65.

65,500 on the telephone.

66. No.

66 in a new place, and thank you, sir.

66,500 on the telephone.

67, sir, and thank you.

It's in the room at 67.

A half again now.

At £67,000 for the first time.

At £67,000 for the second time.

At £67,000, sold.

It's yours, well bought, sir.

Twizzle your paddle for me, please.

£67,000 bagged a first auction purchase for Kevin and wife Cynthia.

They came along to tell me about their plans

for this sloping semidetached.

Kevin, Cynthia, great to meet you both.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations.

-Nice to meet you.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy this place?

New career for Cynthia.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm looking to finish work at the job I'm in, and, hopefully,

if this goes well, then this is what I'll be doing from now on.

Brilliant. What are you doing at the moment?

I work at a golf course, doing the catering.

Great. So, what sort of inspired you,

the idea of getting into property and stuff?

Just watching it on the TV, really,

-and just thought it would be a good idea.

-Right.

Everybody else does it, so why not give it a go?

Absolutely. Good to hear.

And what do you do at the moment?

-I'm a golf professional.

-OK. Do you work at the same golf course?

-Yes. Same golf course.

-That's where you met, was it?

-Yeah.

-A long time ago.

-Fantastic.

So, why this house as the first one, then, for your new career?

-We viewed three properties, didn't we?

-Yeah.

And we bid on the other two, we didn't get those two.

And we bid on this, and we got this,

-and it was purely down to price, Martin.

-Right, OK.

And we think we can

turn it around, and, hopefully, sell it for a small profit.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-It's a nice house. It's got a few issues

which I'd like to talk to you about, I guess, first.

What do you know about the structural side of things?

It's in a mining area.

So I do know that.

So they will class all the ground around here as unstable.

And you can see...

When you look at all the properties around here, they are all...

There's cracks and the lintels are sometimes a little bit out.

But generally speaking, they all remain standing.

-So we should be fine.

-So you're not too worried about it.

No, when they're cheap.

Hopefully, not when we sell it.

Nice to know that it remains standing.

With a bit of luck!

Are you going to do a bit of remedial work

to sort out the cracks?

-I think so.

-Think?

I think the cracks that are here are fairly historical.

They have been here a long time.

So I don't think...

Fingers crossed, I don't think we're going to need to do any underpinning

or anything like that.

And it needs quite a lot of work,

but I don't think it's going to fall down.

You don't THINK it's going to fall down?

Kevin, that's optimism for you.

# Till the walls come tumbling down... #

I really hope the couple do get a structural survey

because it could affect the price when they look to sell on.

They do plan to put in a damp course,

so that should solve the patch in the living room.

What about other changes?

We are going to open the kitchen up. That is a no-brainer.

Because there is a studded partition in there.

We'll open the kitchen up.

The back room, put some French doors in there.

We want some French doors in there.

Which I think will be really nice

because I don't think it's worth spending the money on it

to actually knock it through to the kitchen,

-it would be too big then.

-OK.

The bathroom upstairs, that's a bit of a challenge.

-It is.

-It looks quite small.

But we are going to get the builder in,

and he's going to clear it all out

and we'll see what we've got.

But I think it should be OK.

We had the electrics checked out, didn't we?

Yeah, my son is an electrician and he likes me as well.

THEY LAUGH

So, what are YOU going to do, then?

What work are you going to get involved in?

Cynthia is going to project manage.

-Yeah.

-I'm going to do...

I'm going to do the garden.

So, let's go through the numbers, then.

You paid 67 for it at auction.

A few costs on top of that. Roughly what have you budgeted for the work?

So we are looking at spending up to 90.

So I think about 18,000.

-18,000.

-We've got a little bit of contingency in case.

And what kind of timescale?

Depending on builders again, isn't it?

-A month.

-I'd like to turn it over in about four months.

THEY LAUGH

I'd like to get it done within three to four months,

to be honest with you.

-Are you excited?

-Very excited, yeah.

I'm looking forward to it.

-Yeah.

-I'm looking forward to Cynthia having a new challenge.

Yeah, it's great.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to leaving my other job then.

Are you going to be on it full time then, pretty much?

Yeah.

And once this one is done, sourcing new properties and things?

Yeah, I'll have more hands on then

because I'd like to do a few little jobs myself.

But I can't at the moment because I'm still working.

Listen, congratulations.

-Good luck.

-Thank you, Martin. Much appreciated.

We look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

So, Kevin and Cynthia

embarking on their first property renovation project

as a career, certainly, for Cynthia.

I am a little bit concerned about this whole subsidence.

You've got to address it at this stage.

That kind of finger-in-the-air approach, you know,

you might mask the problem,

but it's just going to store those problems up for the future.

That really does need to be assessed.

How will they get on with the rest of it?

Tune in later and find out.

Coming up in Kent, I visit this plot...

Well, can you call it a plot?

I'd say it's more a potential...

..castle, home, forever home. Something.

Back in Walsall,

we'll find out what became of Kevin and Cynthia's falling-down house.

-Hopefully it will be...

-Keep our fingers crossed.

..saleable.

Back now to West Sussex and the village of Upper Beeding,

convenient for both the South Downs and the coast.

It was here that Lucy looked around this 1960s three-bed semi,

which had suffered pretty severe fire damage

and been left in this state for a year.

Take a look up there.

The first thing the buyer of this property needs to do

is have a professional take a look up there

and I would recommend businesses registered

with the National Federation of Roofing Contractors.

The property was bought by the family next door,

father and son, Angus and Ben.

Angus works on his dad's farm and distributes fuel,

and Ben is a self-employed carpenter.

The house went for...

-How much was it?

-At £180,000...

-Sold.

-Ah, that's right.

180,000.

Joining the father and son team was their friend Graham, a plumber,

electrician and general handyman,

who would do most of the internal work with Angus's help.

They'll probably put it just below the gutter.

If you get second-hand ones, they'll blend in much better.

Ben and Graham would take the lead on the roof.

It's a big area, 100 tiles.

Lucy was clearly concerned, given the amount of damage,

that they might be taking on a bit too much.

The roof pitch is fairly straightforward.

Throw on some plasterboard, looks pretty good again.

You know. So... Not too daunting.

I'm a bit worried when you say that, because I think this house

is a lot more than just throwing on a bit of plasterboard.

-It's beyond that.

-I studied carpentry for two years at college.

So that will really help me with the roof.

And you've got Graham, which is...

..you know, just a font of knowledge.

He'll be able to do the rest of it.

It looks like Graham certainly had his work cut out for him.

Their budget was 20 grand for all the building work.

And timescale? Well, they differed on that one.

-A couple of months?

-Did you just really say a couple of months?

That's only eight weeks.

-Yes.

-Personally, I reckon, you know, kind of eight months.

You can guess who was nearest with their estimate

when I tell you we are back two years, seven months,

26 days and two hours later to see the changes.

To a house that's been quite frankly redefined.

# I'll be redefined... #

Well, the roof doesn't look like it's had the fiddlers on,

it looks chipper.

Has there been a bit of spit and polish inside?

# Can you see me? I'm shining

# And it's you that I've been waiting to find... #

Looking good, and Angus reckons it's been the biggest budget item.

# You know that you make it shine

# It's you that I've been waiting to find... #

Have the bins been taken out?

# Can you see me? I'm shining

# And it's you that I've been waiting to find... #

Angus and Ben, take a bow.

It is unrecognisable.

But the most damaged area was at the top of the stairs.

How were the reparations up there?

# I'm going to be the one that you love

# That you love... #

There was damp behind the bathroom tiles,

and they found wet and dry rot in the ceiling joists.

Can you guess the next-biggest budget items?

No, it was central heating and electrics.

Ben's timescale was slightly nearer the reality.

But this house needed the full works.

# It's you that I've been waiting to find... #

Ben won the bet. I didn't really put enough thought into it.

And with commitments, work-wise,

and bereavement of Dad, his grandad,

put things back a lot.

That's why we are here today, a bit later than we should be.

So sorry to hear about your bereavement.

Angus has obviously had to spend more time

dealing with the family farm.

It makes the results even more creditworthy.

Admittedly, Graham was helping, but the roof must have been some job.

It was probably the easiest thing to do.

It was, actually. We thought it was going to be the hardest.

Off with the tiles, all-new timbers.

The membrane. And that was it, wasn't it?

Yeah, Bob's your uncle.

Yeah, from taking it off to...

..putting it back on again, three days.

Well, at least he didn't need the scaffolding for long.

To start with, you didn't think you'd need that,

but you soon realised...

Yeah. I thought we could have done it without but...

..you were right. I hate to say.

Yeah. One.

Now, chaps. No one-upmanship.

Has it been a steep learning curve for your first auction property?

We have learnt a massive amount from this.

I mean, from going from, you know, doing basic fencing and garden work,

that is what I do for a living, so, you know, I kind of...

I jumped into the garden, and, you know, I'm really pleased, you know.

Hopefully, the tenants will think the same.

-Yeah, when we get one.

-Yeah.

On seeing the finished product,

Angus decided to rent out the property.

At least he will be close at hand to keep the tenants in check.

Yeah. Keep an eye on them.

Ben stayed at his dad's house during the busiest times,

leaving his family at home,

which he was also refurbishing.

The home, not the family.

Put a lot of stress on the family and us.

I think we had a few arguments, didn't we?

But it is what it is.

You know.

Amazingly, they say the roof came in at two grand.

So in addition to the £180,000 purchase,

how much has all this cost?

We must have spent 35,000.

-Do you reckon?

-Yeah.

I suppose you know - you paid for it.

To find out if Angus can get his money back,

we invited two local estate agents along

for their valuations of this grand 215-grand spend.

You walk in, nice and open, very light.

Pretty rear garden.

Yeah, there's nothing I would change about the layout.

I think it works really well.

I think the property has been finished

to a very good standard throughout. It is neutrally decorated,

so it means someone coming in can paint it their own colours

if they want.

We know Angus has decided to rent, but if he did sell,

could he make a profit, and what sort of rent should he get?

I think the resale value of the property is approximately £285,000.

And the rental value of the property, approximately £1,200

per calendar month.

As it happens, the other agent said exactly the same,

making Angus a potential profit

before taxes and expenses of 70 grand.

Sale-wise, I expected it to be in that region,

with what is on offer around here.

Everything is negotiable.

I think 1,200 is very good rental.

Rental, yeah, I'm happy with that as well, really.

And it's a yield of just over 5%,

so any tips for anyone else trying this?

As we proved, it doesn't have to be done yesterday.

Yeah.

-And, Ben?

-Don't work with your father.

THEY LAUGH

Situated about five miles from Maidstone,

the beautiful village of Sutton Valence

has long been a place associated

with the English kings of yore.

Before the Battle of Hastings,

King Harold's brother, Leofwine Godwinson,

was the ruler of the manor.

Then, after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,

the manor was granted to William the Conqueror's half brother,

Adam Fitzherbert.

So I think it's fair to say that Sutton Valence has royal roots.

Now, they do say that every man's home is his castle.

And today's auction lot might just give you the chance

to own your very own...

Well, it's not there yet.

But this piece of land could be the start

of you having your very own castle, home, forever home.

Something. It's got a guide price of £130,000 to £135,000.

And I can see it now.

You've got your drawbridge, you've got your turrets,

you've got your water...

CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

The gatehouse.

The stables.

The Great Hall.

MUSIC STOPS

Um, maybe not.

But it doesn't hurt to have royally good dreams.

Now, this place obviously used to be an old farm building, maybe a barn,

back in the day.

But you know what's good about this plot? Come in,

it's got planning permission.

Yes. Not for a castle, obviously, but for a three-bed house,

which I think is the perfect, perfect dwelling

for this piece of land.

That is a massive bonus.

All you need now is a bit of imagination.

Imagine, if you will, these plans.

They come designed for a bungalow-style build.

Three bedrooms would be towards the east of the house

with a large open living area to the west.

Complete with kitchen area and family bathroom.

Sounds ideal. Well, almost.

So, when you buy at auction,

it's yours to keep,

and keep is a very apt word when it comes to this plot of land,

because you have to keep this metal frame.

You have to keep this footprint,

you have to keep the whole of this project, and build,

in keeping with its surroundings, so you have got restrictions.

So this place is definitely a case of finders...

Come on.

..keepers.

You also have to keep the roof,

and it should be made of metal to match the current structure.

But what kind of area do we have to keep within here?

Well, let me just do a little bit of...

# Counting

# Counting

# Counting

# Counting

# Counting... #

That's roughly 2,614 square metres.

Or 0.6 acres of land.

Which is not the largest footprint in the world.

In all my travels around this barn, I have spotted one obvious issue.

There are no services.

You know those things you totally take for granted normally?

Water, sewage, electricity, gas, telephone and broadband.

With any plot, you need to do your research.

Where will the services come from and how much is it going to cost?

If you are near the mains water supply, fine.

But more remote plots do need calculating

in the cost of boreholes for water

and installing sewage disposal systems.

There is another consideration as well.

Now, you won't have a very big garden at all

because the perimeters and boundaries of this plot of land

do restrict you, but I don't think it's a problem.

I'll tell you why.

Have a look at that.

You've got the Garden of England just over the road.

With the countryside as a garden and a metal structure as a home,

I imagine great things here.

# Imagination is funny

# It makes a cloudy day sunny

# Makes a bee think of honey

# Just as I think of you... #

What does a local estate agent think of this property,

guided at £130,000 to £135,000?

We invited him along to find out what he made of the proposed plans.

I've looked at the plans and they're very good.

I think they've made a really good use of the limited space.

It's not a big property, and I think ideal.

It has every bit of accommodation

that a young family or grown family would need.

When those plans have been put in place,

what could this hidden gem in the countryside

make on the sales market?

I would anticipate this property selling

at somewhere between £450,000 and £500,000.

So this might not look like much right now,

but a lot of the hard work has already been done for you.

It's got planning in place,

so you can move on this project as soon as poss.

Let's find out who was interested when it went under the hammer.

Lot 38, rural barn.

What are you going to start me on that one?

We've got a guide of 130-135.

130 to start me.

130, do I see? 130, I'm looking for.

No? 125 anywhere?

125, I'm obliged, sir.

I have £125,000.

I'm on the way. 128 now, I'm looking for.

128, do I see?

128 bid, I have.

130, it's against you.

130, I'm obliged.

132 now, if you like.

At £130,000, I've got, and 132, I want.

132, I have.

134, 134.

136.

Do I save? At £134,000, I have, at 136, I want.

If we're all done, then, at £134,000,

I will sell for the first time.

£134,000 for this stunning site for the second time...

Third and final time at £134,000, all done.

Yours at 134.

Picking up this plot at £134,000,

just a little under the top guide price,

was Alan, seen here on the right.

He will be helped by his brother, Dave, on the left,

and son, Liam, in the middle.

While Dave went to have a look around the site,

I spoke to Alan and Liam.

-Alan, nice to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you, too, Dion.

Nice to meet you, Liam, as well, kid. Congratulations, chaps.

You've got yourself a piece of land.

Why this piece of land?

It was affordable, I had seen it prior to the auction,

it had planning permission already passed.

Basically, I wanted to do something that I could put my own mark on.

-OK.

-And something that you can nurture into what you want,

because, although I've got to build to a plan, I can add in what I want,

I can choose my kitchen, my bathroom.

-OK.

-My flooring, so, yeah.

Are you building this to live in?

Yes. Yes.

-Oh, I see.

-Yes.

-That's why you're going to be so specific, then.

-Yes.

OK, what kind of things are you hoping

you can get your hands on and start to build?

Well, all of it, really.

-Yeah.

-And a bit of experience is good.

He's just come out of his apprenticeship as a carpenter.

-Oh, nice.

-I'm a carpenter,

so together, with the help of my brother...

-OK.

-..who's a carpenter.

Is he really?

Yes, we are going to transform this property

into a beautiful three-bedroom detached timber-framed bungalow.

You've already got planning in place, which is fantastic.

-Three-bed.

-Yes.

-Which is fantastic.

How's it going to configure?

Basically, behind me, there's two bedrooms going here.

-Yeah.

-There's another bedroom on the back.

-OK.

-And then the rest of it's almost open plan,

apart from a bathroom on the front, but it's mainly vaulted ceiling.

-Yes.

-So it gives you that feeling of light and airy.

A sort of contemporary modern look.

-Nice one.

-Wooden floors.

White walls. Yeah, I've got a few things I've got to stick to.

Because it's semirural...

-Go on, yeah.

-..and it was a barn...

-Yeah.

-..I've got to keep up the look of a barn,

so it's got to have a metal roof

but, like, a bespoke sort of contemporary modern metal roof.

It's got to have metal windows and it'll be cladded in larch lap.

-Wow.

-So just blend in with the countryside.

And he has other eco-friendly ideas, too.

He wants to generate electricity by installing solar panels,

which will get the best of the Kent sunshine.

Out with the old and in with the new.

Not quite.

At the moment, we've got to build round the metal portal frame,

we've actually got to build round it. But it'll be quite quirky.

-OK.

-We're going to vault the ceiling,

and you'll see some of the metalwork.

Yeah, give it that...

-..cosmopolitan...

-Yeah, yeah.

-Contemporary look.

-Cool urban look.

-Yeah, that's the one.

-Oh, good for you.

-Yes.

-Alan, tell us exactly how much it's going to cost you

to create your home.

I'm budgeting to approximately £100,000.

I've actually got to get electric to the property,

and I've got to get water here,

so I've budgeted those costs,

and I've even gone down to even hinges on the doors,

nails, screws, all the sundries.

My advantage is I've got some free help.

Yes. Yes, at the moment it's free.

At the moment it's free.

-Yeah.

-And what about timescale?

I'm looking about nine months.

We are going to be starting almost immediately.

So what about Dave, then? How is Dave going to get involved?

Because he's going to be helping you out, creating your family home.

-What have you got to do for him?

-I've got to return the favour.

He's going to do a similar project in the future himself,

so it's like tit-for-tat, really.

-OK.

-But it's family.

-You're sharing blood, sweat and tears.

-Yeah.

-I like it. I like it.

Well, I hope, in nine months' time...

..and when that 100 grand has gone out of your pocket,

you've got a beautiful family home to move into.

-Good luck.

-So do I. Thank you very much.

-All the best, Al.

All the best. Liam, all the best, kid. Good luck.

-Thanks.

-So there is a full family team

waiting to get started on this project,

and they're staying within the parameters of the plans

that are already in place. Which should speed things up a bit.

But what are they going to create?

Stay right there, and you'll find out later in the programme.

Well, earlier on, we saw how one property turned out,

but what about the other two?

Yes, will they look any different now,

and has all money been well spent? Let's find out.

Back now to Walsall in the Black Country,

where, earlier, I saw this three-bed, guided at 44,000.

£44,000 doesn't sound like a lot of money

but straightaway I'm noticing a few worrying things.

That crack. Still, as ever, let's see what the inside has in store.

Unsurprisingly, inside offered a whole host of problems.

Ooh. You don't have to walk very far.

The floor.

With the floors and the cracks, it looked like classic subsidence.

# I'm about to go to pieces

# Go to pieces, baby... #

And whilst you might think this is a classic case

of fiddling while Rome burns,

I was fretting about the layout.

There's one word that sums up the layout, and that's bitty.

It's just bitty, bitty, bitty.

# And I don't mean maybe

# Into little itty bitty pieces, baby... #

These problems were just itty-bitty ones to couple Cynthia and Kevin.

This £67,000 purchase was supposed

to kick-start a new career in property development for Cynthia.

And they seemed very relaxed about the cracks.

Too relaxed, in my opinion.

Are you going to do a bit of a remedial work

-to sort out the cracks?

-I think so.

For Cynthia's new career, this didn't seem like the easiest start.

Would an 18-to-20-grand budget,

and a four-month timescale be enough to flip the house

and fix those cracks?

# We'll break down the walls

# Find a place where we both can be safe... #

We're back four months later, bang on their timescale,

and I'm pleased to say the house is still standing.

But what's it like inside?

# Cos tonight we are together

# You bring me to life

# And my world starts to blur... #

It's a house brought back to life.

Upstairs, that bitty layout has been opened up,

with bathroom and WC joined together,

and the light decor in the bedrooms makes them feel much bigger.

Downstairs, they've wisely knocked out the wall at the kitchen,

dramatically expanding the space.

New French windows in the rear living room

give more light and access to the back garden.

And they've even found the space to add a downstairs loo.

The house has had a full rewire,

courtesy of Kevin's electrician son, James.

But the finishing touches are still being made

by builder Ray and his team.

Last time, Kevin and Cynthia

tried to brush off the question about the cracks.

So what's happened in regard to the structure?

The cracks on the exterior, we had those checked out,

and that was found to be historical.

All of this area is classed as unstable land

because it's ex-mining.

It was a concern, but if you look at most properties in this area,

they do have cracks.

We had to have every room, walls, ceilings, replastered.

A big relief.

But the positive structural work they've undertaken

has rearranged the layout upstairs and downstairs.

There was a wall just there,

so you came in through the outside door,

it just made sense to get rid of the wall.

Open the kitchen up. We had to put a steel in to support

the floor.

I wanted something where any colour appliances would go with it,

I know that might sound silly, but that's what women look at,

isn't it? If you put a green top on there,

you're not going to be able to put certain colours with it,

so that's why I just went really for the black and white in here

and I thought, "Well, you can put anything with that."

The bathroom, that was a challenge.

But the builder decided to put the toilet and the bathroom together.

Believe it or not, he made the bathroom a little bit smaller.

-Which was scary.

-Which was scary because we thought,

"Well, it's fairly small anyway," but it's turned out a good size.

But it gave a little bit more room to the third bedroom.

How has all this work impacted on their budget?

We had a very optimistic budget, which was 18 to 20,

and the budget was basically inexperience.

When we're finished tomorrow, we've ended up spending 33.

So do they feel that that overspend will hurt them?

We don't know what it's worth.

We've got an idea.

-Hopefully it will be...

-Keep our fingers crossed.

..saleable.

Get it sold and then off to the auctions for the next one.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

And I'm dead excited about it now, now it's almost finished.

Let's hope there is still reason to be excited

after two local estate agents have seen it

and give those all-important valuations.

Let's start with the agent who saw it before the renovation.

My impressions of the renovation work is that it's really good,

it's very thorough and they've made a very nice job.

It's my first time in this property, it's very welcoming,

very light and airy and you can see that it's finished

to a really good standard.

Kevin and Cynthia plan to sell, and, with that overspend,

their total outlay is 100 grand.

Hmm. Remember, Kevin said they wanted to keep to a total of 90

with the fees. Hope they've not overspent.

OK, let's hear those sales valuations.

If this property was sold on the open market,

sale price would average between £105,000 to £110,000.

In my opinion, the property would achieve

a market value of around £105,000 to £110,000.

Well, we thought it might be worth a little bit more than that.

So we're probably going to advertise it more than that.

And if we don't get it...

..we'll keep it, we'll just rent it.

A small profit of between five and ten grand, minus taxes and fees.

What about rental figures if they decide to keep it?

From the rental point of view,

I would expect the property to achieve

somewhere in the region of £550 to £575 per calendar month.

If it was to be rented out on the open market,

it would achieve an average of £550 to £575 per calendar month.

I think that's more or less what we thought, isn't it?

I think that's good, considering the price

they've given us on the selling price,

I think that's a really good rental price.

At £575 per calendar month,

the couple could achieve a yield of around 7%.

They're going to try and put it on the sales market at £120,000,

and if it doesn't sell, they do have the option to rent it.

So will they keep going with property development?

We'd definitely do another one together.

Yeah. We work together anyway in our other jobs,

so it's not as if we're not used to being under each other's feet.

But on the next one, Cynthia will be doing more.

-Yes.

-And I'll be doing less.

THEY LAUGH

Hopefully.

Time to return to the right royally connected

Kent village of Sutton Valence.

This lot was guided at £130,000 to £135,000.

It might not have been fit for a king,

but the frame of this former barn

was certainly ready for the royal treatment.

It's got planning permission, yes!

Not for a castle, obviously, but for a three-bed house,

which I think is the perfect, perfect dwelling

for this piece of land.

The plans perfectly set out the layout of the property.

However, there were a few structural conditions

the buyer would have to adhere to.

The metal framework had to be kept intact

and a metal roof would need to be fitted

so that the property stuck with its architectural roots.

Undeterred by this was Alan, seen here on the right

with his son, Liam, and brother, Dave.

He bought the plot for 134 grand,

and it sounded like they had the skillset

to sort it out.

He's just come out of his apprenticeship as a carpenter.

-Oh, nice.

-I'm a carpenter.

So, together, with the help of my brother...

-OK.

-..who's a carpenter...

-Is he really?

-Yes.

..we are going to transform this property

into a beautiful three-bedroom

detached timber-framed bungalow.

They hoped to finish this build in nine months

with a budget of £100,000.

We're back three months on to see how they are doing.

Is it me or have we had quite a lot of carpenters today?

Oh, well, let's have some more...

MUSIC: We've Only Just Begun by The Carpenters

# And, yes, we've just begun

# Sharing horizons that are new to us

# Watching the signs along the way

# Talking it over just the two of us

# Working together day to day

# Together... #

Together, this carpenter family have got on with the structural part

of this unusual build.

Over to Alan and Dave.

We had this metal portal frame.

We couldn't put any timber work up

until we calculated where the timber was going

and what metal was in the way, so it had metal windows,

we had to cut those out, and the timbers had to be notched over.

Dave had to cut all the uprights from the gable ends.

Although, really, he's doing it all.

He double checks everything, he's more thorough.

He makes sure everything's level and accurate.

And if I'm not sure, I'll ask him.

But he never asks me. Because he knows.

Well, he hasn't sacked me yet.

Or tell me not to turn up.

Yes, so Dave's here. My son Liam is still here,

and Dave's showing him how to do bits and pieces.

It's not just Liam who is on a learning curve on this project.

Alan and Dave have been learning bricklaying and metalwork.

They're not tackling everything themselves, though,

and their structural engineer's calculations

have meant some changes to their original plans.

We were originally having a cut-and-pitch-style roof,

a traditional, like, hand-cut roof.

But the structural engineer wasn't happy with that

because he was worried about the spread.

So now it's got timber trusses.

It was fun putting it up in the wind!

Yeah. It was a windy day and we actually had...

We did have scaffolding round and we had laid two ladders out,

which were cushioned on the roof,

and the sheets are quite bendy,

and we thought he was going to take off like Superman

and end up in that tree.

But we managed to get him up there and you have to fix one side,

curve it over, and there's a sealant.

-Just a little bit different, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

Just a little bit different.

# I am, I am, I am Superman

# And I can do anything... #

This family team really could and would do anything for this build.

But did they run into any other challenges?

We had a contractor to do the trench,

which is the services for the water and electric.

Unfortunately, the contractor couldn't do our dates we wanted,

so we actually done the trench ourselves.

Dave's son, Chris, we used him

because he's got good skills on the digger,

he dug it all out and we all mucked in and we got the cables in.

It was all inspected by the water board, the electric.

Installing services really can prove to be a challenge for new builds

and can be costly, too.

But did Alan find it ate into his £100,000 budget?

The electric was more than I budgeted for.

The mains water supply is more

because the water mains isn't my side of the road,

it's the opposite side of the lane.

So they've got to dig the road up, close the road,

and I've got to pay for all that, so it's gone over budget,

so I'm up about £60,000 at the moment.

Realistically, with what's left to do,

I'm hoping to come in about £120,000.

-Do I get paid out of it?

-Approximately. Oh, yeah.

No!

Isn't it payment enough

to look at these gorgeous views every day, Dave?

The revised budget of £120,000,

added to the purchase price of 134 grand,

Alan is hoping to bring this property in for £254,000

in four months' time.

Now, let's find out from two local estate agents

if they think this project

is going to be worth all the care and attention.

First, what did they make of the property?

I think he's done a fantastic job,

there's a lot of thought that's gone into the creation of it,

and I love the vaulted ceilings.

Yeah, it's going to be a lovely, lovely property when finished.

I think the work that the guys have carried out so far

has been quite fantastic, actually,

and quite creative, to say the least.

Especially impressed with the tin roof,

wasn't expecting that to be of the standard that it was.

That's all sounding pretty positive, so if Alan decided to sell on,

could he make any profit on his £254,000 spend?

I could see the property, depending on when it's launched,

selling anywhere between 350,000 to 400,000.

On completion, I think the future value of this property

would be in the realms of £325,000 to about £350,000.

Yeah, great. I was looking at the value approximately 300,

so they are both impressive for me.

-Yeah.

-And I'm going to live in it, anyway,

but there's not a lot left in this life to make money on,

so property's always been a good, a good investment

and, so, yeah, it's all good news.

Even better news if Alan sticks to his new budget of 120 grand.

That would give them a potential profit

of £146,000 minus taxes and fees.

But have they enjoyed the experience of working together?

When you wake up in the morning, it's always good to know,

"Oh, I know where I'm going today. Yeah, I'm going to enjoy that,"

so, yeah, great, I would do it again and we've enjoyed it.

-It's been good fun.

-Good fun, yeah, definitely.

-Yeah.

We hope you've enjoyed the show,

and maybe learnt a few lessons along the way.

Yes, perhaps we have inspired you to have a go yourself.

Join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.