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00:00Let's get on with the auction today. 235, 240. Every year tens of thousands of
00:06properties are sold at auction. Meredith Bidder, well done. From modest two-up two-downs
00:12to waterfront mansions. We are throwing the kitchen sink at this now. More and
00:20more first-time buyers are seeing it as their golden ticket onto the property
00:24ladder. But these quick buys are often far from perfect, hiding some nasty
00:34surprises. You haven't been in? No, not yet. Hey, let's go in. I'm Sarah Beeney and I've
00:39been buying, building and transforming homes for 35 years and I'm fascinated by
00:45the world of auctions. In this series I'll be offering a dose of realism. We've got
00:50all these lovely flamey ideas and I'm pouring water on like that. As brave new
00:53owners take their homes from Derraly to Diamond. I will be moving in at the end
00:59of this month. What I'll be moving in too, of course, remains to be seen. And we'll go
01:06behind the scenes of some of the country's biggest auction houses. Great bidding
01:11guys. Perseverance paid off. Discovering whether property auctions are a risk too
01:16far or a great way to get the home of your dreams. I am really proud of myself.
01:23This is my first home. This time from a mansion on the Cornish coast, that is sensational, to a cottage
01:36in North Wales, two couples with challenging properties and everything on the line.
01:43We are spending every last thing that we have. Well, it's grisly
01:48at the moment but it's only up from here, isn't it? And one auction house is hoping
01:54for their biggest ever sale. You always want to start
02:00up with the bank and we've done that. Thank you, everybody, for attending our auction today.
02:08I'm heading to the small village of Flushing on the north side of Falmouth Harbour in Cornwall, where large properties
02:14can go for four or five million pounds.
02:17It's a spectacular spot for this beachfront mansion, which went to auction in a derelict condition.
02:25It was guided at two million pounds and bought by Danielle, a designer and furniture maker, and retired banker Danny.
02:33They've been together five years and have six children between them.
02:38With love at first sight. It was amazing.
02:42For Danielle, it wasn't just Danny she fell for straight away. It was also love at first sight for this
02:48property.
02:49First time I saw this house, I'd have been about 20 years old and I'd just moved down here to
02:56go to university.
02:57This beautiful row of houses and you just think, God, who lives in those? And there's always been this one
03:04house.
03:05I never imagined that I would be one of these people. But when we met and we were looking to
03:12try and find somewhere for both of us to live with the number of children that we've got,
03:16we'd come down here for a walk with the dogs and I'd pointed out this house to Danny.
03:21It was totally derelict. Clearly it wasn't loved. It hasn't been lived in for a long time. And we thought,
03:27what a waste.
03:28And then when we weren't expecting it, an email dropped into the inbox and it was, you might be interested
03:33in this property.
03:35Saw the picture of it and we're just like, no, that's our house. That's our house.
03:39The original Edwardian part of the house was built in 1906, with extensions added either side in the 1950s and
03:481990s.
03:49But the 50s wing was found to have what's called Mundick, a kind of concrete rot local to Cornwall, meaning
03:57that part of the house would have to be pulled down, which Danny and Danielle knew when it went to
04:02auction.
04:03In rounded terms with some auction fees, it was about two and a quarter million pounds. This was certainly less
04:08than we would have gone to had we been forced.
04:10So we came off punching the air triumphantly. It's a lot of money. Now we know quite how much work
04:16it's required. Perhaps we overpaid.
04:18Yeah. Some would say we certainly overpaid. But in that moment, we were super happy. Yeah.
04:25But the dream soon turned into a nightmare. Not only would they lose the 50s wing, after extensive testing, the
04:32original part of the house was found to be structurally unsound, with the easiest auction being to knock it down
04:39and start again.
04:41We went from the kind of supreme high of the auction, having won it, through a dance that probably took
04:48the best part of a year of death by a thousand cuts of losing the dream of the renovation and
04:55realising it.
04:55It's going to be more complicated and dramatically more expensive.
05:01We lost the 50s wing because that had Mundic. The original 1906 part of the house had been damaged too
05:09much by the poor concrete and the moving foundations.
05:13But the part we're sat in now, the turret, was actually built, I think, in 1990.
05:18And we have found that this one part of the house is built on proper foundations.
05:23This is our little saviour, isn't it? Being able to save the turret.
05:27Now, two years since they bought the house, Danny and Danielle are feeling the pressure to get on with it.
05:33There's the emotional yearning because it's been so long and now it's starting to feel real and tangible.
05:40There are financial pressures. We have to build this to make it mortgageable, to take us out of some of
05:46the other financial arrangements we've had to lay on to keep the builders on site.
05:49So far, it's been anything but plain sailing, stacking up more and more costly problems that are endemic to the
05:58Cornish coast.
05:58But they're determined to save what they can and make this into a future-proofed family home.
06:05We seem to be standing in the most amazing spot in terms of the view. That is sensational.
06:12So you knew some of the problems with it and that it was more than a lick of paint everywhere.
06:18Yes. We knew there was a huge amount of work for it. There's no two ways about it.
06:21The house had been made out of a really traditional Cornish material called cob, which is stone, mud, bit of
06:27clay, some lime, all of this stuff.
06:30And actually, it was hiding really well some quite serious structural issues because clay moves that kind of constant movement.
06:37And it reached a place where the contractors who we've got on site were like, actually, we can't work under
06:44this. It's too dangerous.
06:45So we had to let go. But it took a long time because, one, financially, we didn't know where we'd
06:52be able to fund anything more major like a rebuild.
06:55But when we started doing the site investigation and looking into the ground, they did the first pits and found
07:01we're on clay.
07:02So we went down to five metres and the results came back. It's clay.
07:07And then eventually, we went down to nearly 20 metres and they found no stable ground, nothing.
07:14So, hang on, if you were going 20 metres down and still hitting clay, did you go further still?
07:18No, that's where the bedrock is.
07:20So there was a consensus from everybody the only way you can have stable foundations in this location is by
07:26piling down to the bedrock.
07:28You drill massive, great big holes down to solid rock right down in the ground near the earth's core, near
07:36Australia.
07:37Something like that. And then you pour concrete with steel in all the way up.
07:41Exactly. Yeah. We are spending every last thing that we have.
07:46So we are throwing the kitchen sink at this now.
07:49Well, it's grisly at the moment, but it's only up from here, isn't it? This is going to be beautiful.
07:54Yeah. One day.
07:56The property sits 20 metres away from the cliff edge, which has presented more problems.
08:02We knew from the beginning we were going to have to rebuild the seawall.
08:05That was one of the things that wasn't a surprise in terms of the catalogue of budget-sapping necessities.
08:11But you had to build it quicker than you were perhaps expecting.
08:15We did. We had such a big storm that it was shaken so much it peeled away and the face
08:21of the slope collapsed down and the whole thing needed stabilising.
08:25But to do that, we had to build the wall to make it safe to stabilise.
08:29But still, that would have been a massive undertaking and cost a fortune, presumably, that you weren't expecting to spend
08:36initially.
08:37Rounded numbers, about £100,000.
08:39And so was there anything else that you weren't expecting?
08:42Yes, we did have a bat issue.
08:45Bats are a protected species because they eat bugs that would otherwise have to be killed with pesticides.
08:51If found, building work must stop until you can provide alternative accommodation for them.
08:56We've had to build a 50 cubic metre extension to the building. It's huge.
09:01So, huge delay and more costs. A lot more costs, yeah.
09:04And how much does your bat cave cost to build?
09:06We think it cost us about £40,000.
09:10Wow. There were six bats.
09:12So, let's have a look at inside the bit of house that's still standing.
09:15Yes. Come on, then.
09:21This is an amazing room.
09:23And how are you dealing with the windows?
09:25These were put in the 90s.
09:27They are cheap pine and they've lasted like cheap pines.
09:31They've gone.
09:32So, what we're replacing them with is the same windows we're using in the main house.
09:36We found a lovely company to build us some hardwood sash windows.
09:40And they'll be doing these ones here as well.
09:42Even a hardwood is a brave material to use for windows, especially next to the sea.
09:48It's scaring me.
09:49Have you got all the windows coming?
09:51No, we haven't ordered them yet.
09:52We're literally trying to get the order in right now.
09:54Days away.
09:55It's the right time for a conversation.
09:56It's such an exciting project.
09:57I can't wait to see how you get along with it.
10:01Danny and Danielle had a substantial renovation budget of about a million.
10:05But with so many unforeseen expenses already, realistically, it's likely to cost them twice that to rebuild the house to
10:12its full glory.
10:13But having spent so much already, they have no choice but to carry on.
10:18To buy a derelict home on a crumbling cliff face for millions of pounds was certainly risky.
10:24But let's hope that fortune favours the bold.
10:34Coming up, a couple with big ideas but no clear plan.
10:39We need a bit of realism, to be honest.
10:41We could have got ourselves into all end of trouble.
10:49Whether you've got 100,000 or 2 million to spend, buying at auction comes with its risks.
10:55So it pays to do your research to avoid getting stung.
11:00In Cornwall, Danny and Danielle took a huge risk which has so far taken more time and cost more money
11:08than they'd ever imagined when they bought at auction.
11:11They're still waiting on the crucial materials to rebuild their dream home.
11:16We have sadly had quite a significant delay, probably about two months, on getting the main steel structure delivered.
11:21It's been really upsetting actually to have to pause everything, hasn't it?
11:27We can't do anything until we've got this in place.
11:29Yeah.
11:30Meanwhile, they're working on the one remaining part of the house.
11:34Stripping plasterboard so they can re-insulate the walls and ceiling of the turret.
11:38This is really old insulation and if you look over here, it's not actually consistent.
11:44We've got massive gaps where there's nothing at all.
11:47So if we take it off, we can insulate it properly like the rest of the house.
11:52Let's do it.
11:53When insulating, you need to be careful not to leave gaps where the windows meet the walls or between the
11:59roof rafters.
12:00These weak spots are known as a cold bridge.
12:05Broke.
12:08That was cool.
12:11Yeah, I think we'll use the hammer for the rest.
12:13I think the hammer's the way.
12:15But taking off the plasterboard now could create more problems, as behind the fiberglass insulation, the plywood is in worse
12:24condition than they'd expected.
12:25Is that water damage on this thing?
12:27That is water damage and I think that's what we've got to be a little bit cautious about, is not
12:33leaving this more exposed than it already is.
12:38Unfortunately, we're going to have to pause again, which means another delay, but we're used to this now.
12:44It's really frustrating because actually, we've been waiting so long to make this habitable.
12:50My kids are getting older, the whole point is having all this space so we can make this beautiful family
12:55home.
12:56The worry is that actually, they're going to be too old to live here by the time it's finished, so
13:02we've got to get on and get it done.
13:09My next stop is Clangothlan, North Wales, an area of outstanding natural beauty, where a three-bed detached home on
13:17the outskirts of town might go for £200,000 to £300,000.
13:23Nearby is this three-storey detached cottage, built on a hill, the lower floor is partially underground.
13:30It was originally a Victorian cobbler's shop, with the top two floors added a hundred years later.
13:36Now, it belongs to agricultural teacher and mayor of Clangothlan, Alid, who is renovating with his fiancée, Sarah, who works
13:44in the spa industry.
13:46So, we met on Tinder.
13:48Yeah, and three years later, we're here now, trying to finish building a house before we get married.
13:53Me and Alid don't yet live together, so I really need this house to be done so I can see
13:59if I can survive him in a confined space before I tie myself to him legally for the rest of
14:04my life.
14:07I previously did a house renovation and ultimately had to sell that, so I've actually moved back home with my
14:15parents, which is a little bit embarrassing, but hopefully, once we get this sorted, I can move in straight away.
14:24For me, there is such a time crunch on getting this renovation done, because my house that I was living
14:32in was damaged by water.
14:33So, the insurance have put me into alternative accommodation, but the alternative accommodation I only have for the next four
14:41months.
14:41So, for so many multiple reasons, I need this house done ASAP.
14:45ASAP, please.
14:47No pressure.
14:49So, I bought this house at auction two years ago, and it was an awful state, but I felt that
14:55was probably my golden ticket into getting a cheap house.
14:59I virtually spent every penny I had, so I had £105,000, bought the property for £101,000, and the
15:07£4,000 just went on fees and solicitors.
15:11So, it's been a very much start from the ground up again.
15:15The property isn't mortgageable, because basically the state it was in, everything had to be ripped out and start from
15:22scratch.
15:23So, it's been financed basically through my wages coming in and going straight out again.
15:30I knew that there was a lot of work in it, but probably didn't realise there was as much work
15:35involved as we currently are doing now.
15:43I wasn't involved in the buying of this house, but I kind of wish I was, because I wouldn't have
15:47brought this house if I'm perfectly honest with you.
15:49And I think with any auction property, you've kind of got to see beyond what's in front of you, but
15:55initially it was kind of just, wow, what have I done?
15:59With all of the budget for the renovation coming out of their monthly paychecks, I want to make sure Sarah
16:06and Alid are making the most of their hard work.
16:10What are your plans for the house at the moment? Talk me through it.
16:13We're still struggling with the layout a little bit.
16:15What's your current plans for the layout?
16:16So, upstairs is two bedrooms, one with an ensuite and one with just a toilet and a sink.
16:22Downstairs, we're thinking like a third bedroom, come snug.
16:26Do you mean the middle floor?
16:28The middle floor, yeah. The other room meant to be like a dining room.
16:31And then downstairs a master bathroom, kitchen and another kind of living snug area.
16:37It's a really complicated layout, isn't it? Yeah.
16:40Because that's why it went to auction, that's why it was cheap, is because it's three storeys.
16:46One of them is underground because it's on a hill.
16:49And then you've got a third floor, which because it's quite wee, the access takes up quite a lot of
16:55space
16:56because you've got to get stairs going up three storeys.
16:58It's bizarre because if you look at it, it looks like a big house, but none of the rooms are
17:03especially big.
17:04Yeah. And none of them have a very obvious purpose of what they should or shouldn't be.
17:08And that's something that has stalled our progress in some rooms.
17:12Well, let's have a look inside.
17:13Certainly. Absolutely.
17:16So, up here are the two bedrooms, yeah?
17:19Yes, yeah.
17:22This is set to be the guest bedroom.
17:25We've got behind you is where the toilet's going to be in a little sink.
17:28If any of your guests want a shower or a bath, they go two storeys down.
17:32Yeah.
17:33So, if I was you, I would get a shower in there.
17:37Okay. And make it a whole full wet room.
17:39Yeah. It just means you need to line the whole thing with tiling.
17:43And if I was you, I would take the chimney breast out and put a lintel in and take that
17:48out
17:49because it will buy you a lot of extra space.
17:52Yeah.
17:53And you need the extra space.
17:55But, of course, that does have an effect on the floor below, doesn't it?
17:59Yes, yes.
17:59Because that wouldn't be able to use the chimney breast below.
18:02So, next door is a bedroom with a proper ensuite bathroom.
18:06Yes.
18:06That's the master bedroom, yeah.
18:08But it's how to make the most of the space.
18:10Because once you have got a double bed in, I'm worried you will be kind of shuffling to get anywhere.
18:14Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:15So, a bit of a head scratch on that one.
18:17Well, let's go down to the floor below and have a chat about that.
18:20Okay.
18:24So, what's the plan on this floor then?
18:27We had the idea that it might have been a dining room.
18:30However, when we started to think more and more about it, if we're going to plan on having the kitchen
18:35downstairs,
18:37it might not be very flexible of carrying all the dinner upstairs to serve up here.
18:43So, we're still a bit unsure what the layout is going to be.
18:47When I have Christmas with my family, there's like 23 of us.
18:50And I really want to host. I have a huge family.
18:52So, I would love an area for that to be in availability.
18:55Whether this is the room for it, I don't know.
18:57But it is probably the largest room in the house.
18:59I think the fact that you have a big family and you'd like to host 23 people is colouring your
19:05judgement
19:05when it comes to the best layout for this house.
19:08The trouble is, is you've got a floor below.
19:10And you think, oh, I've got a floor below, so what do I do with it?
19:12Oh, maybe I should put a bathroom down there and not put a bathroom upstairs or something.
19:15Yeah, yeah.
19:15I don't know what I should do.
19:16But I actually think, go back to the obvious, which is that this floor is a kitchen diner and a
19:23sitting room.
19:23And I would have this as the sitting room, partly because it's got a lovely big open fireplace.
19:29Yeah.
19:30And partly because it doesn't have a window with that amazing view and that's a better room to be snug
19:35in.
19:36Yeah, okay.
19:37And I would put the kitchen into the room next door, which would be bigger if you took the chimney
19:43breast out.
19:44And then downstairs, I'd have more bedrooms.
19:48Okay.
19:50Sarah and Alid are planning to put their kitchen and guest bathroom in the basement.
19:55But having the living spaces on the middle floor with access to the garden would be a more natural layout.
20:02And adding a shower to the guest bathroom upstairs would be more logical.
20:06Then the basement project can be additional bedrooms when they have more time and money.
20:12We've got all these lovely, flaming ideas and I'm pouring water on our back.
20:16Like a really miserable old...
20:17We need a bit of realism, to be honest.
20:20We could have got ourselves into all end of trouble with work and financially as well.
20:25In reality, you don't have a lot of money to do this and you want to spend it wisely.
20:29The biggest thing for me is getting quickly.
20:31Getting speed, you want to be in it quickly.
20:33Yes.
20:33In that case, you definitely want to do this different arrangement.
20:37These top two floors could be done with Christmas, which is the dream.
20:40Yeah.
20:44Sarah and Alid have definitely got their work cut out here.
20:46But I think they've sort of cracked on with doing work without really sitting down and making an overall plan.
20:55Because it is quite complicated, the layout of this house.
20:58And the truth is you can't fit a big house into a small one.
21:01And that's currently what they're trying to do.
21:05She basically took everything that we planned and just tore up and said,
21:09actually, no, which isn't a bad thing.
21:11And we're definitely not upset about it.
21:12Yeah.
21:12We're glad that someone kind of showed us the error of our ways before we put too much time and
21:17money into it.
21:18But I do feel a little bit like, back to the drawing board, perhaps.
21:22So, yeah.
21:23There were some big kind of suggestions.
21:25And I'm just kind of looking and going, I've just plastered that.
21:29Knock it all down again.
21:37From starter flats to stately homes, both buyers and sellers are attracted to the speed of the sales at auction.
21:45Robinson and Hall auctions have been going for over 130 years.
21:49Today, their auction in Milton Keynes is set to be their biggest yet.
21:54With starting prices ranging from £10,000 to over a million.
22:00Lee Jackson is in charge of listing the properties for the auction.
22:04Covering nine counties today, so we should see a good mix of in-room bidding as well as online bidding.
22:10And we are expecting this to be, fingers crossed, our biggest auction fraternity.
22:16This is freehold vacant amenity land, about half an acre.
22:21Just £10,000. Start me then at £10,000. Start it.
22:24The auction house charges the seller a small percentage of the final sale.
22:28So it's in their interest to get the best price.
22:32One of their techniques is to order the lots to generate maximum bus in the room.
22:36Sold at £160,000.
22:38What a fantastic start. Guided at £10,000.
22:41Sold at £160,000.
22:44Fantastic result.
22:45You always want to start with a bang, and we've done that.
22:48Let's hope we keep them in.
22:50One of today's highly anticipated properties is Lot 23, a two-bed house in Sandy, Wokingham.
22:57Lot 23 is on for £150,000, is the guide price.
23:01But we are expecting that to be very popular in the bidding.
23:04Someone would have to spend quite a bit of money on that to be refurbished.
23:09The seller is retired aircraft manufacturer Colin, selling on behalf of his late brother John.
23:16One of the estate agents said, oh, it's a bit of a mess.
23:19If you don't want to empty it, you can actually go to auction and just sell it as seen.
23:25And we thought, oh, that's a good option, because at £75,000, we don't want to be good up and
23:30down stairs moving furniture.
23:33The auctioneers said, if I was you, I'd start putting it in at £150,000, because then you'll get lots
23:40of people interested.
23:42They estimated it between £200,000 and £220,000.
23:46So we thought, you know, if it reaches that auction, we'll be well happy.
23:53The lower guide price is often advised by the auction house, particularly if the property needs a lot of work.
24:00This will attract buyers who see the development potential.
24:04And lot number 23, freehold vacant, semi-detached house, two-bed house with garage and gardens.
24:10We've got a lot of activity on this one.
24:13And lot number 23.
24:14So we're hoping for a good sale.
24:15I think there could be quite a few people in the room for this.
24:17Well, this is John's house, just coming up for auction.
24:20Close to the railway station.
24:22One here for improvement again.
24:24Hopefully it'll go well.
24:26Guided £150,000.
24:28He'll start me then.
24:29This one, £150,000.
24:30£150,000.
24:31£150,000.
24:31£150,000.
24:32£160,000.
24:33£165,000.
24:34£170,000.
24:34£170,000.
24:35£180,000.
24:37Oh, it's gone up very quick.
24:39£195,000 at the back.
24:41£205,000.
24:42£210,000.
24:43We're looking for £230,000 now.
24:44New hand here on the right-hand side.
24:46£230,000.
24:46£235,000.
24:47That's brilliant.
24:48£230,000.
24:49I'm amazed.
24:50£235,000, £240,000.
24:52He nods.
24:53£245,000.
24:53At £246,000 for the first time.
24:57Second time at £246,000.
24:59Third and final time.
24:59Are we done?
25:01Sold for £246,000.
25:03That's a brilliant, brilliant price.
25:07Local estate agents think that once modernised, the house could be worth up to £300,000.
25:14Today we sold 76% of the lots that we offered and we raised over £6 million for our sellers.
25:26Coming up, an impulsive purchase that's left a couple drowning in red tape.
25:31It's a long way up and out to get back out of it if you need to get out.
25:35Hence why I need some doors in it.
25:46In Cornwall, Danny and Danielle were forced to knock down two thirds of their house.
25:52Finally, after a string of unexpected costs and delays, something is going up rather than coming down.
25:59The steels, which will form the structure of the new building.
26:03It's such a relief to finally have everything on site.
26:08It's been such a long journey from the design point, the manufacturing, getting the materials into the county.
26:16It's here, it's actually happening.
26:19I actually feel like I could cry with happiness.
26:23OK, I think this is the first bit of steel about to be lifted into place.
26:33Apparently, they're going to start building from one side of the building all the way to the top.
26:38And then complete it and bring it across to this side.
26:41Because it is genuinely like a giant Meccano set.
26:44Everything has to be done in the correct order, connecting the right joints at the right time.
26:57That's the plan they're working off.
26:59And every single one of these steels has a tiny code scribed into it.
27:05And they literally are going to build it like a Lego set.
27:07The bit they're starting on now, this bit over here.
27:12How exciting is that?
27:17Over three floors, the design replicates many of the original features like the curved bay windows.
27:23With modern upgrades including a new double garage, a space for a lift and a spectacular south-facing balcony on
27:31the first floor.
27:33Two years, four months from buying the place.
27:36And our hearts are just fluttering because now it's go, go, go.
27:39The rebuild starts now.
27:44The steels are made locally.
27:46It's about half an hour's drive from here.
27:48We've visited their factory to see the sparks flying everywhere.
27:51The design time took forever.
27:54Once that was done, they made them in about four weeks.
27:57Cost about £60,000 all in.
27:59It's a lot of steel.
28:00And if it holds the building up, that's money well spent.
28:04These guys are going to get the whole steel frame up this week.
28:07Four days, they reckon.
28:09It's crazy.
28:17End of the first day.
28:19It's gone really well.
28:20Look, we've got, I think that must be nearly a quarter of the building up.
28:25The only thing is, there are so many moving parts here, so many big components, so many different contractors.
28:32We've just got to hope nothing goes wrong.
28:35Because if one thing happens, the whole thing gets pushed back.
28:40Can't have that again.
28:44Property auctions are a way of sometimes finding interesting buildings that wouldn't normally be on the open market.
28:51You can pick up a bargain, but you can also get your fingers badly burnt.
28:57Buildings like former churches, military bunkers, or even decommissioned water towers.
29:03There were hundreds up and down the country until the late 1990s.
29:07Many have been sold off and some converted into quirky homes or bed and breakfasts.
29:13This one sits on the Leicestershire Warwickshire border and was bought at auction five months ago by husband and wife,
29:20Matt and Lauren, who own a rum distillery.
29:24Having outgrown their current site, they were looking for a bigger location, which didn't cost a fortune, when Matt found
29:31a local water tower up for auction.
29:34He jumped in at the guide price of 35,000 as soon as it went live.
29:39And won.
29:41Going once, going twice, and yet it was ours for the guide price.
29:45So this is it.
29:47So this is our water tower, or what is a water tower at the minute, and will hopefully be a
29:53distillery in the future.
29:55The only way in it at the minute is to get in via the three lots of ladders on the
29:59outside, then the same amount of ladders back down to get into the bottom of it on the inside.
30:07You coming up?
30:10Not a chance.
30:12No.
30:12No.
30:13My feet are staying firmly on the ground down here.
30:20So the plans up here in the first instance are just to kind of make it safe and whatnot.
30:25But long term, it would be great to have like a terrace on the top here.
30:28So you can come up here, you know, sip a rum, and just kind of look off into the countryside.
30:34To make their distillery dream a reality, they need the permission of the local planning authority,
30:39who rejected their initial application, known as a pre-app, to do any kind of development on the site.
30:47I'm keen to know how much of the planning permission history Matt and Lauren knew before diving in.
30:52How much have you spent on consultants so far?
30:55Probably about 5k on fees at the minute.
30:58Okay.
30:59Yeah, just to get to the pre-app stage.
31:00The truth is this is going to take a really, really long time and cost an awful lot of money
31:07to get planning if you get planning.
31:09Correct.
31:09Yes.
31:10When you bought it, did you think about the possibility that you might not be able to get planning?
31:14We did, yeah.
31:15I mean, it's always a risk, isn't it?
31:16Saying that, the guy that bought it before us bought it for 160k from Orange Communications or Vodafone,
31:21I can't remember which, and got refused for residential.
31:24So he'd already taken a big sort of slap on the wrists for his chances on it.
31:28So he bought it for 160,000, spent all the money trying to get residential permission, failed and sold it
31:35for 35,000.
31:36Correct.
31:36Alarm bells, alarm bells, alarm bells, because if somebody is prepared to walk away having lost £125,000,
31:44having spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to get permission and failed,
31:49then it's a tiny bit toxic, the whole project.
31:53Potentially.
31:53You went in with your eyes open.
31:55Potentially.
31:55We did, yeah, we did.
31:56That's why we got it, you know, we got it because it had got a history of problems.
31:58We get the planning through, then we've bought ourselves the new distillery building for, you know,
32:02a song that will be the home for the business for the foreseeable future.
32:06And if not, you've got a really nice viewing platform.
32:09Exactly.
32:10Yeah.
32:11This water tower sold for £35,000 in auction for a very good reason,
32:15and that is because it came with a really big question mark over its planning status.
32:21But even though they knew it might be problematic, I think it's been more problematic than they would have hoped.
32:26So fingers crossed things start going their way.
32:30In North Wales, Alid and Sarah bought their house for £100,000,
32:34but its condition might be worse than they'd first thought,
32:38as is often the case with auction properties.
32:42So, obviously this is the port to the house.
32:45It's not in the best of house at the moment,
32:48and it's just started to become a bit dangerous.
32:51There's lots wrong with it structurally.
32:53So we can see down the side here, it's been patched.
32:58It's not actually tied into the house, so it's been patched over the years.
33:03And as you can see, they did a wonderful engineered job by stuffing a load of old newspaper and cementing
33:09over the top.
33:09Hopefully we'll have a look and see if we can find the date on the newspaper and find out when
33:12it was done.
33:16August the 21st, 1970.
33:19Not a recognised building product, really.
33:22They prefer, like, actual cement and bricks, I think.
33:25So you can see it's actually coming away from the house,
33:28and it is getting progressively worse.
33:29So, unfortunately, it needs to come down.
33:35First thing we're going to take off is the ridge tiles,
33:37then we'll take the slates off, the gutters,
33:40and work our way down the barge boards and things like that.
33:42So that's the plan anyway.
33:44So I'm quite excited to let out some pent-up aggression on this porch, to be honest.
34:00OK.
34:01It looks better already, I think.
34:04Yeah, it's going to let an awful lot of light in there,
34:06because it was a bit like a little tunnel before, wasn't it?
34:08Oh, my God, that is so bad.
34:10Have you seen how bad that... What did you even call that?
34:12That looks terrible.
34:13Yeah, I knew that was there, because I'd seen it,
34:16but I didn't realise quite how bad this one was here.
34:19So it's probably good that it's come down,
34:21so we can properly see what's going on.
34:23So another job to add to the list, then?
34:25Yeah, another job.
34:26That is so bad, though.
34:28Like, that needs fixing ASAP.
34:30It's going to cost, I don't know, £1,000, £1,500 to get it fixed.
34:34So, yeah, there's money we haven't really got
34:37and time we haven't got,
34:38but we're going to have to sort of find money and time somewhere.
34:43Right.
34:43I'll push here, you push there.
34:45I'll push here.
34:45Are you ready?
34:46Oh, Christ!
34:48Whoa!
34:51Oh, OK, well...
34:52That worked quite well.
34:54Thanks.
34:56Whoa!
34:58Why is it going?
35:00Oh!
35:01We have just realised that now we can't get back in the house,
35:06so...
35:07And we've left the car keys inside.
35:08Yeah.
35:08So we were planning to do the cleaning permission another day,
35:11but it looks like we've elongated our work day by...
35:14Several hours.
35:15Yeah, several hours.
35:16So, um, not a lot of foresight went into that one.
35:19Oh, crikey!
35:21Oh!
35:24Whoa!
35:25That's what I was worried about.
35:26Porch down.
35:27Alid and Sarah have sent me an update.
35:30We have taken it down the porch!
35:33So now the porch is down,
35:34it's even more apparent that there's movement on the front of the house.
35:38So you can see there's signs of movement here,
35:41there's a crack there.
35:42This area here has been rebuilt and repointed in the past.
35:48So I would say this needs monitoring,
35:51but over a 12-month period,
35:52so you've got the dry and the wet part of the year
35:56before doing anything to make sure that whatever you do
35:59is a permanent solution.
36:00Here is the room with no name at the moment,
36:04the snug-slash-living room.
36:06So the room next door is just as it was the last time you left
36:09and plans are remaining the same.
36:11To make it into a dining room, we still think.
36:14I still don't think they've resolved the layout at all
36:17with this building.
36:18The basement on this house is a much bigger job
36:21than they think it is,
36:22and I think it's going to involve some underpinning
36:24of that front wall.
36:26So if I was them, I'd stick a temporary kitchen
36:29into one of the first-floor rooms so they can move in.
36:33Coming up, can Alid and Sarah get back on track and finally move in?
36:38Let's see, we've been here working through Christmas,
36:41freezing our little tootsies off.
36:54In North Wales, Alid and Sarah have had some reassuring news.
36:58So there was an initial thought that it might have been subsidence
37:02and there was the worry we may have to underpin the house.
37:06But we've had a structural engineer come here and a stonemason
37:08and thankfully it's not that because that costs thousands of pounds
37:12for a couple of square feet each time.
37:14So we're going to jack the archway up and we're going to use slate inserts
37:19to pack the archway out and repoint it afterwards.
37:22But there's no getting round the fact that the basement is a big job
37:26and having decided to stick to the plan of putting the kitchen down there,
37:30Alid and Sarah are working on a temporary solution upstairs.
37:35Eventually this is going to be a guest bedroom,
37:38but because the top two rooms are the only rooms that are kind of liveable
37:41in a small amount of time, this is going to be everything but the bedroom.
37:45Eating, dining room, like an office, lounge.
37:50So we've been here working through Christmas, freezing our little tootsies off.
37:54We haven't managed to get the boiler fitted yet.
37:58It's super cold, it's been interesting working in such a cold environment.
38:06But you've got to do what you've got to do.
38:09So after you pick these tiles, I wanted something a bit different,
38:12a bit more modern, a bit more contemporary, something textured.
38:15So I'm really, really happy with these.
38:17It costs about $360 for all of these tiles
38:20and you might be able to see that they are really big tiles.
38:23So it didn't take too long to get them up really.
38:28Well done gorgeous, well done.
38:30We're getting there.
38:38In Cornwall, since knocking down most of their property,
38:42Danny and Danielle are thinking through every detail
38:45to ensure they future-proof their new home.
38:48Something really exciting has just arrived on site.
38:51After talking to Sarah, we had to do a little bit of head scratching
38:56about our windows.
38:58Sarah's advice was coastal location, windows will get shredded by the situation
39:03if you don't have highly durable windows.
39:06And our end choices reflected that advice and we're really, really happy.
39:09These come from a Norwegian company and they're designed to be placed into coastal areas
39:16that are really exposed.
39:17Here you go.
39:19So on the outside, they are powder-coated aluminium, which is the thing I think that gives it the 60
39:26-year guarantee.
39:27But on the inside, I don't know if I lift this up here, the inside it's still traditionally shaped and
39:37carved wood.
39:37So, best of both worlds.
39:40Every single piece of glazing is triple glazed.
39:42It's one of the silver linings of having to rebuild so much of the house
39:45is going to be incredibly eco and well insulated.
39:48And having triple glazing was an important part of that equation.
39:56When Mayor of Clan Goughlen, Alid, bought his three-storey cottage on a hill for £100,000 at auction,
40:03he had no idea how much work was in store.
40:07But for him and fiancé Sarah, time was of the essence.
40:12I really need this house to be done so I can see if I can survive him in a confined
40:17space
40:18before I tie myself to him legally for the rest of my life.
40:21Despite scarce funds and some unforeseen difficulties...
40:25I didn't realise quite how bad this one was here, so...
40:29..they've created the bedroom they've been dreaming of for so long.
40:36We absolutely love it. I feel like it wasn't that long ago.
40:38I can literally remember the yellow stained walls.
40:41So this is the biggest transformation.
40:45With cosy carpets, brass detailing and a fireplace
40:49in keeping with their chosen farmhouse style.
40:52It's those little steps like you're taking every single day
40:55and eventually it gets to something like this.
40:56So it feels really, really good.
41:01My favourite aspect of this room is the ensuite.
41:05Sarah's biggest concern when we first got the house
41:07was the complete lack of storage space.
41:09We've had to try and innovate as much as we can.
41:11So when I was building the ensuite,
41:14I decided to fit a sliding door which saved that floor space.
41:17Also, I built a cupboard up above it.
41:20So any things like any big bulky items like suitcases put up there.
41:25I can have a set of doors to go in the front so we can close all that away.
41:28I love the shower as well and the tiles.
41:31Their vision to have a big kitchen in the basement
41:33is a costly and time-consuming project.
41:36So they've concentrated their resources on the top floor
41:39in order to move in as soon as possible.
41:42And have done everything from plastering
41:44to putting in new floors themselves.
41:47So this is a guest bedroom or the second bedroom
41:51and we're kind of utilising this at the moment as kind of a living area.
41:54So we've got some cooking facilities
41:56and somewhere we can just kind of chill out
41:58and hovel around the fire and try and keep warm.
42:02So we're so excited to have this room
42:03because after almost four years being together,
42:06we can now finally actually live together.
42:08And yes, okay, the house isn't done,
42:10but having these top two rooms done,
42:12somewhere we can sleep, somewhere we can have a recreational area,
42:15it means finally we can be under one roof,
42:17which is just... feels amazing really, yeah.
42:20They may still have a way to go,
42:22but their small budget is stretching far.
42:26So, so far the projects have cost me around about £10,000.
42:29A large portion of that is actually with the first fix of the electrics
42:33on the top two floors, which is around £4,500.
42:37A lot of the other work we've been doing ourselves, which is...
42:40Well, mainly you. I don't want to take too much credit, I'll be honest.
42:43Which has saved us an awful lot of money.
42:45So the external work to the house is booked in for spring, summer time.
42:50Just due to the nature of the lime using the building,
42:52it doesn't like the cold weather,
42:53especially what we're having at the moment.
42:55So it's booked in for the future and it will be getting fixed.
42:58So this time next year, hopefully the house is done
43:01after years of being promised it would be.
43:03And then we're going to be officially married, Mr and Mrs,
43:06and hopefully, I'm hoping, one of the living rooms
43:09might be turned into a nursery or something like that.
43:17In the village of Flushing, Cornwall, Danny and Danielle bought this crumbling mansion
43:23they'd loved for years for £2.25 million at auction.
43:28And there's always been this one house.
43:31But they suffered setback after setback, spiralling costs
43:35and the heartbreaking realisation that most of the house
43:39would need to be demolished and rebuilt.
43:41We are spending every last thing that we have.
43:45After disappointment, delays and much determination,
43:48they finally have the shell of their brand new house.
43:55It feels amazing to have some walls up now
43:58because only a few months ago there was nothing here
44:01and now the spaces are starting to take shape.
44:05Do you realise that actually this opening here is actually going to be the size of the doors
44:11and the windows around it?
44:12The whole opening. That's huge.
44:13And they're going to be that enormous.
44:15That's huge.
44:16The new house has kept the size, dimensions and ceiling height of the original
44:20with many of the same features like the curved bay window.
44:25And look at that view.
44:28It's been a journey of incredible ups and downs
44:31but I wouldn't rewind and change it because the end game is made all worth it.
44:36Yeah.
44:37And the water side of the house is getting an upgrade.
44:40We're stood on probably the best addition we could have put on this house.
44:44Yeah, I agree.
44:45Which is the balcony.
44:47We wanted to be able to make the most of the view.
44:49The turret is being properly insulated, ready for their weatherproof triple glazed windows.
44:56The turret was an attractive and original feature when we first saw the house.
45:00We fell in love with and we're very delighted this part of the building lives on in its original glory.
45:05This house being in a property auction has been a godsend because if it hadn't have gone to auction,
45:10we wouldn't have been able to buy this on the open market.
45:14And if it hadn't been derelict, I think it would have been out of our price reach anyway.
45:19So we had euphoria winning it at auction.
45:22We've had two and a half years since of rollercoaster.
45:27We've tried to enjoy the experience and be positive throughout.
45:29Reality is there's been a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, financial concern.
45:34We've just gone through the million pound mark of total spend,
45:38everything from rebuilding seawalls to this cliff we're standing on,
45:41to everything that we've done so far.
45:44The children are so excited. They can't wait to get here.
45:48It's going to be wonderful. They're as excited about it as we are.
45:51It's taken a lot of work, but it's ours and it's going to be perfect.
46:05Next time, two couples who spent more than they planned at auction take on all the work themselves.
46:13A million pound purchase hides a shocking surprise.
46:17The wall could collapse.
46:19And a family desperate to move in.
46:22Heather's invited all the family around for Christmas Day.
46:24So, yeah, we need to be in.
46:31The delights of the rails round the French Riviera.
46:35Paul Merton's back in the cabin and driving amazing trains.
46:38Be here tomorrow at eight.
46:40The kit gets more modern.
46:42Next from weapons to cars.
46:44We're checking out tech with some serious bite.
46:47Grayton Perry has seen the future.
46:49character fromitheater.
46:57See you dan.
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