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00:00Hello and welcome to the show. Now when it comes to finding unusual and unique
00:04properties there's no better place than the auction house and with property
00:08auctions growing in popularity more and more people are realizing that there are
00:13hidden gems to be found in this way. Who knows, you might find your diamond in the
00:18rough when you buy a home under the hammer.
00:46People who regularly buy properties at auction are savvy when it comes to the
00:50do's and don'ts. Now one of the biggest do's is to read the legal pack because
00:55if you don't you could be in for some nasty surprises. Fingers crossed today's
01:00buyers did their research. Here's what they bid for.
01:05I need to think outside the box at a lot in Hampshire. You really have to use your
01:10imagination to just kind of think about what this could be. This Lancashire
01:16property has Martell charmed. I have to say I love the character you've got
01:21original Victorian features. And in Cornwall Martin's lot has the potential to
01:28take your breath away. Now that's more like it! Wow! All these properties have been
01:37sold at auction and we'll find out who bought them and what they paid for them
01:41when they went under the hammer. Six miles north of Portsmouth is the town of
01:50Waterlooville named after a pub that stood in the town centre where sailors
01:54returning from the Battle of Waterloo went to celebrate their victory.
02:06Well there's no sign of the coast from the property I'm here to see today and there
02:10aren't any sailors around either. But one thing I can tell you is it is huge! This
02:16is a former community and children's care centre that had a guide price of £295,000. But what
02:23would you do with it and what lies behind these walls? Well there's only one way to
02:27find out. Let's have a look inside. Well here we are. So there is this initial
02:34little vestibule area and then it opens up into a larger space. Now I think this
02:40was probably the reception area of the building previously. Plenty of clothes, there's
02:45a desk here behind us. You know it's quite a big airy space. The plasterwork on the
02:51walls looks okay. I think the structure, the bones of this building so far are pretty
02:56good. One question though, where to go next? A plethora of doors. So many options I
03:03think. Let's have a look and see what's through here.
03:08Where we turn another corner and we're in another corridor. It seems like a bit of a
03:13maze. If you don't like puzzles you might not like this. But what I love about this
03:17place is there is still so much light coming in from lots of the rooms. So here we have
03:22what I think would have been a health room, or so it says on the door. There's a small
03:26kitchenette here leading through into another big, bright, spacious room. These windows have
03:34most certainly seen better days. So these would all need to be replaced. You've got this
03:39kind of school-esque lighting with these fluorescent lights in the ceiling. So there's a lot to you
03:44need to be changed, whatever you want to turn it into really. And I think the hardest thing
03:49about this place for me is you really have to use your imagination to just kind of think
03:54about what this could be if you were to give it another life. One thing is certain, there's
03:59a lot more of it to explore, so I'm going to continue with the maze.
04:03Keep on moving on. Some things are good to last. Just keep on moving.
04:10With over 60 rooms and nearly 600 square metres in area, this former children's centre has
04:16a lot to offer. And a lot to see. On all levels. Well, I've climbed the stairs, we're now on
04:25the
04:25first floor. Very similar to downstairs, really. Lots of rooms. They're all quite light. Some
04:31of them are small, some of them are big. Some of them, whoa, like this one, are absolutely
04:36gargantuan. This is a huge space. Lots of windows in every aspect. So again, there's lots of light
04:42coming in. But for me, the one thing that I'm really noticing in here is this huge support. Now,
04:50some of the walls in this building are stud walls, so it would be very easy to just take
04:56them out and you could turn it into one big space. However, with structures like this that
05:01are supporting the building, the floors and the roof, you can't really take that out. But walls like
05:06this, much easier to remove. So if you wanted to turn this into one space, it wouldn't be quite as
05:13straightforward. But that said, with a space that's this huge, like this room, you could put some walls
05:18up in here. And in that instance, something like that wouldn't be as much of a problem.
05:24It's quite tricky to grasp the potential of a lot this size. The best way to see what this property
05:30has to offer is to take the partitions out and strip it back to the structural walls.
05:35But to get a good idea of what the options are for this building, it's time to step outside.
05:42You know, the inside of this property really is a rabbit warren. Whereas on the outside, you can
05:48truly appreciate the scale of it. It is a big building. We also have plenty of parking. Now,
05:56the big question is, what do you do with something like this? Yes, it could be used as a commercial
06:00property or maybe a community centre as it once was. But I'm thinking this could be converted into
06:08either lots of apartments or maybe some townhouses within this space. You could keep the building and
06:15convert what's already there or bring it down and build something else here. But this has good bones.
06:20So I really think you could keep this. However, whatever one would decide to do with this space
06:25would depend on what planning permission you would get. The planning department will hold the key,
06:33but a large unoccupied building in a residential area with lots of parking, you'd think there would
06:38be a good chance that flats or houses might get the green light. What does a local estate agent think
06:48would be the way forward for this building guided at £295,000?
06:54My advice would be to convert it into flats. You could convert it into houses, but I think
06:59you'd lose the structure in the space and it'd probably be more costly. We would expect you to get
07:04around eight to ten flats out of this property depending on the size and if you were doing one or
07:09two
07:09bedroom properties. He also thinks an office setup could be possible, but being situated in a residential
07:16area away from other commercial properties makes that option much less likely and much less cost
07:22effective. So what kind of numbers could you see if it was converted into flats? A one bedroom flat would
07:29look to achieve £125,000. A two bedroom flat would look to achieve £150,000. If you're looking to rent
07:37this out,
07:37you'd look to get a return of £750,000 per calendar month on a one bedroom, £850,000 a month
07:45for a two bedroom. Even ten one bed flats could generate £1.2 million in sales with a total annual
07:54rental
07:54income of £90,000. The build costs would be high, but the rewards could be too.
08:04This property is in a class of its own. So much space and so much potential if you can get
08:11the
08:11right planning permission. So let's find out who was ready to take on the challenge when it went under
08:16the hammer. This lot was part of a remote auction with bids taking place online. £1,000. Sold.
08:29Spot on the £295,000 guide price. The building was bought by Mark. He runs a property business
08:36alongside his wife, Karen. But today he's joined by his lettings manager Lorraine. We've met him before
08:43when he transformed a former care home into a family home for his daughter, also in Waterlooville.
08:49So what does he have planned for his latest venture?
08:54Mark, Lorraine, hello both. Hello dude. Lovely to see you. Mark, we have seen you on Homes
08:59Under the Hammer before, so welcome back. Thank you very much. Let's talk about this place. I mean,
09:04what was the appeal? This place is like a maze, but it's huge. It is very large. There is over
09:1168
09:13rooms in this property and immense potential, as we say. So it's got plenty of rooms, plenty of space.
09:19What's the plan then, Mark? We've got a couple of fallback plans. We're fairly experienced in doing this.
09:25We've just finished a local build of 12 flats, so this will go to between 10 and 18 flats.
09:30Subject planning, subject to the build type. But yeah, so we're early doors, but we'll get a minimum of 10
09:35flats out of this.
09:36And are you going to keep these in building, or are you going to take it down and then rebuild
09:40something here?
09:41It lends itself to a variety of different things, I think. So it will depend on our consultation with
09:47planners and obviously budgets and things like that. Yeah, and of course planning will be a big
09:53thing for a building like this, changing its use, changing its purpose. Any concerns on that front?
09:58I'm not really. We're in a very large housing area near to Portsmouth, so I don't think there'll be any
10:04issues of getting housing. It's just knowing how much and viability really. And I think we'll be going
10:08through the planning process for at least six months before we start the work.
10:11Yeah. Mark, what's your background as far as property development is concerned?
10:16I've been involved in property for 25 years. We have a portfolio of about 100 properties,
10:20about 30 commercials, 70 residentials, and we've probably got about eight live development sites,
10:26this being one of them at the moment. So we're busy developing, but the main portfolio is rental
10:30income from residential and commercial properties. So this is all very familiar to you then?
10:35Yes, nothing phases me. This is very run-of-the-mill sort of stuff. So we'll push the boundaries a
10:41bit
10:41and we'll try and achieve more than our minimum. But yeah, but it'll also be enjoyable.
10:45I can just see this being lots of great apartments or flats, because it's quite green around here,
10:51isn't it? Yeah, yeah.
10:52It needs a lot of work to achieve that. Who's going to do that work?
10:56We've got contractors we use. We bring outside contractors. We've also got a very small team of
11:01builders that we employ. So it depends on the amount of work we do, whether we outside contract
11:07it or use our own in-house team. Either of you getting your hands dirty at all?
11:12A million percent. Yeah, I love a bit of rubbish clearance, love a bit of demo.
11:16Oh, I love that part. Always. We've got our pens out at the moment on the existing plans,
11:20kind of trying to work out where the existing structure lends itself to, you know, using what
11:25we've got really, and so to keep costs down. Lorraine, it's quite hard to tell at the moment
11:30what these flats will look like, but do you have a vision? How big will they be? What will they
11:34look
11:34like? We're thinking initially there'll be two bedroom units. So they will be over, certainly over
11:4060 square metres each. And they'll be, just like all of our other properties, really nice spec.
11:47Yeah, perfect for the rental market. Nice. Do you have a time scale and budget in mind?
11:52I think our estimated time scale is a minimum of 18 months from today. And our budget,
11:59the minimum budget is around 600k. Our maximum is about 1.2, subject to the minimum of 10 flats,
12:05subject to 18 or 20 flats if we can achieve that. Wow. I've got to be honest, I find buildings
12:12like
12:12this so interesting, especially when, you know, the plan is, the dream is to turn them into something
12:17completely different to what stands already. So both, I'm very excited. Fingers crossed,
12:23it all goes to plan, to budget, and that it'll be on time. Thank you very much. Thank you both.
12:29Oh, I love chatting to Mark and Lorraine. You know, they clearly have a plan for this place,
12:34up to 18 self-contained units. But of course, that all depends on whether or not they'll get planning
12:40permission. You can find out how they get on later on in the show. Now we're off to Lancashire and
12:52the
12:52seaside town of Morecambe, home to two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury.
12:58And back in the summer of 2023, Martell was in town to find a knockout auction property.
13:05I'm in the Victorian seaside town of Morecambe and what a treat on a sunny day to be right here
13:13on
13:13the promenade. It really is stunning. Now, the property I'm here to see, here it is. It's a mid-terrace
13:20which has been split into three flats and came with a guide price of £150,000. Let's go look.
13:30OK, so down there is the basement flat, which I'll come to. But first up, let's go through the main
13:36entrance.
13:40Inside. Well, this is your communal area that leads off into the ground floor flat and then
13:48upstairs to the upper flat. I have to say I love the character. You've got original Victorian features,
13:55like the picture reel, the cornicing. Yes, it needs money spent on it, but what money can't buy
14:02are those original features.
14:06The two top floors contained a masonette flat, but Martell started in the two-bed ground floor flat.
14:14So at the back of this ground floor flat, you have a small, very tired bathroom and you have a
14:21double
14:21bedroom. Then towards the front half, what do we have? We've got a very dark kitchen that's also
14:27very small with no natural light coming in, really not ideal. And then you have a narrow,
14:33maybe at a push, double bedroom. Then you come through and the light floods into this huge,
14:42grand room. And again, you've got some original features, like the picture rails, like the
14:47cornicing and even a ceiling rose. It does need love. It does need attention and some money spent
14:55on it. But when you consider that bay window, the size of it and the view of Morecambe Bay,
15:03those problems don't really matter.
15:10The ground floor flat wasn't in bad condition, but it would need the full works to get it looking
15:15its best. Next on Martell's list was upstairs and the four bedroom masonette.
15:22At the back of this upper flat, you have an awkwardly shaped bedroom. Then you have a pretty
15:27small, quite cramped bathroom. You need a new bathroom suite in there for sure.
15:32And then you have a kitchen, which, yes, it's tired. You need to start again,
15:37give it the wow factor, but what a size. You think flat and you think one floor,
15:41but this is actually a masonette. So there are more rooms up there, which I'll come to soon.
15:46And then you have this, another gem in the crown, just like you had that huge sitting area downstairs.
15:55You have this upstairs and you've got some original features again, with the ceiling roses
16:00and the corners end. Yes, there's a lot to do, but it will be so worth putting your heart into
16:06this.
16:14On the second floor of the upper flat, again, you've got those amazing elevated views,
16:19which just get better and better. You've also got a single bedroom and you've got two fantastic sizes
16:25of double bedrooms. And you've got a WC with basins. So the plumbing's in place. You could think about
16:35making this floor into a self-contained flat. There's certainly enough room for a one bed. But me,
16:41I just love that masonette set up over two floors. But the great thing is you really do have options.
16:52Last but not least, there was a two bedroom basement flat for Martell to inspect.
16:58Having scouters around the basement flats, you've got a similar layout to the other flats where you have
17:04a small bathroom. Everything's tired and a couple of bedrooms. Then you come into a reception stroke
17:11kitchen area. Now, down here, it feels damp. It looks damp. It smells damp. What you don't have is the
17:19grandness that you have upstairs and the lights and the views. But sort this out. Sort out the damp
17:24issues. Make it light and bright. And you have, almost as a garden, that beach. So it's going to be
17:31fantastic.
17:34Yes, there may have been some damp to contend with, but given its excellent location,
17:39this building looked like a renovator's dream. But what would a local estate agent make of this
17:45lot guided at £150,000? We asked one along for his thoughts and valuations.
17:53The general condition is needing it work throughout. Each of the flats needs new kitchens, bathrooms.
18:00You certainly need to redecorate and carpet throughout. Outside, there's a small rear yard area and a garden
18:07frontage. The garden frontage faces onto the promenade. However, both areas do need a good tidy up.
18:15If the building was to be renovated, retaining its existing layout as three separate flats,
18:21how much did the agent think they could achieve on the sales market?
18:24My sales valuations for these flats once renovated would be the basement flat at £110,000,
18:32the ground floor flat at £125,000, and the upper floor masonette at £160,000.
18:41And if the buyer chose to rent the flats? Once renovated, the basement flat would achieve in the
18:47region of £600 per calendar month, the ground floor flat would achieve £650 per calendar month,
18:54and the upper floor masonette would achieve £800 per calendar month.
18:59When you fall in love with the property, you can be so blinded by that love, you can't see what's
19:04wrong with it.
19:05So what is wrong with this property? Well, there are damp issues to contend with in the basement.
19:11It needs a thorough renovation and a lot of love, but it's stunning.
19:17Let's find out who similarly fell in love when it went to auction.
19:21Well, at auction, this proves a popular lot.
19:25£145,000, £150,000, £150,000 bid, £155,000, £160,000, £160,000, £165,000.
19:33Nope, you're out, you're in. I had £160,000. First time, second time's with you, sir,
19:40third and final time, all done, all out, all yours. All done.
19:47And the successful bid of £160,000 came from Liverpool-based property developer Daniel.
19:55He's head of the family business, started by his grandfather back in the 1960s,
20:00and he told Martell what attracted him to Morecambe.
20:04There's the Eden Project North, which just had government funding,
20:09and I think they're going to start work on the build, well, later this year.
20:14That's going to bring a lot of tourism in.
20:18As well as thousands of tourists, this ambitious plan to build a new major attraction
20:23on the Morecambe seafront would create jobs and opportunities for local businesses.
20:28And Daniel was keen to take advantage of the proximity of his new auction purchase
20:33to the proposed site of the Eden Project.
20:37What are your plans for here?
20:39Well, we're going to keep the arrangement as it is, so the three flats, but we want to reconfigure them
20:46because the space just isn't utilised properly. For instance, maybe this wall will probably come
20:53down or make a kitchen diner. So the basement will have two bedrooms, the ground floor flat will have
20:58two bedrooms, and this duplex will have four bedrooms. I also want to make the ground floor flats
21:04that's disabled-friendly for wheelchair access and stuff because I think there's a lack of availability for
21:11wheelchair users. I think that would be quite a good USP.
21:15Yeah, that's a great idea. Are you going to keep the features, the nice original features?
21:20Well, they are lovely features, but to be perfectly honest, it depends on the EPC because that's
21:28so important these days. Yeah. And it may be that we have to lower the ceilings. There's currently some
21:34quite old boilers here, so we'll be taking them out and I'm going to do the property all electric,
21:41and maybe we'll put some solar panels on the roof. We certainly need some new double glazing.
21:47Is your plan to have it as a holiday let or to have people longer term?
21:51No, the plan is twofold, and that is to attract contract workers for the Eden project because
21:59it's going to take, I think, maybe three, maybe even four years to build. And then when that's finished,
22:05we're going to do a short-term let's. Yeah. I really want this place to look really good.
22:11How long is this project going to take? I'm envisaging around about six months.
22:16And what's your budget? When I bought the property, I was thinking 120,000,
22:22but I think we're probably going to have to go up to about 150,000. But when we returned eight
22:29months
22:30later, a delay to the builder's start date meant that progress wasn't as far on as Daniel had hoped.
22:37Although work in the masonette was well underway.
22:44We've actually probably only been on site, in all honesty, for somewhere around about seven,
22:49eight weeks now. So I think we've gone quite far, actually, with what we need to do.
22:55One of the major items on Daniel's to-do list was improving the green credentials of this old
23:01Victorian building. Probably the biggest change is the heating system which we're putting in,
23:07which is the infrared heating system. So we've taken out all the old gas boilers.
23:13An infrared system heats the walls, ceiling and floor evenly. This approach is designed to minimise
23:20energy waste, making it a greener and more sustainable way of heating your home.
23:26But infrared heating can't work if all the heat escapes.
23:30The biggest thing was the insulation. And so we thought, well, let's take the opportunity and,
23:36you know, as I say, insulated, put some new windows in and we can do a really good job that
23:43I'll be very proud of. And yeah, so far I'm happy.
23:52Not much had changed in the ground floor or basement flats. But despite this,
23:57Daniel was still confident his original budget would hold firm.
24:01We've currently spent 77,000, but I think we're going to stay within budget. But don't hold me to it.
24:11OK, Daniel, we promise. There was still a mountain of work to do here to transform
24:16Daniel's property by the sea. So join us later on in the show to find out how it turned out.
24:28Still to come, Martin finds what he's looking for at his lot in Cornwall.
24:33Ah, this is fantastic.
24:38And Daniel runs into some unforeseen costs back in Morecambe.
24:43It took quite a while to organise and it was quite expensive. It was about £5,000.
24:50We're heading back to Waterlooville in Hampshire now, where I saw a former children's care centre
24:56that came with a guide price of £295,000 and over 60 rooms to explore.
25:04Lots of rooms. They're all quite light. Some of them are small, some of them are big.
25:08It seems like a bit of a maze. If you don't like puzzles, you might not like this.
25:17Yes, finding my way around this enormous lot was quite a challenge, but there was an even bigger
25:23conundrum at hand. Now the big question is, what do you do with something like this?
25:29Coming in bang on the guide price with a successful bid of £295,000 was property developer Mark,
25:36who was joined by his lettings manager Lorraine. Thankfully, the pair had solved the puzzle and
25:43come up with a new use for this unique lot. What's the plan then, Mark?
25:48So this will go to between 10 and 18 flats and I think we'll be going through the planning process
25:53for at least six months before we start the work. Mark had a budget of between £600,000 and £1
25:59.2
26:00million for the flat conversions and hoped to have the work finished within 18 months.
26:06Now, 20 months later, we're back.
26:18Well, it appears this building is very much how we left it. So what's happened since our first visit?
26:27Mark and Lorraine are here to give us an update on progress.
26:31The project's going really well. We've managed to get planning for six two-bedroom flats on the site
26:37and four one-bedroom flats on the site. So that was within what we wanted to achieve.
26:43And that was all under permitted development rights within the building. So there's no demolishing,
26:47there's no additional builds. It's within the actual building itself that's here.
26:56OK, so there has been some progress behind the scenes, but Mark had originally hoped to have the
27:03whole project wrapped up in 18 months. So 20 months on, what's led to the delay?
27:11The reason we didn't put initial planning in straight away from buying the site a year prior,
27:16we had a couple of inquiries of someone to rent it. So we moved in a preschool company,
27:21and so they rented it for a fairly short period. And then when they decided not to continue renting it,
27:26that's when we decided to put planning in. But yeah, there was a few challenges on the way, wasn't there?
27:30Yeah. So going through the planning process and getting all the reporting together and everything
27:34was a bit of a challenge, certainly with things like the soil reports took a bit longer than we thought
27:40they would. And a few challenges with the planning department, you know, with people going on holiday and
27:45things like that and requesting extensions of time. So it took a bit longer to get it to where we
27:50wanted it to be, but got the outcome that we wanted. Well, it may have taken longer than expected,
27:56but now the planning is in place. Does this mean it's finally time to start work on these flat conversions?
28:02Well, we've got about four or five other projects on the go. Our funnel of development sites is probably
28:08going to last us the next three to five years. So to fit this in, we decided to look at
28:12the options to
28:12sell. And I'm pleased to say we got a buyer. I'm very pleased that the person buying, I've actually
28:17known for 10 years on the property scene around Hampshire. So he's inviting me back to get monthly
28:23reviews and see how he develops it. So Lorraine will come with me and see how it progresses over
28:28the next six to nine months. So be nice to see how it does develop.
28:32So although this property is being sold on, Mark's ties to the buyer means he'll have a front row seat
28:39to this extensive project as it's turned from a commercial building into 10 residential flats.
28:45But with an initial investment of £295,000, how much more was spent to secure the planning permission?
28:53We've actually sold it for £510,000 and our expenses today are about £35,000, £38,000. We expect
29:02another £10,000-ish to go out with sales fees and solicitors. So that's our current figures.
29:09OK, so Mark's investment will total to £343,000. But with the planning permission adding significant
29:16value, he can expect a pre-tax profit of £167,000 from the sale. But how much could his business
29:24have made if they decided to tackle the flat conversions themselves? We asked along a local
29:29estate agent to find out. This is my first time here but it's a sizeable plot and I can see
29:35why
29:35planning for 10 flats has been put forward because it would be a great attribution to the area.
29:40I think the kind of finish that they should aim for in these flats would be contemporary and neutral
29:45because there's a much higher demand for flats like that.
29:49The agent believes that once complete, the two bed flats could achieve £1,000 per calendar month
29:55and the one beds could achieve £800 per month on the rental market. But how much does she think
30:01the 10 flats could sell for individually? I believe this development would achieve
30:06around £130,000 for the one bedroom flats and around £150,000 for the two bedroom flats. However,
30:13that does depend on things like the standard of finish and the lease length, etc.
30:18If we had have kept it, we would have seen another profit come in, a higher profit,
30:23but that would have taken 12 months and a lot of time and effort, especially from Lorraine's part.
30:28Absolutely. And there's always opportunity cost, you know, in taking the money out now and
30:33then we can use that to reinvest in other projects which we're currently looking at.
30:36Yeah, yeah.
30:38If they had decided to go ahead with the development of the 10 flats,
30:41for which Mark had set aside an estimated budget of £600,000,
30:46they could have seen a potential pre-tax profit in the region of half a million pounds.
30:51But with decades of experience in property development, Mark and Lorraine have made an
30:56informed decision to focus their time and energy on other projects. And besides,
31:02walking away with a pre-tax profit of £167,000 without having made a single structural change
31:10isn't bad going at all. So what's next for this dynamic duo?
31:16So next for us, we're very fortunate. We often get approached for new projects and we're always
31:21out there hunting down new sites for development, so those of which we'll either get planning on
31:28or we'll get planning on and seek to develop ourselves. So yeah, always got lots in the pipeline,
31:33lots of pipeline projects. And I will say, I was 60 last year, so I meant to be slowing down
31:37a bit,
31:38but luckily we've got a great team in the office that deal with the day-to-day stuff and a
31:41great team
31:42around. So that also helps. Yeah. And you love it. I do.
31:52Martin's off to Cornwall and the former tin mining village of Karnkai. It sits less than 30 miles
31:58from Land's End, the UK's most southwesterly point, and just 20 miles from The Lizard,
32:03the UK's most southerly point.
32:13We'll travel much further and it feels like you'd fall off the end of Great Britain. I'm in Karnkai,
32:21just outside Helston in Cornwall. But it's worth the journey because Upper Auction was something
32:29which sounds absolutely pearly. It's an old Sunday school. Guide price at £95,000,
32:36and it's down this little quiet lane by that little babbling brook. I'm excited.
32:45With room for a pleasant secluded garden and a potential parking space,
32:49it's looking good from the outside. Wow.
32:56So the building is split into principally two rooms. This is the smaller of the two.
33:04Yes, it's not bad, obviously. It's a bit derelict inside. Masses of diggings or whatever you want
33:10to call those from somewhere. Beans, you could maybe have some fun with that.
33:16Yeah, it's a decent size, but I need to find out what's there.
33:23Now that's more like it. Wow. What a space. I imagine this was the main part of the Sunday
33:33school and it's just fantastic. It's got the feel of a church, but obviously it's not a church.
33:41But interestingly enough, somebody's obviously started some renovation works and they've done
33:44exactly what you would suggest that you'd want to do with this place, which is put a mezzanine floor
33:49in. We so often talk about that, don't we? Big buildings, let's put a mezzanine floor in. Well,
33:53that is exactly what you would do. It's really interesting to see in construction phase. You've
33:58got these big RSJs or rail steel joists going across there, supporting the floor. You can see the
34:04way the floor's constructed. It's like one of those textbooks on how to build mezzanine floors.
34:08But it also gives you this amazing chance to see what the building could be like. Because
34:13presumably you could have rooms up there, bedrooms, whatever else. Then this big area down here,
34:19with this vaulted area, just reminding you about the building's heritage. This is fantastic.
34:29This old Sunday school was built in 1857 for the former Methodist Chapel, which sits behind it.
34:36It has the feeling of a small chapel with its high ceilings and tall windows. And with work
34:42already underway, you can see what a great space this could be.
34:51So, I thought I'd pop up to the mezzanine floor to see what's going on. And you can see that
34:56somebody's actually strengthened the beams, the trusses that go across there as well. So,
35:02a lot of expensive work's already been done, which is good news. And then they've created these two
35:07little rooms out of these stud partitions. One room there, and then another room, I believe,
35:12over this way. That's actually got a toilet in it. And I like the fact they've already put a television
35:17in.
35:17So, get the essentials sorted out. But from here, you can imagine, you know, with a balustrade along
35:24the edge there, looking down to the living room, roaring log fire. What a property! What a property!
35:33This could turn out to be...
35:35Anything, anything is possible
35:39When I'm looking and looking at you
35:43When I'm looking and looking at you
35:46You know, this is one of those buildings where your imagination runs wild with all the possibilities.
35:52Could it be a big, single house with open plan living? A bespoke studio apartment? A cosy, rustic holiday let?
36:00The list goes on. But luckily, there is some guidance on what might work best.
36:05So, there's no doubt this building is absolutely fantastic. But there's even better news. Because it already has planning permission
36:13granted for conversion into a two-bedroomed home. So, it's had a change of use, which is great news.
36:21Even more so because it's actually listed. So, the person who applied would have also had to apply for listed
36:27building consent. So, that is fantastic.
36:29Now, if you did want to change those plans, bear in mind that you'd have to go back to planning
36:33and you'd also have to go back to the listed buildings people.
36:36But, to have that in place, the president has been set. Absolutely fantastic news.
36:42Yes, it does strongly indicate that the council are in favour of this lovely old building being converted into a
36:49residential dwelling. And that's a huge hurdle to have got over.
36:53But are the current plans the best use of this property that was guided at £95,000? What does an
37:00expert from the auction house that sold it think?
37:03Anything, anything is possible When I'm looking and looking at you
37:10Planning currently exists for a two-bedroom conversion. But we would recommend exploring the possibility of creating three bedrooms here.
37:20That would enhance both rental and resale values. The likelihood of getting that planning permission would be quite high, I
37:29think, because the planners need to support perhaps family living.
37:35And we would think that would be accepted.
37:40But new planning permission would be needed to go from a two-bed to a three. So, would it be
37:45worth the added hassle and the delay to the conversion work?
37:50As a two-bedroom property, we feel it would sell for £365,000. With the three-bed arrangement, this could
38:00be increased to £400,000.
38:03And how would the rental values change?
38:05The two-bedroom layout would rent for £1,100 per calendar month. Or if the three-bedroom layout were to
38:18be completed, then we feel it would be around £1,250 per calendar month.
38:24Well, you've got the fantastic location. You've got the shell of a building. You've got the planning permission. What is
38:32not to love about this opportunity?
38:36Let's see who took it on and bought it when it went under the hammer.
38:43This lot was part of a remote auction with bids taking place online.
38:50The successful bid of £235,000, well over twice the guide price, was made by Simon.
38:58We've met him before, when he transformed this colourful bungalow just outside Truro.
39:05Martin caught up with him to find out his plans for his latest project.
39:10Simon.
39:11Hello.
39:11Good to see you again.
39:12And you.
39:13So we last saw you doing what I call the Battenberg bungalow.
39:18Yep.
39:19How did it turn out?
39:20It's not Battenberg anymore, so yeah.
39:23You say it's not Battenberg, what happened to it then?
39:26We've painted it a very nice shade of white.
39:28Right.
39:29So I think you'll be impressed.
39:31So it obviously went well.
39:32It did.
39:32And remind us what you do.
39:35At my job, I'm a surveyor by trade.
39:39The company I work for, we renovate buildings.
39:44And this year we've decided to invest into some refurbishment projects.
39:50Right.
39:50And this is the next one on the list.
39:52Right, so what was it about it that you loved?
39:54I can picture something which is going to be really nice.
39:59You know, exposing the stone.
40:02Yeah, just bringing it back to life.
40:05We've done a similar project about 16, 18 months ago.
40:09Done a little village called Mousel.
40:11Very similar to this, very run down, very dated.
40:14And once we started to pull it apart, we found a real gem.
40:18Right.
40:18And I think this is going to be on par with that property there, if not better.
40:23Now it's quite interesting, isn't it, because somebody has obviously started some kind of renovation, restoration.
40:31What do you think about what they've done?
40:34In my opinion, they've done a big part of the job.
40:39Having that floor in is a great help to us.
40:42Yeah.
40:42And we can really come in here and spend a couple, three weeks stripping it out, getting it right back
40:49to see what the original features are, and then we'll move from there.
40:54It feels a bit too big to be a two bedroom there, doesn't it?
40:57I mean, that's what the planning is for.
40:59It does.
41:00But I think if we can get it stripped back to the bare bones, get the building clear, we can
41:04then take a step back and have a look.
41:06I've got a meeting with a guy who does all our plans tomorrow.
41:11And once you get your heads together, I'm very lucky with the team I work with, they come up with
41:16lots of good ideas.
41:17And, you know, once we all get together, we'll just be throwing different options into the hat and we'll come
41:23up with a plan.
41:23If you wanted an extra bedroom, would you have to go back to planning?
41:26Yes.
41:27Right.
41:27Yeah.
41:28The building's listed.
41:29We're going to have to go back to planning anyway because the roof's had its day.
41:34We wanted to put some skylights up in the roof to bring some natural light in.
41:39Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
41:40So, yeah, we will be going back to planning.
41:43So, give me your initial thoughts in terms of what you're going to do.
41:49Um, very open plan.
41:51Um, big living area where we're standing here now.
41:55Um, kitchen sort of almost in the centre of the room.
41:58Um, and then we've got a master bedroom upstairs.
42:03Adjoining that will be a dressing room and a shower room.
42:06Um, it's not on the plans, they've got a second bedroom for downstairs, but a second bedroom only.
42:11But the plan is there, we'll have, we'll have a second bedroom, which originally had plans for an en suite.
42:18But I will be, or we will be bringing in a master bathroom in alongside the bedroom as well.
42:23Okay, right.
42:24You've then got bathrooms on both floors.
42:27So, what's the budget?
42:29I would say about 100.
42:32Um, you know, it's going to be very bespoke and quite high end with regards to the finish as well.
42:38And what's the timescale?
42:41Six to eight months.
42:42Okay.
42:43Is the plan to sell it on then?
42:45We'll see how the market goes.
42:47Once it's finished, it won't have any problem in selling, it's whether we sell it for the right price.
42:52Yeah.
42:52And also, be honest, there's a little element of, I think you really love this place, don't you?
42:58And if you can keep it personally.
42:59This is the problem.
43:01A lot of the buildings we do, I become very attached with.
43:05Right.
43:06And I don't like letting them go, but it's not a very good mindset when you're going in the business
43:12of buying renovation with a viewer moving on.
43:16Yeah.
43:16I think I'm going to have to let it go, but hopefully it'll go to the right person.
43:20Right.
43:20Well, listen, congratulations and good luck with it.
43:24I'm sure there are a few challenges ahead, but we can't wait to see how it turns out.
43:30Appreciate it.
43:34Well, I think Simon fell in love with this place just like I did, and he can obviously see its
43:40potential.
43:41Great ideas, can't wait to see how it turns out.
43:45You can find out later in the show.
43:51It's back to Morecambe now where we've been following Daniel's renovation adventure on this mid-terrace property split into three
43:59flats that he bought for £160,000 at auction back in the summer of 2023.
44:06With stunning views out to Morecambe Bay, this property was in a prime seaside location, and Daniel was aiming to
44:14restore the flats to a high-quality condition.
44:17We're going to keep the arrangements as it is, so the three flats, but we want to reconfigure them because
44:24the space just isn't utilised properly.
44:29Eight months later, we returned to find a building site, but although way behind schedule, Daniel was confident that his
44:36budget would take him over the finish line.
44:39We've currently spent £77,000, but I think we're going to stay within budget, but don't hold me to it.
44:48Well, maybe not that confident then. Would the money last, and would he still be smiling?
44:5620 months after our first visit, we're back to find out.
45:15Well, this stunning transformation has been well worth the wait, darlings.
45:19The three flats have been completely modernised in a back-to-brick renovation and redesigned to be marketed as luxury
45:27short-term rental accommodation.
45:29The four-bed top-flow masonette definitely has the room with a view.
45:34This is just beautiful. You could sit here at these windows even on a cold day.
45:40We're so blessed with being able to see the Lake District.
45:44Yeah, I really love the way it's turned out.
45:49Each of the flats has been decorated, furnished and fitted out to the same high standard, with accessibility being the
45:56key factor in the ground-floor apartment.
45:58The layout of the ground-floor flat just didn't work for wheelchair users.
46:02So, we've created a lounge kitchen diner, and we did that by knocking down what was the existing bedroom wall.
46:12We had to put an RSJ in, and we've pushed the kitchen back into the old bedroom.
46:20And towards the rear of the property, we took out the old, tired bathroom, and we've created an accessible wet
46:28room.
46:30Perhaps surprisingly, Daniel's favourite part of the building is not the top-floor masonette.
46:36I absolutely love the basement. I actually sat there last night, and it felt really homely.
46:41And I thought, you know what, I could actually live here. It's really nice, happy, and quite proud of it,
46:46actually.
46:49Of course, with a project of this size, problems were inevitable.
46:53The electricity was only single phase, so we've had to change that to three phase, and that took quite a
46:59while to organise and was quite expensive.
47:01It was about £5,000.
47:03Also, the water was only a standard, so we've had to put in a 28mm pipe connection, which, again, took
47:11some time.
47:12But, worst of all, I thought we could just repair the roof, but it turns out we actually needed a
47:17brand-new roof.
47:18So, that was over £10,000.
47:23Another tricky situation arose when it came to choosing the colour of the front door.
47:28I picked a colour which was called French blue, a darkish blue, and when the door arrived, it's actually more
47:36of a royal blue,
47:37which wasn't the colour I expected.
47:39So, that meant that the plan that we originally had for the outside paint colour had to be abandoned,
47:46and probably about £100 worth of colour tester pots later,
47:51we settled on the blue that we've got and the white for the reveals.
47:56We actually had one neighbour down there, because we had to paint the building white first.
48:02And she went, oh, it's beautiful.
48:04That's exactly what everybody should have, brilliant white.
48:07Didn't have the heart to tell her we were painting it blue next week.
48:12We haven't seen her since.
48:17Well, the neighbour might be feeling a bit blue,
48:20but did Daniel's original budget of £150,000 manage to stay in the black?
48:26Unfortunately, I completely annihilated the budget.
48:32We've ended up at £280,000.
48:37Despite nearly doubling his budget, Daniel is clearly still delighted the project is completed and looking fabulous.
48:45It's been a huge commitment emotionally as well as financially, refurbishing what was really three mini buildings within one.
48:53But will his large overspend make him regret the amount of work he's put in here?
48:58Time to hear from the estate agent who's been viewing progress since day one.
49:03All three flats have been done to an exceptional standard.
49:06It's a lot, lot better than I expected it to be.
49:10It isn't just a basic refurbishment.
49:12The quality is outstanding and the fitments and the extras that has been put in.
49:17The attention to detail is magnificent.
49:20Daniel's total spend comes to £440,000.
49:23So what could his investment be worth if he decided to sell up?
49:28I would expect for the masonette for us to achieve £220,000.
49:34For the ground floor flat, I would expect that now to be £140,000.
49:40And the lower ground floor flat, I would expect that to be £155,000.
49:46Which adds up to a grand total of £515,000.
49:51That would leave Daniel a profit of £75,000 before tax and fees.
49:56It was always going to be a long-term investment, ten years or so.
50:00So, in all honesty, the sales figures now are quite irrelevant.
50:06But, of course, it's always nice to know that it's increased in value.
50:11And how much does the estate agent reckon the flats would bring in
50:15as short-term letting accommodation?
50:17We would expect that the two-bedroom flats
50:20should achieve an average of £130 per night
50:24and the masonette, £230 per night.
50:27However, that will fluctuate depending upon the time of year
50:30and the day during the week.
50:33Based on full occupancy for a 30-week year,
50:35those rates could generate an income just north of £100,000.
50:40So, something for Daniel to aim for.
50:44We've just started, we're open for bookings
50:47and we've actually got our first guests coming next week.
50:51So, I'm really excited and that's in the masonette.
50:59We're heading back to the village of Karnkai in Cornwall,
51:03where Martin was all set to uncover something special.
51:07It's down this little quiet lane.
51:10I'm excited.
51:13This charming former Sunday school came with a guide price of £95,000.
51:18Wow.
51:19And with planning in place for a two-bed home,
51:22it was ready to graduate to something impressive.
51:25What a property this could turn out to be.
51:33Paying £235,000 at auction,
51:36it caught the eye of Simon, a surveyor,
51:39who, as part of a property business,
51:41was looking to turn the potential here into top marks.
51:45What was it about it that you loved?
51:46I can picture something which is going to be really nice.
51:51Yeah, just bringing it back to life.
51:53You bring me back to life, back to life.
51:57With £100,000, Simon and his team plan to convert
52:01this 160-year-old building in six to eight months.
52:05But two and a half years later,
52:07we're back to see if he managed to turn history into a home.
52:11You bring me back to life.
52:24You know when you've done something right, when you walk into it and think,
52:27I could live here.
52:28You know, it's just got a lovely, lovely vibe about it.
52:34Oh, wow, it most certainly does.
52:37The large hall is now a stunning open-plan kitchen and living space
52:40with a double-height ceiling that shows off the building's original character,
52:45striking a balance between modern living and old-school charm.
52:49So basically it was stripped back and started again.
52:54The mezzanine is the only existing work that remains.
52:59Upstairs it houses the main bedroom,
53:03complete with its own walk-in wardrobe
53:07and en suite.
53:13Then in what was the smaller, derelict building,
53:16you'll now find a second bedroom.
53:20And a family bathroom.
53:23It's been done, shall I say, very bespoke
53:26and a lot of attention to detail.
53:29I think the right people who come in here will appreciate what we've done.
53:35The thought that's gone into this project is clear to see,
53:39and there's more than meets the eye,
53:40with underflow heating throughout,
53:43fed by an energy-efficient air-source heat pump,
53:46creating a warm and inviting feel.
53:51Personally, I'm being a bit selfish when I look at things,
53:54I love that open space.
53:57We could have put separate rooms in, more bedrooms,
54:00but you would have took away the charm of the building.
54:07As it's a listed building,
54:09Simon did have to go back to the planners
54:11for the skylights in the new roof.
54:14But that didn't cause any issues.
54:16The real delay came from another project converting an old coach house,
54:21which pulled the focus from the team.
54:25But once work got underway here,
54:27it all ran surprisingly smoothly.
54:30I'd come up with the ideas,
54:32and then we're fortunate enough to have a team of guys around us
54:36who put the ideas into place.
54:39And, yeah, what they've done here is, yeah,
54:41makes you feel very proud.
54:46Simon was also the project manager,
54:48and while the work did overrun,
54:50the budget stayed largely on track,
54:53spending just £10,000
54:55above the original £100,000 estimate.
54:59For a project that could have been fraught with issues,
55:02that's a solid result.
55:04And now that the work's complete,
55:06the plans for the property, in the short term,
55:08have had to change.
55:11It's going to be rented out to my son,
55:15who's going to move down from Manchester.
55:18To cut a long story short, we had a bit of a...
55:21I'd say a bit...
55:22It was a major loss in the family.
55:25And, um...
55:26Yeah, so he's going to come home,
55:29be closer to his gran,
55:30so him and his partner Amy,
55:32so Will and Amy,
55:34yeah, they'll be enjoying this.
55:36And, uh, yeah.
55:38Yeah, it'll be good to see.
55:40Good to see.
55:43The house will bring the family closer
55:45and serve as a home for a few years.
55:48Then, in time, Simon will look to sell.
55:57So, let's get the thoughts of a local estate agent.
56:00We invited one along to see what they make of this image.
56:03an impressive two-bed converted former Sunday school.
56:09The finish is amazing.
56:11The quality of what they've done here is absolutely superb.
56:14It's always difficult when you're taking a property
56:16that was never designed to be a residential property
56:18and converting it into a habitable building.
56:21And they've done a really good job
56:23and a really high-quality finish.
56:27A big thumbs-up, and rightly so.
56:30Simon has spent a total of £345,000,
56:34including the original purchase price,
56:37to create this impressive home.
56:40And while he doesn't have plans to sell just yet,
56:43how much could it now be worth?
56:46I think in the current market, the quality of finish they have,
56:49I would anticipate a sale in the region of £450,000 to £475,000.
56:54Yeah, if we were pushing around five, I would say happy days.
56:58But then, you know, the right person could walk through that door
57:01and say, I'll pay you six.
57:04Even taking the agent's lower valuation,
57:07Simon would still be looking at a pre-tax profit of £105,000.
57:13But for now, the plan is to rent.
57:15And while the agent reckons it could fetch around £2,000 per calendar month,
57:20with Simon's son, Will, moving in,
57:23I'm guessing there might be a bit of a family discount?
57:29Uh...
57:30Yeah, it will be mates rates, you know.
57:34He...yeah.
57:35He'll be looked after.
57:36But he's going to have to look after his dad.
57:40A home for his son today and a tidy profit in the future.
57:44Whichever way you look at it, Simon's made a wise move.
57:48But after pouring so much into this project,
57:51moving on might be a challenge.
57:57I think I said to you guys from day one,
57:59I've become very attached.
58:01Yeah, it's going to be a struggle to let this one go eventually.
58:05But, um, it will go.
58:07And I just hope the people who walk through that door will go,
58:10whoever done this has done it right.
58:12You know, and, you know, that'll...
58:14that'll mean an awful lot to me.
58:19Well, that's all we have time for today.
58:22But I hope you enjoyed the highs and lows of today's auction properties.
58:25If you haven't had your fix, well, fear not.
58:27We'll be back again soon with another episode of Homes Under The Hammer.
58:31Bye.
58:56Bye.