Episode Information Broadstairs & Thetford

Date Published:

07/07/2009

It's October 2007 and the house prices have yet to turn in the resort town of Broadstairs on the Kent coast. Which is lucky for architectural designer Nick Hornsby and partner Alison Gerr, as they’re about to take on the challenge of a lifetime.

Off a side street, down a back alley, they’ve bought an ugly mish-mash of derelict storerooms. They hope this dark, dirty and totally uninhabitable property is the start of a new career as property developers.

The Budget

Neil and Alison bought well, paying a bargain £71,000 for the property. They hope their budget of just £65,500 is enough to create a luxury two bed holiday home worth a £180,000 price tag. That would bring them a great £43,500 profit for the seven months work.

The Build

The store came with a single bedroom and bathroom upstairs. Neil and Alison want to extend this area over the roof and create a large second bedroom with spectacular windows that should appeal to design-savvy professionals. Downstairs, though, is less successful. There’s the main store room with a small bathroom to the side, and they want to knock this through and add designer stairs, utility and WC, leaving a large open plan living space dominated by the kitchen - which could be a problem. With open plan areas, where you position the kitchen is all important. Here, it would be better round the corner, in the recessed area, keeping an open feel but also offering just enough shielding for the best of both worlds.

The store's situation - down an alley between a fishmongers and a noisy pub - is pretty off-putting. But there is a solution, and that’s if Neil and Alison buy the freehold to the alley. Crucially, it would allow them to gate off the approach, turning it from a dingy back alley into an exclusive bolthole.

The owner of the alley is willing to sell them the freehold for £10,000, but - unbelievably - Neil and Alison are balking at the price. Instead they’re shelling out major money on building a brand new first floor, that many would-be buyers may never make it up the alley to see. What is certain is the rest of the development now has to be faultless.

The Finished House

By the end of the build, the nationwide property market is tumbling. But not put off by the falling market, Neil and Alison are hoping for even more than their original £180,000 target price.

The development has finished bang on schedule and big feature windows and a front decked area signpost this as a modern high spec home. The trouble is that it’s direct contrast with the alley leading to it - an alley that could have been theirs for just £10,000.

And that’s a shame, because inside this home is really quite fantastic. The derelict old building is now a temple of high design, with a great finish, super clean lines and lime green feature walls all working together in a superb open plan space. Not least, because the kitchen is exactly where it should be.

It still needs a handrail, but the pared back steel and wood construction is starkly simple and quite stunning. And it cost only £8,000 - less that half of the money that Neil wanted to spend on it.

Upstairs, Neil and Alison have gone for a simpler look in the master bedroom. The huge windows make enough of a statement on their own. Next door the luxury kicks in with a top end bathroom. A mosaic wall and the sleekest of fittings combine for the very highest finish.

Doing this whole project for £90,000 is pretty impressive, but it does mean that if Neil and Alison sell at their original target price of £180,000, they’d be well under the £43,000 profit they were hoping for.

One estate agent values the property at £210,000 whilst two come in at £225,000. That would give the couple a profit of between £49,000 and £64,000.

Neil and Alison put their house on the market for £225,000, and four months later accept an offer of £210,000, making them a respectable £49,000 profit.