for many people property development is a lot more than a straight commercial venture it's a one-off shot at a whole new existence at the end of the day this doesn't work we're in a make-or-break situation but our developers have to spend a lot more than they want to reap the rewards this is the selling feature of the house one of me [Music] tonight on property ladder I'm meeting two sets of developers who desperately want to change their lives and they're convinced they found just the properties to do it factory manager Clive Jacobs has been married to his wife Deborah for five years but for all of that time they've been lodging with a relative they're now at crisis point but are hoping that this ex council house in Aldershot will finally finance a place of their own Clive and I share about a 10 by 12 room and that's where we spend most of our most of our days and evenings we've never been as such a married couple as normal married couples do you know their first home together and first kettles together and stuff like that but hopefully this will get us onto the road of achieving that the difficulty is it is an uninspiring property on a busy road that's totally outdated on the inside it's not a property I would want to rely on to change my life 80 miles away in Stretton South London dog sitters Jody Bourne and Matthew Turnbull want a lot more out of life to get it they're taking on this worn-out Edwardian house while living on site and looking after up to ten animals at a time property developing to us really is is to take control of our lives be our own bosses it's a whole lifestyle change we want to completely change the way that we live our lives right now which is working really hard not making very much money hardly seeing each other and we just want to get a lump sum jet off to Australia spend a lot of time together they're hoping this 3-bedroom property is the answer it needs a major overhaul but the building is handsomely proportioned and has bags a potential Matt and Jody want to unlock it with their own inexperienced hands so kind of keen on DIY and that's that's something that your hands dirty and I mean the only way that we could afford a house is to get one that's really rundown so we've got no choice but to do it ourselves but that's right ready for the task at me and so are you aware of kind of how much hard work slightly to be unaware in some phases of it but I mean we are certainly not 9 to 5 as we would absolutely die in office jobs wouldn't we yeah that's right it's a good excuse to get outside of that environment and then spend time and a great way for me to order him around Matt and Jody have big plans for this large property at the top of the house they intend to convert the loft into a master suite a good move for the family markets downstairs there are three bedrooms and the bathrooms that need a total revamp on the ground floor there's a reception room to the front the kitchen in an unusual location just behind and a dining room to the rear with the utility lean-to and WC the plan is to demolish the lean-to and knock through the whole area to create a large family room but that will leave the kitchen right in the center of the ground-floor and I personally think that's a problem I've seen a few houses Victorian terraces where they've put the kitchen tiles in the front room or this middle room and it just feels a bit wrong because there's so many of them yeah if there weren't lots of houses like this you could put it anywhere you want because no one would expect anything but people don't expect this to be a kitchen and I think I think there is a danger people Walker think yes we're thinking we're going to have such an amazing kitchen but they're gonna walk in and go actually look at this fabulous kitchen to get as much as you can when you come to sell this house really you want to extend out into the side of turn and take their back room full width across so that you've got a massive big family kitchens to really cash in on this development I think Matt and Jodi should extend the rear of the property sideways the perfect space for the ever-popular kitchen diner in a house this size families will also want a second living room and creating one out of the old kitchen would complete the ground floor layout these houses to me are so fabulous because there are little hidden getaways and little hidden rooms do you not think that's going to just destroy the character if it's going to be one big room out the back because lives are more hectic now people do work long hours that the only time they manage to spend with their family is quality time and so they kind of want to be all in one room they want to be able to cook the supper talk the kids once doing their homework someone's sitting on the sofa and you've got your maybe get friends coming over to talk at the same time cuz you haven't got any time you have to multitask I've been living in this house for three months and I'm cooking in a lovely kitchen right now even though it's not I can see the dream and I can see it there and it's going to be very hard to change that changing that dream isn't going to be made any easier by Matt and Jody's finances they did buy well at three hundred and forty five thousand but a tiny forty thousand pound budget is not enough to make the most of the property even so they hope to sell for a healthy five hundred thousand clearing a hundred and fifteen thousand pounds profit realistically even if you do loads of the work yourself this development is going to cost you eighty thousand pounds with the plans that you've already got now if you do the side extension as well that's probably going to cost you another twenty so a hundred thousand pounds but I think it'll be worth forty thousand more and it would be with the plans that you originally had right hundred budget kind of makes me feel like I'm choking really all my clothes feel a little bit yeah complete shock unrealistic as well trying to find another sixty thousand on top of our forty thousand you're better off thinking about what your options are at this stage and thinking okay well if that's realistically where we are let's work out a plan yeah and if it doesn't come to it then I will eat my hat I'd like to a nice big straw hat [Music] in all the shark clive and deborah jacobs are pinning their dreams on a rather less appealing property what's more it's semi derelict and has a seriously outdated layout now you've got quite a challenge on your hands of this looking at the road absolutely and lots around it this road is very busy and let's be honest it's not a very exciting looking house and it's sweet but not yet hopefully we can do up enough to make you look appealing to everyone I think you can I think it could be a real struggle they bought the house for one hundred and seventy-five thousand perhaps just twenty thousand to do it up and need to break the ceiling price on the road to make their 220,000 pounds sale price even so they stand to make only twenty five thousand pounds profit and it is a huge challenge making this into a really nice house for such a small amount of money you're going to have to be very very clever with what you do and and I think possibly in some areas you might have to accept that you're gonna have to spend a little bit more money to make it really amazing how much you managed to save over the last five years pretty much our entire budget twenty good twenty thousand you know we're lagging behind in the property ladder and we just see this developing as a way of getting on and getting a bit further up a bit quicker so if I've got this right you're relying on this house to be the dream ticket to change your life then we have to make this work it has to work for our marriage clive and deborah jacobs are hoping their Aldershot development will be the start of a whole new life together that won't be easy because this property will be extremely difficult to make appealing [Music] it's all very awkward isn't it so quite compact yeah kitchen here and bathroom here God my bath what a very complicated little little kind of layout this is very awkward Clive and Debra will have to work very hard on this layout to make any kind of profit upstairs there are three double bedrooms they're adding an upstairs bathroom which is essential in a modern home downstairs there's a lounge a small second reception kitchen and bathroom they want to steal space from both the reception and the bathroom to create an awkwardly shaped kitchen diner but it's a plan which fails to take advantage of the properties one big selling point a large rear garden as you take this wall out and then this wall out to the bathroom so that you have this open plan area which would be your kitchen breakfasts dining room which would be a fantastic room and then have doors here fully glazed doors overlooking the garden so all the light can come in so dark at the moment in that I'm not wholly convinced that going down that line and doing that much is gonna achieve fully the means for the end but I think it's their only chance of making a halfway decent profit by demolishing the whole bathroom and squaring off the back of the house that ends up with an impressive kitchen living area flowing straight into the garden my idea to begin with was to open that up but then I wasn't sure if it was large enough we've been kind of going back and forth since then but we've got technical issues there we've got financial issues there let's be honest the plans not at the moment a hardly spectacular I think you have to spend a little bit more money to stand a chance of making a profit this is a very difficult development there's an awful lot on the line here if you get this right you you've got a lot to gain from it in Stratham it's the first week of Matt and Jody's six months development work on a loft conversion is underway it's the one job they're leaving to the professionals and it's costing a lot more than they bargained for in fact their entire 40,000 pound building budget is already history the budget speak yes pretty much it's gone if you're saying it's 42 the budgets 40 it's gone budget is gone I would just grieve and sync all this in it's crucial to set out with a realistic budget however daunting that may be Matt and Jody's was way off from the start they set aside just 23 and a half thousand pounds for all labor and materials a miniscule seven thousand for the kitchen and bathrooms and three and a half thousand for plumbing and electrics with six thousand for decoration and dressing the total is forty thousand that has already gone so whose doorstep are you gonna be together max and Jody are lucky to have a second chance at getting the budget right I think they should now price up to move the kitchen into the backroom and extend sideways to create more space mas and Jodi agree the kitchen should go at the back of the property but they don't want to extend it into the side return instead they think this side area would be better used as an alfresco dining space so so this is it this is the selling feature of the house visually Sarah I thought you had vision we're going to revamp these doors have that eco deck swinging am i selling it to you how much is always gonna cost yes it's coming up close to 15,000 if you're gonna spend the only 15 grand yeah basically making it the same as it is now you might as well spend 25 and actually add square footage which will actually add ver and value to the house trust me I do but frankly I don't even know what my her name is right it's just so much to take in I was happy with my alfresco outdoor living and now I don't know what I'm doing two days later Jodi and Matt have regrouped and come to a decision we decided we're not gonna go with this side return I know it's a good fight in didn't she actually she fought her corner very well very persuasively but he's almost doubling our budget and frankly I'm the one that worries about money and I would not sleep for the next six months if we do the side return in all the shark live and Deborah's development is kicking off their bra you need to stop doing the easy stuff come on give me a hand outside friends and family been roped into play the sizable outside space one right it's the property's biggest asset I think Clive and Deborah should make the most of it by opening up the kitchen and installing large double doors at the back of the house at the end of the day what Sarah is saying does make sense perhaps we should just spend that little bit more and yeah to hell with it go for it a week later the downstairs bathroom is being ripped and to make way for the new kitchen the dividing walls come down and it's a first chance to see if it feels like the right choice for the development Oh oh my goodness I am very impressed I'm I'm stunned oh my goodness I'm gonna have to admit Sarah was right but the good feeling doesn't last long Building Control are insisting that a WC is reinstated somewhere on the ground floor for accessibility reluctantly Clive and Deborah have decided to divide up the front reception and put it there but it's really ruining the layout I'm just not happy with the loo here I just there has to be some type of alternative if you wanted to move this whole wall around sideways that becomes it's a room in a room in my experience this is a very unusual way for the council to interpret a building regulation so I think in this very rare instance it's worth approaching the council again now that you have carved up one of your reception rooms to put a downstairs loo in the layout is seriously compromised with your house and I think it's a a very unusual interpretation of the building regulation to put to say that you have to have it downstairs noon at this stage I think it's worth you fighting it absolutely because it is just doesn't make any sense to have a bathroom in the middle of your living room I'll help you clearly spell out the case you put some plans together and let's go back and talk to the council in stress and Matt and Jodi's development has been going on for two months work on the loft conversion is progressing well but that's more than can be said for the rest of the development Matt and Jodi haven't even started ripping out the bathrooms and there's a reason why we're just not morning people we tend to work a bit bit later if probably in the afternoon make an excuse later in the afternoon basically we should be doing H of 5 but because we're living here we're just taking it a little bit easier put it this way we'd be both fired if we were working for somebody Matt and Jodi is scraping by is part-time dog sitters but if they don't get up out of bed on modernizes exactly how this house will stay it's 5 to 8 I know are really struggling to get up in the morning this is half a day into a big day's work for normal builders in bed morning it's time to take this development by the scruff of the neck so it's eight weeks since I was last here and you have taken the ceiling down and taken the wallpaper off so why is the bathroom not ripped out upstairs it's next to the bedrooms upstairs and so most developments won't get off the ground until the entire property is stripped abs if you're living on site it's especially important to let go of the creature comforts and get on with the build I've been trying to get this bathroom out for four weeks now do you know which so next job is that you're gonna do on the house have you got any idea we sort probably be the electorate yeah it definitely has to be the electrics you get the reel of cable and it do it yeah no but you do have to actually do it in all the shop building control are insisting on a downstairs WC which is effectively ruining the ground floor layout live and Deborah are questioning the decision building control have gone back and considered the issue and today's meeting will decide the fate of the development well thank you very much for seeing us my feeling is is that the law is a bit ambiguous here and and actually it will detrimental II affect the house in terms of layout to fit it downstairs Lewin we have we looked at the regulations and we have to look looked at the backing regulations that go with them and the guidance that went along with it and we feel there's some ambiguity in how the regulations are enforced to such an extent that we feel they are unsafe to enforce so that means they don't have to have it downstairs Luna if they want to take the one out there put in they can take it out yes it's wonderful thank you so much thank you thank you that was good so that means that ridiculous Lou can go yes I'm gonna take it down my go when dealing with building control it's important to take a thoroughly professional approach properly drawn up plans and a well researched clearly written case will help everyone reach a good solution [Music] in Stratham the build is now five months in it's meant to be finished in just four weeks and there's still masses to do but at least Matt and Jodi are at a bed laying cable I don't know why I'm if just told me to do it the electrician's told him I'm like the last one down the line [Laughter] Joey spent a whole week laying cables and filthy conditions surrounded by interfering hounds and that you have to admire but the truth is these two are still light years away from getting on top of this development we just found out that the cable that we've put in the ceiling for the light circuit for the whole house yes we're upstairs and downstairs it's the wrong type it is a stupid mistake to make and I can't believe that we've done that and I it's just going to take so much time and energy to fix it and to be honest I just don't have that energy to want to do it [Music] in stress of mass and Jody's dream ticket to Australia is seven months in the property should have been finished and on the market four weeks ago with no outside help the development is calling along and it could be about to slow down even more because Joe Lee's just hatched a plan to knock through the two front receptions and install double doors my vision for this room is kind of next door being formal this one he'd been kind of funky chill-out area that we use pretty much all of the time so nice bi-fold doors original that can go through whilst it's a nice idea at this stage in this development they just need to get it finished and sold it'll be overkill and it'll just let more noise in it's you know more functional as two separate rooms one two three best of three no come on best of three leaving this decision down to luck is bonkers there is a dispute isn't there about this wall and whether it stays or whether it goes well not really I'm gonna take it my idea is to keep the wall there and not worry about ten you know why that is we don't like doing any work okay and that wall is my baby and it's coming up I'm afraid I'm going to make the decision I just don't think you've got the time to take this all down and I think that considering what else there is to do I think you should finish everything else first and then move on to the doors if there's time and money left I mean how it's one of you got left in your budget about three thousand about very roughly maybe maybe if there is money in the budget and if by some miraculous miracle there is time I would like to do those if I could get the right doors if you finish the rest the house and you've got time left and money left you'll do the doors yeah fabulous yeah I'm barely out the door and the wall comes down this development is officially out of control [Music] back on planet earth in all the shots drive and Debra have now been working hard for three and a half months things here too aren't going according to plan we desperately need this project to work so that we can have our own place and just be a normal couple and the budget well that's gone I mean it's looking increasingly more like we're gonna have to dip into the holiday funds to carry on just through with the project but that's needs math [Music] now okay fine would your delivery drivers help us with that or cliven Debra now need to get the best possible finish at the lowest possible price to show them what they have to compete with we're going to a development just down the road in fan comb that's about to hit the market and this has been newly developed and it's fully refurbished and it's aspirational living this it's it's a lovely finish how much do you think it cost them to get to this point with it outside they've probably spent in the region of 30 fairs as well I'm glad you've come in at that level because actually it's cost a lot less than you think and this finish here was done for 12,000 pounds not 30,000 pounds Wow even shopping every year I think there's some golden rules that you need to remember if you're trying to achieve a good finish are not very much money one is never underestimate how informed it is to execute your work well everything in this house if you look around there's no wonky lights which is an unfilled ORS and the execution of of whatever work you do is just as important as the materials you actually use choose the materials cleverly as well and it's a winning combination wood block work top is half the price of solid wood but it's just as appealing engineered wood floor is in a different lead to laminate but at around 30 pounds per square meter it won't break the bank bold tiles can be bought at rock-bottom prices that can really lift the poverty one area not to cut back on is taps cheap will show because you wanted to have a new life together own your own home together do you still believe it's achievable yes yes yes we have to see the light at the end of the tunnel the gold is still there it's a flashlight but it's still there we can both still see it I mean we do we have to yeah in Stratham the development has now been going on for eleven whole months I never thought I'd get to say it but Matt and Jody are inching their way towards the end to the projects but there is still a major hurdle to overcome and that's because for the last year Matt and JD have been earning a living by dog-sitting now there is one thing that I just kind of wanted to slightly touch on and that is that you've got a lot of very lovely dogs I had noticed actually whilst your dogs are really fabulous this many dogs do mean that it does smell a bit off dog in the house I mean smell anything you don't think there's a smell of dog breathing okay I'm sure if you got done smelling our couches that we've let go because you know the house is crazy then fine but no I don't smell anything in the air to help Jodi wake up and smell the doggies I'm calling in a neighbor's in your opinion what does this have smell of really a little bit of dog can you smell much of a dog when you come in on what scale scale one to ten good nine really yeah if you were looking for a house would it put your fine yeah would it for me Oh No if Matt and Jodi determined to keep the dogs they'll have to take some serious measures now plants a really good way to freshen the air and some are better than others so palm trees and spider plants and ferns a three of the really good ones that's nice and I've got some lavender oil now it's a natural antibacterial you put the lavender oil onto the cotton wool balls and you stick those into the Hoover bag when you're doing the last-minute hoovering before someone looks around kind of war.the laughing into the air okay tip so that's those great and lastly but not leastly I've got you a bucket some people have such an aversion to dogs it's worth limiting them to one room or taking them out of the house when viewings are happening Matt and Jodi will have their work cut out to give this property a clean and fragrant interior in Aldershot four months after they started and with a little help from everyone Clive and Deborah's ex council house is about to go on the open market [Music] and it's really looking pretty good with neat contemporary styling that has brought the property right up-to-date [Music] the kitchen has been transformed into a large flexible family area and the garden it now looks over has cleaned up into a great outside space by opening up the kitchen here and opening up the gardens you've made it feel so much bigger which is just really successful I think the layout works incredibly well and you pleased with it yeah lovely outcome of being able to now have the space I just as a kitchen dialer maybe here you had the original bathroom that was a bit of a nightmare the whole issue of that wasn't it's the bane of our lives for the last few months the decisions and where it went whether it was in whether it was out but it's all come good in the end this is a big room if you'd had the loo in here it would have been a completely had a nonsense room really wouldn't it yeah actually you know I think that the end result means that you've got a room where you could either have this is another reception room a playroom a fourth bedroom it's a pretty good joint effort I think yes we did we're quite at Ron upstairs putting in a bathroom next to the bedrooms has made the property of viable modern home [Music] and from the quality taps to the engineered wood floor the finish throughout is impressive I just hope it hasn't done too much damage to the budget now he bought the house four hundred five thousand and you and you are planning on spending twenty thousand so how much did you end up spending thirty two thousand I think that those two thousand there's no a lot of money to be spending on this house so I think you've pulled it off it looks great the house you originally hoping to get two hundred twenty thousand pounds as a retail what do you reckon that you might be able to get it for it now being realistic I just think that's probably where it's going to be in the two hundred twenty thousand or maybe hi-hi two twenties I think Clive and Deborah set out to make a twenty five thousand pound profit now that would mean selling for two hundred and thirty two thousand pounds well the agents be prepared to go that high Wow really nice bright and airy really really nice point of view of a first-time buyer or an investment buyer it's actually ready-made and it's good to go wow what a superb garden has to be a really good selling point of this property that's what everyone wants is an upstairs bathroom this is a really good size study blend itself ideally as a study or as a den somewhere where the teenagers can get away from the parents I'd value this property at two hundred and twenty thousand pounds I would value this property at two hundred and twenty two thousand pounds we have had two agents around to value it and they both came in at two hundred twenty thousand okay I mean although it's valued at two hundred and twenty I think that you you might stand a chance of getting the two to seven you need to make a 20,000 pound profit because this has as good as it possibly could be I will bookmark put it on the market for today and see what we get from there I think that's it's not unrealistic like you just said you know at least then we could come out with somewhere in between the two the reality is Clive and Deborah really haven't done too badly from potentially disastrous to they bought the property for 175,000 spent 32,000 on the project and if they South the agents valuations of 220,000 they'll clear a thirteen thousand pound profit although I think they may get a bit more it's the dream of owning your own home still there there's a start it's we all just carry on going until we do get to the end product that we that we both want knowing what you know now would you buy this development again this development the same one no way no way but it's not all bad news within a week Clive and Deborah accept an offer for two hundred and twenty five thousand pounds which would clear them an 18,000 pound profit the dream of their own home together is not quite as far off as they thought back in stress and Matt and Jodi are putting in a final push to get the property finished I just think to myself this is the last time I have to do this on this bit of wall and now they're about to get the surprise of their lives in Stratham the shuttle has doubled to a massive 12 months but Matt and Jodi assure me their development is finally finished and the end result is really quite a surprise [Music] what was once a rundown property full of chaos and canines is now a stylish li presented family home the knot through front perceptions may have been an impulsive afterthought but having two separate areas that can be opened into one will give a family the best of both worlds [Music] next door the kitchen could be more spacious but a combination of sleek units and exposed brickwork give it a definite urban charm Wow what are the treatments this is great I can't believe you actually pull this off a special take all the credit won't move it was so hard but I'm also also really impressed cuz ona I came before it really was very doggy in here and that has gone yes I didn't know you did it did although you have finished the house you haven't quite finished because that garden absolutely yes needs a few tweaks weekend some pebbles some raised garden beds that's fine do you now look at the size of turn and if there are little bit of you things actually it would be really nice to have a bigger movement here I mean this picture it's magic it's not great it's a great kitchen it's a lovely room still think that fundamentally there's gonna be quite a lot of people who will think will one down knock through into the side return well frankly let them do it will buy them the sledgehammer and put a ribbon on it and they can go because we've seen enough building work in this house haven't we yeah upstairs the smooth city styling continues into the loft conversion set off by a palette of soft browns while next door Matt and Jody have installed the slickest of designer bathrooms it's a master suite that will draw in the crowds but has come at a cost I mean your original budget was forty thousand and their loft itself has cost pretty much that I think it was about 65 to 70 thousand no it wasn't all in it was ninety five thousand pounds so a lot more than forty yes yes I need to be honest I don't I didn't really consider or add in the fees and extras in our original budget night materials [Laughter] those little details can add up to one whole lot of money labor materials shut up from twenty three and a half thousand to forty four and a half thousand pounds the kitchen and bathrooms rose from seven to thirteen thousand but they didn't do badly with plumbing and electrics that increased by just five hundred pounds decorating actually went down from six to four thousand with fees and mortgage payments at 29 and a half thousand pounds the total rose from forty to ninety five thousand although that's not the only shift dramatically affect this development you have any idea what you would have had to pay for it now isn't unknown if it was still unmodern eyes as you bought it it would now be worth five hundred thousand pounds this has gone up by a hundred and fifty five thousand pounds so all done up how much do you reckon that this house would be worth now well I would have said 500 but I can't say that taking into account what Matt and Jodi have spent on the property they now need to get over five hundred and ninety five thousand pounds to make a profit on the work they've done it's a nice double reception room the leads connecting doors give flexible accommodation it's nice and open lots of light what people like about these houses are big high ceilings marks out of 10 probably looking about an 8 it would have been lovely to see the side return haven't been done on this property to make it into a really nice wide family kitchen I think in terms of selling the property this could be the x-factor that really helps sell it I would value this property at 650 thousand pounds in the current market I would value this property at 625 thousand pounds I would value this property at six hundred and thirty thousand pounds well we've had three estate agents around to value it and they valued it at six hundred and fifteen thousand six hundred and twenty five thousand and six hundred and thirty thousand oh my god that's incredible that is incredible we were I was thinking if we got five hundred it would be nothing short of a miracle that you're gonna have so many new outfit daddy darling oh my god that is amazing because it's the best job we've ever had that is so if you did sell it you'd make a profit of between a hundred and seventy-five thousand and a hundred and ninety thousand pounds that's balloon of course it's any money in the bank if someone buys the property it's a really lovely space a really nice room love the fact that they've come back combined the two rooms but it's nice to be able to close that off I suppose if you were having say the kids in here and you were wanting to watch television in their their room to buy it you would have to knock it all down to get it the way that you wanted it and I wouldn't want to spend any more money there's not actually going to be that much space for food preparation especially if you got your kids and their friends around it was a bit of a WOW factor when I walk through I thought it was really nice all in all I think it's some lovely lovely place I can see myself living here just see if I can see myself paying the mortgage on it so the big dream the reason for doing this was that you wanted to make enough money to be able to go back to Australia you now have enough money to be able to do that what are you gonna do we're gonna stay there's been a big change of plans huge I've been accepted into the fire brigade just recently so it seems perfect timing now to settle down enjoy the house and start that career off let's be honest it's a huge amount of money I need tempted to just take the money and run well hopefully the money is always gonna stay in the house now and so if we decide to go in in a couple years time we'll still be making a good profit at that stage it's an amazing achievement to have done it all yourself and I mean lovely home so yeah developments not for everyone no no I'll decide it all the word I'd love to have a project of my own and do a flat small one-bedroom flat Matt and Jodi have potentially made enough money to change their lives live and Deborah still face a bit of a struggle that's a 50% success rate and it's worth remembering these odds if you're planning on taking on your first development next week it's one big basement excavation but is it worth the trouble let's dig in dig in dig in a nothing well this is never gonna be done it's just mud you've been posse from day one recently 13 months has it locked any sense into you at all [Music] you you
