How two residents took a two bed property and turned it into a £1m+ home

Tuesday night's Property Ladder made excellent viewing for local home owners and would be property developers as Sarah Beeny attempted to guide locals Richard and Isabel through one of the programme's most ambitious developments.

The couple bought a modest two bedroom property in Chiswick Village with the idea to double it in size and create an enormous, luxury family home.

But they had no intention of doing this by something as simple as a loft or side extension; they decided to excavate tons of earth from beneath the house to make a whole new lower ground floor.

Presenter and property guru Sarah Beeny says "In packed cities where space is at a premium, basement excavations are growing in popularity. They’re an effective way to add serious square footage, but they’re also very expensive and shouldn’t be done unless you’re sure you can see a return in the property."

"This particular basement dwarfs most seen commonly in the UK's densely populated cities. Richard and Isabel bought the property for £395K. They have an optimistic budget of £210K and they plan to sell for £900K which would make them a phenomenal £295K in profit."

Predictably, the development rocketed above the figures allowed during planning and the couple continuly ignored Beeny's advice which at one point saw them living in the development whilst it was on stilts.

After missing steels and rising damp threatened to scupper the entire project, 13 months on, Isabel and Richard completed what is undeniably a unique development.

Their budget vs their actual spend in ( ) was:

Basement excavation: £110,000 (£195,000)
Labour & materials: £65,000 (£110,000)
Kitchen & bathroom: £30,000 (£40,000)
Decoration: £2,000 (£33,000)
Landscaping & external: £3,000 (£29,000)
Fees: £ 10,000 (£53,000)
Total: £210,000 (£450,000)

Overspend: £240,000

The house is still on the market priced at £1.3m. Further details of the programme including supplier information and video clips can be seen on Channel 4's website at channel4.com/4homes/ontv/property-ladder

November 23, 2007