Homes Under the Hammer's Tommy Walsh stunned by £400k 9-bedroom Kent house

During a recent episode of the BBC show Homes Under the Hammer, presenter Tommy Walsh experienced an unexpected surprise upon visiting an auction house in Gillingham, Kent.

The house was immediately declared a "prime property" by Tommy, largely due to its advantageous location opposite a mainline train station offering services into Central London in under an hour. The semi-detached period property carried a guide price ranging from £400k to £410k.

Entering the house proved quite a revelation for the builder, who marvelled at the period features including tiled flooring, ornate ceiling work and generously proportioned rooms. Despite its seemingly stuck-in-time state, Tommy pronounced it as "top class", before proceeding to explore its nine expansive bedrooms set over two floors.

"To be honest it's a bit difficult knowing where to start, it's so big", Tommy expressed while standing on the first floor. He made note of the extensive corridors and quintet of bedrooms on this level. The second floor revealed an additional complement of four more bedrooms and bathrooms.

Buyers and brothers Steve and Mark were drawn to the property at auction, purchasing it for £409k due to its combination of size and prime location. The pair planned to remodel the nine-bedroomed house into six individual flats, with one featuring three bedrooms having access to the garden.

Upon further exploration, they discovered that the house was originally constructed for military use. The duo budgeted a substantial £400k for their ambitious conversion project, a figure exclusive of the garden property.

They only managed to secure planning permission for five flats and at the time of filming, there was still a significant amount of work to be done on the property. However, they decided to retain the high-end properties.

The estimated cost of the renovations was pegged at £350k, as they were under budget. The total projected cost for Steve and Mark, including the property, once the work is completed, stands at £759k.

In January 2024, an estate agent visited to value the property. The resale value for a two-bedroom apartment was estimated at £230k and a one-bedroom flat would fetch between £180k and £190k. This would give them a combined sale of just over £1million, and a pre-tax profit of £271k.

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