how to be a property developer(4/10)
20.00–21.00

Continuing on Five this week is the series in which Gary McCausland follows two teams of hopefuls who have been given £300,000 and 12 months to make money in real estate. In tonight’s edition, Lyndsey and Paula raise the stakes in their quest to become property millionaires when they eye up a disused church in rural Scotland; while Dan and Daniel finally begin their second project –a small, one-bedroom flat in Hastings –but quickly run into trouble.

Having made a catalogue of errors on their first project that led to the loss of a huge £22,000, Londoners Dan and Daniel are in desperate need of some better luck with their second property. Downsizing their plans, they have bought a tiny, one-bedroom flat in Hastings, which they intend to refurbish and sell on quickly. When Gary visits the property, he learns that the Dans plan to do the majority of the work themselves, and hope to have it all done in just three weeks. “You will have to live, sleep, eat, breathe this,” warns a sceptical Gary.

Dan and Daniel want to maximise the impact of their kitchen/living area by removing the breakfast bar to create more space, and by replacing the outdated cupboards with high-gloss units and mosaic splashbacks. They are not going to touch the flat’s layout, despite the tiny bathroom, and will install electric heating –a decision which Gary thinks is a big mistake. They also intend to use wooden flooring throughout, which is expensive and time-consuming. “They need to remember that they’ll only make money if they keep it quick and simple,” says Gary.

However, the pair have made a huge error: true to form, they have bought their flat without ordering a survey beforehand, and only now discover that the plaster work is in a very bad way. The whole flat will have to be fitted with plasterboard, adding £1,000 to the budget and pushing the schedule back a number of days. Luckily, they are able to order the necessary material quickly and it arrives the following morning, allowing the boys to get straight to work. But, with four flights of stairs to negotiate, just getting the stuff into the property is a huge task. After eight hours of work, the lads are exhausted. “This is the bad part of property developing,” reflects Daniel.

Progress in Hastings continues to be painfully slow, and Dan and Daniel’s hope to have finished the project in three weeks soon looks very unlikely. Daniel has had to return to London because of other work commitments, leaving Dan to do all the manual labour and organise all the tradesmen himself. With so much pressure now on Dan’s shoulders, the quality of his work begins to suffer, and he continues to make mistakes. After six weeks of work, there is still no end in sight for what should have been a simple project, and Gary is far from impressed: “This is a disaster,” he concludes.

North of the border, the mood is far more positive. Having already made £41,000 on their first two projects, Lyndsey and Paula have set their sights on something more ambitious. A disused village church an hour north of Edinburgh has become available to buy, with offers of over £30,000 being considered. A church conversion is every developer’s dream, but such an undertaking is not for the faint-hearted. Undeterred, the girls dive straight in with an offer of £77,007. However, they fail to make their offer subject to a survey, prompting Gary to describe their decision as “sheer lunacy”.

Two days later, the girls are delighted to learn that their offer has been accepted in principal: “Oh my god!” says Paula. “We’ve got a church!” But the girls’ elation may be shortlived when they realise what they have taken on. As Gary arrives to inspect the girls’ investment, he quickly spots a number of problems that would test even the most experienced of developers. The cost of converting such a building could be phenomenal, and there are a number of pitfalls the girls have not even considered. While Paula and Lyndsey’s ambition is admirable, have they finally bitten off more than they can chew?