A quirky property which even includes an oatcake shop proves intriguing for Homes Under The Hammer presenter Martel Maxwell when she visits London Road in Stoke. Martel is delighted to see the oatcake shop featured as part of the mixed use property, and declares: “That’s lunch sorted!”
Approaching the property, which features in one of the latest episodes of the popular TV series, Martel says: “The property on offer at auction – well, it was an interesting one. It’s described as a part let mixed use investment and it comes in three parts for a guide price of £42,000.
“On the ground floor you’ve got two retail units and you can see that this shop is already let as a Staffordshire oatcake shop. Yum yum! That’s lunch sorted.
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“Then above you have a flat which is derelict and you can’t go into and then the other place is the ground floor shop, which is not currently let, but it’s safe to go into.”
On setting foot inside the empty shop unit, a former gym called Emma’s, Martel says: “Inside, well, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a room quite so red.”
The shop window is boarded up so she says anyone who comes in might want to think about that.
The property is snapped up at auction by accountant Abdul, from Derby, who pays out £65,000.
The Oatcakes store brings in a rental income and so Abdul tells presenter Martel that he intends to focus on the adjoining retail unit, which also includes several small rooms leading off from a long, narrow corridor.
Abdul, who has two young children including a newborn son, says would section off the front part of the building to create a smaller commercial unit. He then plans to turn the rear into a flat.
He explains that the derelict upstairs flat had lain empty for around 20 years but he hopes to renovate it. He reckons he can sort the renovation in around six to nine months, with a budget of between £50,000 and £60,000.
The Homes under the Hammer team return two years and seven months later, only to hear that “things had not gone to plan”.
Abdul’s plans to renovate what is his first ever commercial property and first property in Stoke-in-Trent were scuppered by a project much closer to home.
Abdul says he has decided to sell the property as he needs money for a renovation project much closer to home.
He and his wife have welcomed their third child and need a bigger family home. Savvy Abdul sorts planning consent for the renovations before selling it on.
He gets the go ahead for a one-bed flat plus four HMO en-suite rooms above. It costs £5,000 to do so but his costs are covered with the rental income from the oatcake shop. It means he still manages to walk away with a tidy profit.
Elizabeth Mehrban, of James Street-based Quality Estate Agents, reckons that with the planning consent in place the property could fetch in the region of £150,000. This surprises Abdul given that there is “a lot of work needed”.
He goes on to say that he has managed to sell the property at auction for £91,000 and the oatcake shop rental income means he hasn’t spent a penny on the project, leaving him with a healthy £26,000 profit.
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