A PAL who was feeling under the weather resorted to watching Homes Under the Hammer on daytime TV on Monday.

He e-mailed me to tell me it was featuring a trashed semi in Empress Drive, Higher Folds.

And what a dump it was. Vandals had even nicked the wiring and pipe work from the stone-cladded property and every floorboard upstairs had been lifted.

When the auction buyers, who picked up the boarded up property from the council for £49,000, walked in they didn’t realise how bad it was going to be. It was seriously scary – and didn’t say a lot for the estate.

But the couple were non-plussed and got stuck in to transform the house, their first attempt at property developing, and the huge sweeping garden.

With lots of TLC and an extra £12,500 budget and 16 weeks of toil they totally turned the house round. Sadly even after all that work estate agents Simon Miller and Stacey Kerr from Stringfellows valued it at between £65,000 to £75,000 – or rentable for between £400-£450 a month.

One thing’s for sure I’m sure the friendly neighbours, who gave a helping hand, were delighted to see the blot on their streetscape turned into a very presentable property.

Under the Hammer on daytime TV on Monday.

He e-mailed me to tell me it was featuring a trashed semi in Empress Drive, Higher Folds.

And what a dump it was. Vandals had even nicked the wiring and pipe work from the stone-cladded property and every floorboard upstairs had been lifted.

When the auction buyers, who picked up the boarded up property from the council for £49,000, walked in they didn’t realise how bad it was going to be. It was seriously scary – and didn’t say a lot for the estate.

But the couple were non-plussed and got stuck in to transform the house, their first attempt at property developing, and the huge sweeping garden.

With lots of TLC and an extra £12,500 budget and 16 weeks of toil they totally turned the house round. Sadly even after all that work estate agents Simon Miller and Stacey Kerr from Stringfellows valued it at between £65,000 to £75,000 – or rentable for between £400-£450 a month.

One thing’s for sure I’m sure the friendly neighbours, who gave a helping hand, were delighted to see the blot on their streetscape turned into a very presentable property.