Fire-damaged house the star of BBC property show

A Shropshire property developer, whose latest project has been filmed for BBC1's Homes Under the Hammer programme, is looking forward to the episode being screened in the autumn.

Norman Thornton, of Telford, was approached by the programme's producers after successfully bidding for a home in Dawley, Telford, at auction. It had been severely damaged by fire last September.

He managed to buy number 34 Rhodes Avenue for just £58,000 at Stoke's Moat House Hotel in February.

He planned to spend £20,000 renovating the property, formerly owned by The Wrekin Housing Trust, to then sell or let out.

Work began at the end of March, with Norman hoping it would be finished by the middle of June.

He hoped it would then be valued in the mid £90,000s or gain a rental value of £450-£500 a month.

TV presenter Martin Roberts arrived with a small film crew to cover the first section of Norman's story before work got under way. The work now complete, number 34 has been transformed into a stunning property.

Visiting just as work began, the Shropshire Star found Norman faced with a burnt-out shell of a home, with its windows covered by steel shutters and scorch marks down the exterior brickwork.

The plastic in the windows had melted and the glass had shattered due to the ferocity of the fire.

Norman said. "I think the cause of the fire was something like a cigarette on the sofa, and luckily the gentleman that lived here got out."

Joint director

Norman, who has been developing properties for 30 years, bought the two-bedroomed end-terrace through his company WinThorn Developments Ltd, with joint director Julian Windsor.

The work was carried out through his renovation company Norjan Properties.

As well as two bedrooms, the house has a kitchen, downstairs cloakroom, lounge and a bathroom.

Norman said that the property was originally built as a council house for Dawley District Council in 1934.

His plan for it included replacing all windows and doors, re-plastering throughout, fitting a new Shaker-style kitchen, new white bathroom, cloakroom, rewiring it and putting in new heating.

As he believed it was "a good end terrace" with gardens that went round the property, he had enough space to be able to create a vehicular access before finally getting a digger in to level the site before laying new turf.

Norman already had a couple interested in renting the property.

Bad state

However, it was in such a bad state that it was hard to imagine it being brought back to life.

Norman said: "It looks an awful lot worse than it is. It is fairly cosmetic work. There is nothing structurally wrong wrong with it."

Asked how the first lot of filming for Homes Under the Hammer went, Norman said: "There was just a small film crew of two cameras and a soundman, the director and her assistant, and Martin did the interviews.

It wasn't nerve-wracking but it did seem a bit strange having to walk up and down the road three times. They make it very relaxed for you actually."

The film crew were there for five hours.

So what did presenter Martin Roberts think of number 34?

Norman said: "He said it was quite a major job and he was looking forward to coming back to see what it looked like later. And he said it was 'a very sound little property'."

Returning in June, the Shropshire Star found a totally transformed home. And, as well as renovating the property Norman had discovered that the side garden now had potential to be sold off as a building plot.

Protected

The garden had been levelled and turfed, and a garden path laid. New porches protected the front and back door.

Inside, all the rooms were now light and airy, with the interior decorated throughout in magnolia, and new flooring installed.

The fireplace in the lounge now had a surround; the newly fitted kitchen made that room look a lot bigger, and upstairs was a smart, modern white bathroom with shower and two well presented bedrooms.

Although Norman and his team took four weeks out to work on a commercial development, they still managed to finish number 34 under time - in the middle of May.

So had the project gone to plan? Norman said: "It went very well. We came in just under the top end of the budget, just under £20,000. We're probably going to rent it out for 12 months to start with and see what happens with the building plot.

If we don't get planning permission then we'll put that part of the garden back."

Norman said they had to take 80 tonnes of rubbish and rubble out of that part of the garden, as well as ten tonnes of rubbish from the property.

And what about the after filming for the BBC?

Voiceover

Norman said: "They came on the June 3. There was the director, cameraman and soundman. The presenter does a voiceover with someone else asking me the questions that he would normally ask. It was sort of stressful talking to camera but it was enjoyable. They are very professional the way they do it."

The crew again were there for five hours. They asked Norman questions about his budget and if there had been any unforeseen work.

He said: "They asked how the project generally went and was I pleased with it. We had a couple of estate agents down and they spent some time with the agents."

The agents valued the property at £95,000 without the garden and over £100,000 with it. The highest value on the building plot, which Norman thought was a "bit generous", was £45,000.

"Even if we sold it without the garden it's been a success," he said.

Norman has now begun renovating another fire damaged house in Wellington.

• Check out the before and after photos in our gallery