Homes Under The Hammer looks at the transformation of north Derbyshire's derelict old social club bought at auction for £45,000

Enterprising pair Pete Kemp and his stepson Mike Brooks tell BBC1’s Homes Under The Hammer how they snapped up the derelict building on Welbeck Road for £47,500 at auction, which was more than £10,000 under the asking price, in 2021.

At the time, the building which was formerly the home of the North Star Club that closed several years ago, had planning permission in place for a gym, dance studio and one-bedroom apartment.

Pete tells programme presenter Dion Dublin: “What I loved about it was that it was something unique. It was something close to home, it’s just down the road. Enough of a challenge to put other people off, it put us in a better position to get a great deal.”

The building, at the end of an alleyway between two houses, had no ceiling, was damp with plaster coming off the walls and the floor needed replacing. Mike says: “It might look derelict but at least someone has done half the work for us by stripping it out.”

Pete and Mike decided to turn the building into short-term holiday let apartments after realising that this would generate a higher return for their investment than a gym, dance studio and upstairs flat. Planning consent for their scheme was granted in spring last year, despite Old Bolsover Town Council’s worry over fire safety and residents’ concerns about parking in an already congested area.

Armed with a budget of £100,000, the developers did the ground work themselves and brought in sub-contractors for the latter stages of the project which they hope to complete in the early part of 2023.

The transformation has included converting the club’s former pool room into one of the apartments and knocking down a toilet block and office to create a private courtyard.

During their work on the property Pete and Mike found that there were no foundations under two of the main walls so they had to demolish 19 metres of existing wall, dig out new footings and rebuild from scratch.

Christoper Theochardes from SDL Auctions, which handled the sale of the building, says on Homes Under The Hammer: “The work they’ve done is really good and it’s a very good use of the space.” He estimates that they could sell each of the apartments for £90,000, which would bring in a pre-tax profit of £122,250.

Serviced accommodation could fetch between £1,000 to £1,200 a month, a route which Pete and Mike are going down. Pete said that the area is undergoing a lot of development and they are hoping to fill the apartments with business people and contractors during the week and people looking for short breaks at weekends.

A camera crew from Homes Under The Hammer filmed the project in May and October last year and plan to return this spring to capture the finished product for a further programme.

You can watch Pete and Mike’s building project on iPlayer at Homes Under The Hammer, series 25: episode 74.