When Jonathan & Pili Lawrence found a suitable property in Llanelli to expand their buy-to-let portfolio, they called on Building Concepts to review their options. While the house was structurally sound, and well located, inside it had not been updated for 30-40 years and the layout (particularly upstairs) was totally unsuited for family living. The property only had two bedrooms and,although the bathroom was upstairs, it was accessed through an internal dressing/shower room. Downstairs, a battered lean-to on the back of the kitchen accomodated the downstairs toilet.  The kitchen itself was cold and damp, being a single-skinned extension with a leaking roof.

The plan was to develop the property to make it suitable for a family and as such they they faced a significant challenge in deciding just how to re-design the layout, while limiting the necessary additional investment.

Building Concepts' Maria Val visited the property and saw the potential to reorganise the first floor with minimal disruption. She identified that the bathroom/shower/dressing room combination was taking up space that would be ideal for a large bedroom, and that the front bedroom could easily be divided to form two good size single rooms. This change could be accommodated by moving the bathroom into the smaller of the two existing bedrooms. Furthermore, Maria was able to plan the new layout without any major structural alterations, the biggest task being re-siting the plumbing.

Downstairs, Maria suggested demolishing the lean-to and building a small extension to accommodate a downstairs cloakroom and utility room, again ideal for the type of tenants the Lawrences had in mind.

The project was finalised with plans for a new kitchen and  bathroom. Maria also advised the clients that attention should also be paid to the underlying issues in order to protect their investment, these being:

• Damp proofing the property & relaying the solid floor with a damp proof membrane
• Re-wiring the property
• Replacing the antique boiler

With the plans agreed, the builders moved in and completed the entire project (including complete redecoration) within 6 weeks and to the agreed budget.

Today, Jonathan and Pili have a well appointed, low maintenance rental property that will always attract tenants irrespective of the vagaries of the rental market.