Case study: a probate terrace taken back to brick — new roof, rebuilt gable, four lettable rooms.
A very tired probate property, refurbished completely from top to bottom: a brand new roof, the gable end rebuilt, the rear wall's outer skin rebuilt after a tree took root inside the cavity, and a 3-bed layout re-planned to 4 — with planning permission and building control completed and signed off. Total project cost: £61,500.
Project at a glance Verified Wolsten build
- Property type
- Probate mid-terraced house — Preston PR1
- Service
- HMO Conversions
- Scope
- Complete top-to-bottom refurbishment
- Outcome
- 3 bedrooms re-planned to 4 — tenants in
- Project cost
- £61,500 — including the new roof
- Structural
- New roof + gable end rebuild + rear outer skin rebuilt
- Approvals
- Planning permission + Building Control — signed off
- Waterproofing
- Full tanking system — kitchen and bathroom
The hardest kind of project: a probate property with problems in every direction.
Ripon Street came to us as a very tired probate property — the kind of house that's been quietly deteriorating for years. The roof was at the end of its life, the gable end needed rebuilding, and when we opened up the rear wall we found a tree had taken root inside the cavity, forcing a full rebuild of the outer skin.
On top of the structural work, the brief was to take the house from 3 bedrooms to 4 — a change that required both planning permission and building control approval. We handled both applications, and both were completed and signed off successfully.
Fully project managed from the pre-site survey right through to tenants moving in — the complete project, including the new roof, came to £61,500.
Structure first, then services, then standards.
On a property this tired, the order of work is everything. The expensive mistakes in refurbishment all come from finishing over problems — so this build started at the roof and worked down.
- Brand new roof — complete replacement, with the property scaffolded front and back
- Gable end rebuilt — taken down and rebuilt sound, working from full scaffold
- Rear wall outer skin rebuilt — a tree had taken root within the cavity; the outer skin came down and went back up properly
- Chimney breasts removed — supported on acrow props during removal, with steel gallows brackets installed to carry the remaining stacks — freeing up floor area for the fourth bedroom
- New structural openings — lintels installed to suit the re-planned 4-bed layout, all inspected and signed off by building control
- New suspended ceilings throughout — fresh, level ceilings across the whole house
- Full rewire and re-plumb — first-fix electrics back to a new consumer unit, new pipework at the kitchen and bathroom
- Full tanking system to kitchen and bathroom — both wet areas waterproofed behind the finishes
- New kitchen and bathroom — modern fit-outs: new units and appliances, bath with wet-wall panelling, new sanitaryware
- HMO compliance throughout — FD30 fire doors with overhead closers, numbered room doors, LVT flooring downstairs, carpets up, and uPVC windows replaced from the scaffold
From a probate shell with a tree growing inside its walls to a signed-off, fully tenanted 4-bed HMO — one team, one contract, top to bottom.
The whole project, in four shots.
Real photos from the actual Preston job.
Stripped back — tired plaster off, chases cut, the real condition exposed.
Chimney breast removal on acrow props — making room for bedroom four.
Scaffolded for the new roof, gable rebuild and window replacement.
Numbered FD30 fire doors, fresh decoration, new carpets — tenant-ready.Every stage of the build.
The full set of photos taken throughout the project.
For the discerning investor.
What was actually built into this project.
A tree inside the cavity wall
You don't see this often: when the rear wall was opened up, a tree had taken root within the cavity itself — roots running between the two skins of brickwork. There's no patch for that. The outer skin was taken down and rebuilt, giving the property a sound, dry rear wall for the next fifty years rather than a hidden failure point.
New roof and a rebuilt gable
The roof was replaced completely and the gable end rebuilt from full scaffold. On a refurbishment this comprehensive it's the only order that makes sense: make the envelope sound first, because everything inside depends on the building staying dry.
3 bedrooms to 4 -- with the paperwork done properly
Adding a fourth bedroom isn't just stud walls. The re-planned layout needed planning permission and building control approval — structural openings, fire strategy, room sizes — and both were completed and signed off successfully. Chimney breasts were removed on acrows with steel gallows brackets installed to carry the stacks, recovering the floor area that makes the fourth room work.
Full tanking to both wet rooms
The kitchen and bathroom both received a full tanking system — a waterproof membrane behind the finishes. In a tenanted HMO, wet areas take harder use than in any family home; tanking is what stops a splashed wall in year one becoming a rotten floor in year five.
New suspended ceilings throughout
Rather than patching tired lath-and-plaster room by room, new suspended ceilings went in throughout the build — level, fresh, and ready for mains-wired detection and modern lighting.
Three founders, plus extended crew when the job calls for it.
Liam, Ryan and Paul on every job. Where the work needs more hands, we bring in trusted regulars.
Liam
Survey, schedule of works, client liaison and the electrical installation.
Ryan
Structural work, brickwork and the heavy lifting of the strip-out.
Paul
Fire doors, linings, finish carpentry and the details that pass inspection.
Preston
Preston is one of the most active HMO investment markets in the North West — and one of the most complex for planning, with Article 4 zones from 2012 and a new city-wide direction incoming. We've converted multiple HMOs here and know the planning landscape street by street.
Questions investors ask about projects like this.
How much did the Ripon Street project cost?
The full project — including the brand new roof, the gable rebuild, the rear wall outer skin, the 3-to-4-bed conversion, tanking, new kitchen and bathroom and all finishes — came to £61,500. A free feasibility visit and itemised fixed quote comes before any commitment on your project.
Do you need planning permission to go from 3 bedrooms to 4?
For this property, yes — the re-planned layout required both planning permission and building control approval, and we completed both with everything signed off successfully. Preston's Article 4 picture makes early planning advice essential; we check your specific property as part of the free consultation.
What is tanking, and does every HMO need it?
Tanking is a waterproof membrane system applied behind the finishes in wet areas. Here both the kitchen and bathroom were fully tanked. Not every project needs it — but in hard-use tenanted properties it's cheap insurance against the most expensive kind of hidden damage.
Was it worth saving a property in this condition?
Probate properties in this state are often where the best investor value sits — precisely because most buyers can't see past the condition. The key is pricing the real scope honestly up front: roof, structure, services, compliance. That's what the pre-site survey is for, and why this project finished signed-off and tenanted with no surprises.
Who managed the project?
Wolsten, end to end — from the pre-site survey right through to tenants moving in. One team, one contract: structural work, roofing, all trades, compliance, finishes and handover.
Start with a free feasibility visit and a fixed, itemised quote.
Whether you're weighing up a purchase or ready to convert, we'll give you an honest view on planning, costs and returns — exactly the way these Preston projects started.
Free feasibility check
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