Springfield Road, Guildford

Two identical two-up-two-down terraced houses on Springfield Road, each transformed into three luxury one-bedroom and studio apartments. Six dwellings from two original houses — and a feature on Channel 4.

YayYay acquired two identical two-up-two-down terraced houses on Springfield Road, Guildford — sited within around ten houses of one another on the same street. Each was a tired, modest Victorian terrace. The plan, replicated identically across both properties, was to convert each house into three self-contained luxury apartments — basement, ground floor, and first floor — yielding six dwellings from two original houses.

The work on the first house was featured on Channel 4's Room for Improvement in 2005 (Series 3) — a national television programme following the conversion process. All six finished apartments were marketed by Foxtons as "a collection of luxury one-bedroomed and studio apartments" and sold off individually to private buyers on completion.

Featured on Channel 4's Room for Improvement

The first of the two conversions was filmed for Channel 4's Room for Improvement as part of the show's third series, broadcast in 2005. The programme followed the design and construction process, capturing the structural work, internal fit-out, and the marketing of the completed flats. National television exposure of this kind is rare for small developers — and it provided independent third-party validation of YayYay's approach to value-creation through subdivision.

Basement Conversion

The most technically demanding element of the conversion was the basement. Originally a coal cellar and storage space below ground level, the basement was converted into a properly habitable apartment with its own external entrance, natural light, full damp-proofing, drainage, and Building Regulations compliance for habitable rooms below ground. The new external door, exposed brickwork painted white, iron handrail down to the entrance, and modern uPVC fenestration combine to create a basement flat that reads as a proper home, not a converted utility space.

Three Floors, Three Self-Contained Apartments

Above the converted basement, the ground floor and first floor were each made into self-contained one-bedroom apartments. Each flat received fully renovated specification: new plumbing throughout, new heating, new electrics, new kitchens with quality appliances, new bathrooms with mosaic tiling and chrome cross-head fittings, all new joinery, and new flooring. The mosaic tile bathrooms in particular signalled the marketing positioning — these were not budget conversions; they were "luxury one-bedroomed and studio apartments," and the specification carried that through.

Replicated Twice — Six Dwellings from Two Houses

Having proven the model with the first house, YayYay applied the identical conversion strategy to the second property a few doors down. The repetition is the point: the underlying acquisition was scoped not as a one-off but as a replicable formula, and the second execution benefited from every lesson learned in the first. Six finished dwellings were created in total from two original two-up-two-down houses, and all six were sold individually through Foxtons on completion.

Scope of Works (per house)

Acquisition of tired Victorian two-up-two-down terraced house; planning application for conversion to three self-contained apartments; below-ground basement conversion to habitable accommodation including damp-proofing, drainage, light wells and external entrance; subdivision of upper floors into one-bed and studio apartments; complete renovation including new plumbing, heating, electrics, kitchens, bathrooms, joinery; styled marketing photography for Foxtons sale; full sale of all three flats individually.