Sunderland property developer inspired by Homes Under the Hammer features in popular BBC 1 show
A Sunderland property developer has featured in this week’s episode of the popular TV show Homes Under the Hammer after buying a property in Hylton Castle for £68,000 and increasing its value to £125,000.
Luke Higgins, 32, and brother Ben Potts, 42, bought the two bedroom property and converted it into a three bedroom house as well as fitting a new kitchen and creating an open plan living room.
In total, they spent £15,000 on the property but have increased its value by a whopping £57,000.
Luke and Ben were joined in June (2024) by presenter Martel Maxwell who fronts the BBC One programme in the north and Scotland, with the camera crews also returning in September to film the follow-up episode.
Luke said: “We bought the house at auction, which is one of the requirements to go on the show, and just submitted an application to Homes Under the Hammer. It was great when they got back to say they were going to feature us in the show.
“I’ve always watched the show and it is what really inspired me to go into property development.
“They came out in June to do initial interviews with myself and Ben and to look at the house and then returned in September.
“It was great experience and Martel was a good laugh.”
The hour long episode featuring Luke and Paul was aired on April 1, but can still be viewed on the BBC I player.
Luke said: “When we saw it was scheduled to go out on April Fool’s Day we did wonder if we were going to get stitched up, but it was really good.
“They even did a feature on Hylton Castle itself.”
Paul is currently renting out the property which featured in the show and has a number of other properties he is looking to develop.