Cornwall Beach House

Seeing the potential in the worst property in one of St Ives' best locations

Just yards from Porthmeor Beach in St Ives sat a run-down, underinvested three-bedroom property.

It wasn't hidden off-market. It was listed with an estate agent for anyone to buy. And at £430,000, it wasn't an obviously cheap property either.

What Nick saw was the opportunity to create significantly more value than the existing building suggested.

The opportunity

The location was the first attraction. St Ives is one of Cornwall's most desirable seaside destinations and the property was just yards from the beach.

The second was the building itself.

It was one of the most run-down properties in the area, but Nick noticed that its roofline sat below the neighbouring houses. He could see the potential to build upwards, while the existing footprint also created an opportunity to extend downwards.

The plan was ambitious, but clear from the beginning: double the floor space and transform the property rather than simply refurbish it.

The project at a glance

• Purchase price: £430,000

• Development investment: £360,000

• 3 bedrooms to 6 bedrooms

• 2 storeys to 4 storeys

• Floor space increased by approximately 100%

• Current valuation: £1.2 million

• Annual holiday-let income: approximately £85,000

Creating the value

Planning permission was needed to increase the height of the property.

Once secured, an entirely new storey was added, creating a master bedroom with sea views. At the other end of the building, excavation began to create a new basement level.

Combined with a complete high-specification refurbishment, the development effectively doubled the size of the original property.

This was where the value was created. Nick wasn't relying on the market moving upwards. The strategy was to physically change the asset and create something considerably more valuable than what had been purchased.

The challenge

Then the excavation team hit granite.

Not just any granite, but Blue Elvan, an extremely hard stone commonly found in Cornwall.

Great for supporting a building. Not so great when you're trying to dig through it.

The discovery delayed the project and meant the basement layout had to be reconsidered. Rather than abandoning the overall plan, the design was adapted to work around what had been found.

There was another significant challenge too.

Nick was managing the project from 402 miles away in Yorkshire.

That made a detailed Schedule of Works, a structured building plan and strong systems for managing contractors essential.

The result

Around 18 months after the project began, including the planning process, the original two-storey property had been transformed into a four-storey, six-bedroom beach house.

The numbers tell part of the story:

£430k purchase
£360k development
£1.2m current valuation
£85k approximate annual income

The property now operates as a high-end holiday let.

The biggest lesson

For Nick, one of the biggest lessons wasn't simply about spotting the property opportunity.

It was about delivery.

Managing a major development hundreds of miles away reinforced the importance of detailed planning, clear systems and having the knowledge to manage contractors effectively.

It's experience he would take into future developments and something he now brings to his mentoring.

"There is always good learning from the experience. I'd probably do it quicker today because we always get better at these things."

Could you spot the same opportunity?

Not every good property opportunity looks like a good deal on day one.

Sometimes the value comes from understanding what could be changed, what planning could unlock and whether the numbers support the vision.

That ability to look beyond what a property is today is one of the things Nick helps investors develop through AURA.

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