When BBC's Homes Under The Hammer visited a mid-terrace house in Penrhiwceiber to film for the popular daytime property programme, viewers might have been distracted from looking at the house going to auction by Martin Roberts' very bright shirt.
And anyone passing by at that time would have not only been mesmerised by Martin's multi-coloured choice of attire but by his behaviour, as he decided to kiss the front façade of the Welsh terrace.
The shirt and the love for the property has a back-story that Martin's fans will instantly understand - which includes wearing the shirt as a secret and sweet message to them - because in April 2022 the popular presenter had a major health scare that almost cost him his life.
READ MORE: Homes Under The Hammer bargain seaside house that had Martin Roberts 'in a state of shock'
On April 21, 2022 Martin shared with fans, via his social media accounts, that he had been rushed to the Royal United Hospital in Bath with chest pains due to an unknown heart issue that had left him with just 'hours to live'. Find out more about Martin's health scare and hospital stay here.
So when Martin recovered and was given clearance to return to work filming Homes Under The Hammer (HUTH) in spring 2022, he could not contain his joy at having a clean bill of health and being back doing what he loved.
On May 24, 2022 Martin shared a video on Instagram with his 21.5k followers that filled all fans with joy, because he had tears in his eyes and was so happy to be back at work filming that the Penrhiwceiber terrace house behind him got a kiss.
And wearing the bright shirt while filming the HUTH episode in Rhondda Cynon Taf was a touching secret message to the fans who sent him messages of support and love on Instagram through his stressful health scare experience.
The Instagram post from Martin's first day of filming reads: "It's a VERY special day... so I decided I should wear a VERY bright shirt to celebrate."
In the video that accompanies the written message Martin explains: "So I've got some news, and it's actually pretty amazing news. Today is a very special day and it's quite an emotional day to be honest, because I've spoken to the doctors and they've said as long as I take it easy, which isn't necessarily that easy for me, but I've got to, as long as I take it easy I'm ok to start work.
"So, I am back today filming Homes Under The Hammer. I'm in the valleys of Wales and I never thought that I would be so happy to see a two up two down terrace!"
He continues: "I have missed this so much, it's amazing to be back. So, you might notice the shirt, it's a little bit OTT but I need to celebrate, it's a bit of a sartorial celebration, so the nearest thing I've got to a bunch of flowers which I'm going to dedicate to you."
On Tuesday, January 24, the episode was broadcast on BBC1 and while viewers didn't see Martin kissing the terrace house or refer to his touching Instagram message, he did explain to viewers the reason for his bright shirt. Find out more about Martin's return to HUTH here.
The three-storey, three bed Welsh terrace that Martin thought was in a decent condition went to auction with a guide price of £45,000 and was bought by Tim from Berkshire for £77,000 as the expansion of his rental portfolio.
And Tim was clearly an optimist, maybe due to Martin's obvious joy at being back on the show, predicting he could update the house in six to eight weeks with a budget of £4,000 to £8,000. Martin was so happy that he didn't even tell Tim off for breaking the number one HUTH rule of never buying an auction property blind.
But he seemed to have got lucky with Martin saying: "I can't find a single thing to dislike about this property." When Martin returns seven months later the house is still not finished but what has been done looks smart enough to have already attracted a tenant.
The partition walls around the front reception room have gone making the space much lighter and welcoming, and there is redecorating and new flooring on this level too.
The bathroom on the ground floor has a smart, modern suite but has also been the main reason for the delay as a leak from this room caused problems for the kitchen below, which now needs a new ceiling.
But so far the kitchen on the lower ground floor of this three-storey house has been updated to create an attractive, modern space with tactile tiling and Shaker-style units in a soft, contemporary grey, but sadly there is still the need for a second ceiling.
The kitchen has a door out to the garden, but this bonus outside space is looking worse than it did seven months ago. Having been cleared of weeds and a few bushes, it now looks like a dump site, but it is wise that Tim plans to tackle the outside space last, when all the renovation work inside is complete.
There's a new staircase to the lower floor, a repaint throughout the property, and new, modern internal doors that give the house an instant interior design uplift from brown and cheap to a choice that's more stylish and sturdy.
The timescale has extended and so has the budget, with Tim estimating the total spend once finished as being £13,000, saying that the 50% increase in the cost of materials and the need to hire more builders as he could not be onsite as much as he had planned are the main reasons for the overspend.
The estate agent returns with a valuation of £110k to £115k which Tim thinks is a little low but still gives him up to a £25,000 pre tax profit on his total £90,000 total spend.
The agent suggests a rental of between £550 and £600 per calendar month, but Tim is delighted to report he has secured an eager tenant for £650pcm, giving him a rental yield of over 8%. So Tim's optimism was arguably at least partially justified and he is very happy. But he's not as happy as Martin who is, understandably, overjoyed to be back on Homes Under The Hammer.
This story is in episode 1 of the new series, the 26th series, of Homes Under The Hammer currently available to view on BBC iPlayer.
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